Research on Testing & Assessment

On March 11, the State Board of Education (SBE) voted to suspend the Annual Performance Index (API) for the second year. This second year of suspension gives the board time to transform the current system, based on entirely on test score data, to a more inclusive performance index. 

 Further testing and assessment for accountability purposes in California continues to hang in limbo. With the shift to Common Core standards in math and English language arts, the Smarter Balanced testing continues this spring. However, as Ed Source writes in their coverage of the API suspension, it may be several years before the Smarter Balanced test can serve as performance indicator for schools or districts. Additionally, as reported by the Cabinet Report, the SBE plans to petition Arne Duncan (U.S. Education Secretary) to use participation rates instead of test scores for accountability purposes.

In a guidance letter the U.S. Department of Education permits states “administering new college-and career-ready-aligned assessments in the 2014-2015 school year to not assign schools new ratings based on those assessments.” However, Keric Ashley, the CDE’s interim deputy superintendent over testing and student achievement said: “We’re not sure what the new guidance means for California,” Ashley said. “So we are going to bring it back to the board and have further discussions about what they want to do.”
 
Clearly both politically and within California’s local education agencies (LEAs) testing and assessment is in flux. As highlighted earlier in this E-Bulletin, State Board President Michael Kirst requests feedback from LEA leaders regarding testing in California. In light of these current issues we highlight several research briefs and resources that provide a quick coverage of research on testing and assessment topics.
 

Testing & Assessment Research Briefs

• Learning from the Past: Drawing on California’s CLAS Experience to Inform Assessment of the Common Core from the California Collaborative on District Reform
• Summary of Research on Statewide Assessment System Components from WestEd
• A New Vision for Accountability by Linda Darling-Hammond published in the American School Board Journal (September 2013)
• Improving the Validity of English Language Learner Assessment Systems from UCLA’s National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, & Student Testing (CRESST)
• The Role of Interim Assessments in a Comprehensive Assessment System from non-profits Achieve, Inc, the Center for Assessment, and The Aspen Institute.