NCEO StateLinks

Many states are developing science alternate assessments for implementation in 2007-08. Our research and policy presenters will discuss key issues to consider about the science content to be taught and assessed as states work on development or pilots this year. They will pose questions states should ask and answer based on what we are learning about how students with significant cognitive disabilities build and demonstrate competence in the science domain. The call will include three segments.

First, University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC) and National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC) researchers Ginevra Courtade and Claudia Flowers will address what we know about how students with significant cognitive disabilities develop competence in science. This information will be based on a science instruction research project for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Posted examples of student work in the science domain, and discussion of what we know about science instruction for typical students will help in the consideration of the evidence needed for grade-level/span linkage/alignment.

Second, Brian Gong from the Center for Assessment (NCIEA) will frame the key decisions states have to make on linkage to grade level/span science content for instruction and for assessment, and how they can document, defend, and study implications of their decisions over time. These key decisions are important because we are still learning what students with the most significant cognitive disabilities can do when taught well.

Third, state staff from Delaware and New York will serve as discussants for these presentations, as a frame and introduction to an expanded discussion section involving all participants.

When states or entities have common goals to improve their assessment systems, there are model ways of partnering with others to achieve that goal. The Pacific entities, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Guam, the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI), and the Republic of Palau (ROP) have joined together to strategically draw on federal, regional, and national partners’ resources. Collaboratively, they work in this partnership in order to identify needs and implement changes in their assessment systems.

The six entities (the PAC6) find that collaborating and sharing the cost to secure the needed support and training is a successful strategy, and have found additional partners are essential to their success. They have asked the federally funded Center for Excellence in their region, the University of Guam Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (Guam CEDDERS) to organize their collaborative efforts, and the OSEP funded Western Regional Resource Center (WRRC) to help them with ongoing technical assistance to implement changes. To ensure their plans meet current standards of quality for inclusive standards-based assessment systems, they have invited the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) to provide a series of focused capacity building institutes in the region, including invited national experts on topics related to their identified needs. The January 2007 institute was held in Guam; the accompanying photos are of the cross-disciplinary teams that attended from across the Pacific.

The Pacific region is large. But even with partnering entities across the vast western and southern Pacific, this consortium models a cohesive and cost effective strategy for addressing shared goals and building capacity for their inclusive assessment and accountability systems.

The entities were able to fund their collaborative work in part through an OSEP funded General Supervision Enhancement Grant (GSEG) for planning, and 6 entity GSEGs for implementation.