Report Cards: Winter, 2013
Program Evaluation
The Program Evaluation Department coordinates a range of assessment and evaluation projects including School Accountability Report Cards (SARC), Parent Surveys, and Williams/Valenzuela Service Data Summaries. The department also manages and supports the implementation of DataDirector, our district's assessment database.
We provide training for site testing coordinators and oversee the distribution, administration, collection, and security of all state and district assessments.
To help facilitate informed decision-making the Program Evaluation Department analyzes, interprets, and disseminates student achievement results to schools, district office staff, and the community.
Pajaro Valley Unified School District Main Line: 831-786-2100
THE PROGRAM EVALUATION STAFF
Frances Basich Whitney - Research, Accountability, & Assessment Coordinator - x2577
Carolyn Denise Garcia - Testing Specialist II - x2971
Lori Hallett - Assessment Analyst - x2970
Services
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The Program Evaluation Office coordinates the following list of tests for students within the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and prepares the reports listed below. The Office is located at 294 Green Valley Road, Watsonville. |
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District Tests STAR Writing Test for Grades 4 & 7 |
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Data Source Book |
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Custom Test Reports |
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Manages Data Director (Assessment Program) |
SBAC Sample Performance Assessment Items Now Available
The sample items and performance tasks can be accessed from the Smarter Balanced website athttp://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks /
"The Smarter Balanced sample items and performance tasks provide an advance look at the types of questions students will encounter when the assessments are implemented in the 2014-15 school year," said Joe Willhoft, Ph.D., Executive Director of Smarter Balanced. "Educators can use them to begin planning the shifts in instruction that will be required to help students meet the demands of the new assessments."
The samples include nearly 50 assessment items and performance tasks, including examples of technology-enhanced items that take advantage of computer-based administration to assess a deeper understanding of content and skills than would otherwise be possible with traditional item types. In addition, sample performance tasks showcase the extended classroom-based activities students will experience as part of the Smarter Balanced assessment system.
"Performance tasks ask students to research and analyze information, weigh evidence, and solve problems relevant to the real world, allowing students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an authentic way," said Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University and senior research advisor for Smarter Balanced. "The Smarter Balanced assessment system uses performance tasks to measure skills valued by higher education and the workplace--critical thinking, problem solving, and communication--that are not adequately assessed by most statewide assessments today."
The sample items and performance tasks include several features to help teachers, students, and parents prepare for the new assessments. Each item has detailed information about the standards and assessment targets being measured. In addition, most selected-response and technology-enhanced items can be automatically scored, providing instant feedback to users. Scoring rubrics are available for constructed-response items and performance tasks. Select English language arts/literacy items include a text complexity analysis that explains how quantitative and qualitative factors were evaluated to determine the appropriate grade level of a passage.
Smarter Balanced is working with K-12 teachers and higher education faculty to write and review assessment items and performance tasks. Among those that provided feedback on draft items and tasks was Student Achievement Partners, an organization founded by contributing authors of the Common Core State Standards.
The sample items and performance tasks that were released represent just a small fraction of the more than 10,000 items and tasks being written to support the Pilot Test in early 2013. In addition, the Smarter Balanced sample items are displayed in a simulated test platform that does not include accessibility tools and accommodations options that will be available through the operational assessment system (e.g., Braille, translation options, and the ability to change font size, highlight text, or magnify portions of items).
The sample items and performance tasks can be accessed from the Smarter Balanced website athttp://www.smarterbalanced.org/sample-items-and-performance-tasks /
