November+PARCC+Bytes

This month we will be focusing on Accessibility Features and Accommodations; however, we will start the month with a reminder of the timeline for PARCC Administration for the 2014-2015 school year. In the graphic below, the assessments in ** magenta ** are the required assessments and the ones in ** teal ** are optional assessments. The graphic shows that during the first semester, there are two optional assessments with flexible administration dates; they are the “**Diagnostic Assessment**” and the “**Mid-Year Assessment**”. **//These will not be administered in Harlem during the 2014-2015 school year.//**
 *  November ** **7**

There is also a “**Speaking and Listening Assessment**” that will be required during first semester each year. **//This assessment will not be ready for administration during the 2014-2015 school year.//**



[|PARCC Parking Lot]
 * The required assessments we will be administering next year are the Performance-Based Assessment, PBA, that will be administered in March and the End-of-Year Assessment that will be administered in May. **

This month we will be focusing on accessibility and modifications for when taking PARCC Assessments. All students will have access to some accessibility features, while other students may have additional modifications.
 * November 14 **

rom the PARCC website: ====**PARCC is committed to providing all students, including but not limited to, students with disabilities, English learners, and underserved populations with __equitable__ access to high-quality, 21st-century PARCC assessments. **====

====The first edition of the [|PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual]  is a comprehensive policy document that provides guidance to districts and decision-making teams to ensure that the PARCC Mid-Year, Performance-Based, and End-of-Year Assessments provide valid results for all participating students. ==== ====By implementing Universal Design principles, leveraging technology, and offering accommodations, PARCC intends to provide opportunities for the widest possible number of students to demonstrate what they know and can do while maintaining high expectations for all students. ====

**Goals for Promoting Student Access **

 * ====Apply principles of **universal design** for accessible assessments throughout every stage of developing assessment components, items, and performance tasks ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Minimize/eliminate features of the assessment that are irrelevant to what is being measured, so that all students can more **accurately demonstrate their knowledge and skills** ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Measure the **full range** of complexity of the standards ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Leverage technology for delivering assessment components as widely accessible as possible ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Build accessibility throughout the test itself with **no trade-off between accessibility and validity** ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Use a combination of **‘accessible’-authoring and accessible technologies** from the inception of items and tasks ====
 * ====<span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">Established **Committees on Accessibility, Accommodations, and Fairness** comprised of knowledgeable testing officials from member states and national experts Open Policies for Public Comment ====


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 1.5;">November 21 **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">This month we will are focusing on providing modifications for students when taking PARCC Assessments. PARCC provides certain accessibility features for **//all//** students.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">On PARCC technology-based assessments, accessibility features are tools or preferences that are either built into the assessment system or provided externally by test administrators. Accessibility features //can be used by any student taking the PARCC assessments// (i.e., students with and without disabilities, gifted students, English learners, and English learners with disabilities). Since the accessibility features are intended for all students, they are not classified as accommodations. Students should be exposed to these features prior to testing, and should have the opportunity to select and practice using them. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Accessibility features are intended to benefit a wide range of students, and **//are available to any student at his or her discretion during testing//**. Practice tests with accessibility features will be made available for teacher and student use throughout the year.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">What are Accessibility Features? **

T <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">here are “layers” of features available. We will discuss each separately throughout the rest of the month.

**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif;">November 28 **
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The decision-making process for selecting PARCC assessment accommodations for students with disabilities, English learners, and English learners with disabilities should include consideration of at least the three factors:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Decision-Making Process **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Factor 1: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Student characteristics and learning needs (e.g., disabilities, language proficiency, accommodations used in classroom instruction/assessments to access and perform in academic standards and State tests)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Factor 2: **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Individual test characteristics (i.e., knowledge about what tasks are required on PARCC assessments and ways to remove physical and other barriers to students’ ability to perform those tasks)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Factor 3 **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">: PARCC accommodations policies that maintain the validity of assessment results.