From NCLB to ESSA: moving toward student-centered ...

In 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), replacing the Bush-era No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act that ... Skiptomaincontent CONTINUETOSITE➞ Search Leadership SchoolModels Technology Curriculum Pre-K&EarlyChildhood ProfessionalDevelopment Policy&Legal Anarticlefrom DeepDive FromNCLBtoESSA:movingtowardstudent-centeredassessments ESSAhaspresentedstateswiththeopportunitytoadapthowtheyevaluatestudentprogressthroughouttheyearandintraditionalend-of-yearassessments. PublishedAug.20,2018 By JessicaLeighBrown Flickrusershinealight In2015,PresidentBarackObamasignedtheEveryStudentSucceedsAct(ESSA),replacingtheBush-eraNoChildLeftBehind(NCLB)Actthathadbeenineffectsince2002.OneofthemainshiftsfromNCLBtoESSAisanefforttoprovidestateswithmoredecision-makingpowerregardingcurriculum,instructionandassessments. “Theoverarchinggoalbehindthechangeswastogetthefederalgovernmentoutofthestates’business,givingthestatesmoreflexibility,”explainsLisaAndrejko,educationadvisorforPeopleAdminandaformerschoolsuperintendent. ESSAhaspresentedstateswiththeopportunitytoadapthowtheyevaluatestudentprogressthroughouttheyearandintraditionalend-of-yearassessments.Hereareafewofthebig-pictureideasinfluencingmanystatesastheyapproachassessmentdesignandimplementation. Situationalflexibility Acrosstheboard,statesarerethinkingone-size-fits-allstandardizedassessmentsandinsteadconsideringindividualstudentprogress. “ThatisaverypositivemoveawayfromNCLBandRacetotheTop,”saysAndrejko.“There’sdefinitelyamovenowformoreflexibility,includingcurriculum-basedassessments.” Butit’salsomoredifficult—andtime-consuming—forstatestocreatepersonalized,student-centeredassessments.LiketheSATandACTforcollegeadmissions,standardizedK-12grade-basedassessmentsareeasytousetodescribestudentachievement,yettheydon’tgiveacompletepictureofhowastudentisfaring. Technologyisplayinganimportantroleinsolvingthisdilemma.Computeradaptiveassessments,whichautomaticallyadjustthequestionsbasedonstudentanswers,allowteacherstoquicklyassessastudent’slevelofunderstandingandprovideinstantfeedbacktohelpthelearningprocess. “Asmoreschoolsadopttechnology,theyneedtokeepthegoalofusingassessmentstoguidelearning,”Andrejkosays.“Technologycanmanagelocalstudentassessmentdataforuseincontinuousimprovement.” Multi-subjecttesting SeveralstatesarestartingtoincludesubjectsbeyondthetraditionalmathandreadingintheirK-12assessments.All50statesincludescienceintheirsummativetestingatleasttwicepriortohighschool,andsomearestartingtoincorporatesocialstudies,governmentoreconomics,aswell. “There’sapushformoreconversationaboutbeingcitizensinademocracy,andevaluatingwhatthatmeansforassessingsocialstudiesandhistory,”saysChrisMinnich,CEOofNWEA,anot-for-profitorganizationthatcreatesresearch-basedassessments. Somestatesarealsomovingtowardassessingmultiplesubjectsatonce,usingcurricularexcerptstoassessreadingandthesubjectarea. “Louisianajusthadaninnovativeassessmentapprovedthatwilltestsocialstudiesandreadingtogether,”saysMinnich.“They’rethinkingaboutusingsomecurriculardocumentsandtestingagainstthose.Ifyouthinkaboutit,it’sreallyunfairtoastudenttoaskthemtocomeintoatestwithoutthebackgroundknowledgetoengagewiththetext.” Leveraginginterimassessments Inpursuitofastudent-centeredapproach,manystatesareprioritizinginterimassessmentsovertraditionalend-of-yearsummativetests. “There’sabigpushforusingdatayou’vealreadygatheredinthecumulativeprocess,”saysMinnich.“Rightnowwhenwegiveatest,weassumeweknownothingaboutthestudent,wheninreality,everyteacherunderstandsthatstudents’knowledgebuildsthroughouttheyear.Inthefuture,Ibelievetherewillbemorepoint-in-timeassessmentsinsteadofabigend-of-yeartest.” Nebraskaisshiftingitsapproachtopracticethisidea.ThestateintroducedtheNebraskaStudentCenteredAssessmentSystem(NSCAS) lastyear,aninnovative,computeradaptiveassessment. “Asastateweasked,howdowereallymakeassessmentusefulataclassroomlevel?”saysNebraskaCommissionerofEducationMatthewBlomstedt.“Wesawthevalueofintrinsicmotivation,ofstudentsinteractingwiththeirowndataandseeingtheirgrowth.Wewantedanassessmentsystemthatreflectsthat.” Movingforward,Blomstedthopestouseinterimassessmentstotailorsummativetestingbasedonindividualstudentachievement.“Wecansavetimebynotaskingstudentsquestionsthey’vealreadyshowntheycananswer,makingthetestingprocessmoreefficient,”hesays.“Thatefficiencyistrulyavalueaddtotheschoolexperience,freeinguptimeforthemtoengageinlearninginsteadofjusttryingtomeasurelearning.” Testingtoinforminstruction Ifthepurposeoftestingistoinforminstruction,itmakessenseforstatestore-evaluatetheend-of-yearsummativeassessment. “Standardizedtestingtakestimeawayfrominstructionandthedataprovidedusuallyarrivestoolateforinstructionaladjustments,”Andrejkosays.“Goodteachersconstantlyassessstudentsformallyandinformallytoguideinstruction.Ibelieveit’sverydifficulttoaccuratelytestcontentsubjectsinamasstestingsettingbecausethebestassessmentsrequirestudentstoapplywhattheyhaveleaned,notjustrepeatbackmemorizedfacts.” Minnichbelievestheend-of-yeartestingmodelwilleventuallydisappear. “Nowhereelseintheworlddowewaittilltheendoftheyearandthenteststudents,asifwedon’tknowhowthey’redoingduringtheyear,”hesays.“Inthelongterm,Ithinkwe’llbeshiftingtowardevaluatingstudentgrowthusingdrawn-outactivitiesandprojects,andallowingthemtotakeformalassessmentswhentheyareready,nomatterwhenthatisduringtheyear.” post share tweet print email FiledUnder: K-12, Policy&Regulation K-12Divenewsdeliveredtoyourinbox Getthefreedailynewsletterreadbyindustryexperts Email: SelectNewsletter: DailyDive Topicscovered:K-12policy,classroomtechnology,schoolsystems,personalizedlearning,equity,andmuchmore. 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