 |
|
|
 |
Compliance |
 |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Compliance |
|
|---|---|---|
|
California Board of Education
Section 60611 of the
California Education Code EdTech Associates' reports and studies, including our UltraScore services, have been widely used in public schools in the state of California since 1995. As laws and regulations change from time to time, EdTech Associates is pleased as a matter of course to provide additional information about the background and methodology of its services. We hope that the transparency of our process enables you to fully understand and appreciate our services. EdTech Associates provides the following UltraScore services: Performance Study Nothing about the first 5 services on the above list is even remotely under the purview of the cited law and regulation, so there is no need to even address compliance issues. The UltraScore API AYP Improvement Study and UltraScore Remediation Lists are consultant-provided analysis services. They neither contain nor provide instructional materials. As such, they would not be governed by the California Board of Education's Legal and Social Compliance Review Process for Supplementary Instructional Materials. Separately, certain wording in Section 60611 of the California Education Code and Title 5, California Code of Regulations, section 854, may be construed as governing the use of consulted-provided analysis services. We cite the entire CDE regulation document below in plain text with commentary by EdTech Associates in indented underlined text: Policy on Preparation for State Tests and the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program Introduction: In general, the best preparation for state tests including the STAR tests is good instruction. This can be broadly defined as instruction in the content specified in California’s Academic Content Standards, employing the instructional principles and practices set forth in the content-area frameworks. It is the standards and the frameworks, therefore, that should guide instructional programs. The instructional program should be designed to ensure that students master the standards at their own and earlier grade levels, since the standards at particular grades are based on content introduced at earlier grades. The instructional program should ensure that students are able to demonstrate mastery of the content standards in multiple formats—e.g., multiple choice, short answer, and essay.
The instructional program should include practice assignments that are timed, and test reports for individual students and groups of students should be used to identify skill areas that may require emphasis.
A simple way to determine whether a contemplated test preparation procedure is permissible is to ask, “If the specific test for which I am preparing students were discontinued and a different test of the same type or of a different format were substituted, would my test preparation procedure remain the same or would it change?” If it would remain the same, then it probably is permissible because it is most likely generic preparation for any test or test format rather than for one specific test or format. On the other hand, if that test preparation would change, then it probably is not permissible because it is most likely intended to improve achievement on a particular test rather than to teach general test-taking skills.
Background As stated in Section 60611 of the California Education Code, “No city, county, city and county, or district superintendent of schools or principal or teacher of any elementary or secondary school shall carry on any program of specific preparation for the statewide pupil assessment program or a particular test used therein.” Further, as set forth in Title 5, California Code of Regulations, section 854, also in reference to the statewide testing program, “no program or materials shall be used by any school district or employee of a school district that are specifically formulated or intended to prepare pupils for the designated achievement tests.” Title 5 regulations, however, do permit the use of “materials specifically included within the designated achievement test,” including “practice tests provided by the publisher as part of the designated achievement test” (Title 5, California Code of Regulations, section 854).
The Standards for Educational and
Psychological Testing state that “the integrity of test results should be
maintained by eliminating practices designed to raise scores without
improving performance on the construct or domain being tested.” They
comment that practices such as “teaching test items in advance, modifying
test administration procedures, and discouraging or excluding certain test
takers from taking the test can lead to spuriously high scores that do not
reflect performance on the underlying construct or domain of interest”
(Standard 15.9). These standards also note that “the appropriateness of
test preparation activities can be evaluated . . . by determining the
extent to which test scores are artificially raised without actually
increasing students’ level of achievement” (Standard13.11).
California Department of Education Standards and Assessment Division Statement of Policy The following test preparation policy was adopted by the State Board of Education on September 7,2000: No city, county, city and county, or district superintendent of schools or principal or teacher is to use any test preparation materials or strategies developed for a specific test. This includes but is not limited to published materials, materials available on the Internet, and materials developed by schools, district or county offices of education, and/or outside consultants.
STAR Test Preparation Examples The STAR program consists of three tests: the designated achievement test, the designated primary language test, and the California Standards Tests. The first two tests are norm-referenced achievement tests; the California Standards Tests are criterion-referenced tests. All are multiple-choice tests designed to verify breadth of learning. The California Standards Tests at grades 4 and 7 also require students to produce a writing sample. The information below provides examples of test preparation practices that are and are not appropriate for the multiple-choice tests and standards-test writing assessments at grades 4 and 7. The practices identified here as appropriate and inappropriate represent specific applications of the statute and regulations. STAR Program Multiple-choice Tests Appropriate Test Preparation: Use practice tests provided by the test publisher as part of the state testing program. Prepare students with test-taking strategies designed to make them better at taking any type of test rather than to prepare them specifically for taking the STAR Program tests. This practice may, in fact, make the tests more valid by reducing the influence of factors such as previous testing experience. Examples of appropriate strategies might include: using time efficiently, understanding directions, placing answers correctly on answer sheets, checking answers, using the problem-solving tactics of educated guessing, estimating, and working problems backward, exposing students to various test formats, including questions that contain “none of above," all of above,” “not here,” negative wording, and true-false statements. The suggestions noted above apply to materials produced by test-preparation companies as well as those prepared by individual teachers, schools, districts, and county offices of education.
Inappropriate Test Preparation:
Conducting reviews or drills that use actual test items or identical
format items of the STAR Program tests.
In regard to the norm-referenced STAR tests, the norm groups to which California students are being compared received no specific preparation for these tests, so that the scores of students who do prepare for these specific tests may be invalid. Preparing students in ways that improve scores without improving underlying achievement. Using sample items to prepare practice items in the same format. Using alternate forms of the test. Practice with alternate forms affects the accuracy of generalizations that might be made about a student’s mastery of the content domain the test is designed to sample. Using copies of tests from previous years. Reviewing the test to be administered and then reviewing the test-specific curriculum content with students before administering the test.
California Standards Writing Tests at Grades 4 and 7 Appropriate Test Preparation: Have students write regularly in all content domains. The Reading/Language Arts Framework contains standards that describe writing strategies, applications, and conventions for these grade levels as well as teaching strategies for implementing these standards effectively. Have students edit their own work and the work of other students. Share scoring rubrics and sample papers with students and help them use these materials to evaluate their own writing. Provide written directions for writing prompts throughout the school year and teach students to identify key words in them. Teach students to reread directions for written assignments and then read their responses to verify that they have fulfilled all requirements.
Inappropriate Test Preparation: Having worksheets that only ask students to edit for mechanics, conventions, and the like. While not prohibited, these types of worksheets generally are not effective in helping students learn to write well. Focusing on one type of writing in the expectation that it will be tested during a specific year. This section is not intended to cover all inappropriate test preparation practices.
|
|
