[Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Assessment Advisory: Opt-Out Form Feedback

[Bain, Brian]

OK.  Now I've read Joe's response... and I agree, we need a spot for the student ID and/or school.  I actually had written those down, and forgot to include it.

I also thought it was odd to include a link to House Bill 2655.  I wasn't sure the purpose of doing that.


Brian Bain
District Assessment Coordinator
Tigard-Tualatin School District
6960 SW Sandburg St, Tigard, OR 97223
503-431-4120 - bbain at ttsd.k12.or.us<mailto:bbain at ttsd.k12.or.us>

From: Assessment_Advisory_Committee [mailto:assessment_advisory_committee-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of Joseph Suggs
Sent: Monday, November 02, 2015 1:21 PM
To: CARTER Holly; assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us
Cc: KOCH Meg
Subject: Re: [Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Assessment Advisory: Opt-Out Form Feedback

Here's my input (kind of long - sorry):
On the information side of the page:

*         I disagree with the statement "Our new tests take about the same amount of time as previous state tests." I also think parents who are choosing to opt-out will take extreme exception to the accuracy of this statement. I'd recommend striking that sentence.

*         Next paragraph - the use of "new baseline" and "next school" year are confusing. This paragraph reads as if the 2015-16 results are being considered baseline even though we have 2014-15 results. This needs clarification, particularly around the use of "baseline."

*         Under "When will my child test?" - I recommend changing "Your child's school district will determine the specific dates . . ." to "will determine your district's windows" or that "Your child's school [strike district] will determine . . ." As worded, this will confuse parents and teachers. Districts determine the windows and schools the specific testing dates (at least in our case, that's how it works).

*         Right side - I like the third bullet (one piece of . . .) and like to see that repeated everywhere we talk about summative tests. Thanks for including that.

*         Fourth bullet - "they are considered on track to graduate" is a little different than language we've heard and have been using. Our language has been "on track to be college and career ready." Suggest reviewing the message here and consider revising wording if appropriate.

*         Under Statewide Testing Windows, I recommend adding a note underneath the windows or at the top, something like, "Local district testing windows may vary from the broad state windows."

*         In that same box, it lists both SBA and Extended windows. I thought from prior communications this form applies only to SBA. If that's true, then I recommend removing the Extended dates. If that's been revised and it now applies to both tests then that's news to me and maybe needs better or more explicit communication.

*         Under Stay Informed at the bottom, I'd recommend more generic language like "Talk to your child's school" rather than specifying roles like teacher or principal as the point of contact specifically around testing (the STC) will be different roles in different schools.

On the opt-out side of the form:

*         Remove "Understanding Your Child's Progress" from the header. I'm guessing this is repeated from the other page, but doesn't really fit here.

*         Add an * behind "adult students" in the Description of Rights section and then again at the end of "This section must be completed . . ." so that it references the note at the bottom about the definition of an adult student.

*         Strike the comma in the first sentence under Description of Rights.

*         I would recommend the form be submitted to the school office rather than the district. This may present different challenges in large versus smaller districts, but in PPS we want everything to go through the school first then to us so that we know the school is aware of (and had an opportunity to answer questions if needed) the form, can make sure it is filled out correctly, etc., and because the school should be the primary point of contact for parents anyway. So, I recommend changing "school district" to "school" in the first sentence or have the ability to edit certain parts of this form to meet local needs.

*         I strongly recommend adding a place for both Student ID (either local or SSID, I don't care which, although we'd probably prefer local ID) and school name.

*         Recommend adding "Smarter Balanced" in front of the ELA and Math boxes to check unless this really does also apply to the Extended Assessment, in which case, ignore this suggestion.

*         I recommend adding a sentence somewhere to the effect of "To opt-out of any other state require tests see . . ." I'm not sure the best wording, but that will direct parents a bit for ELPA, KA, etc. and reduce some confusion.

*         "To best support school district planning" paragraph is confusing/inconsistent. The first sentence "encourages" submission by January 9. The next sentences uses "should" language. If this is a required deadline (and I fully support a required deadline) then the language should reflect it as a requirement.

*         The January 9 date does not allow any time (if it is a requirement) for submitting forms after the district-required notification date. Can districts have the ability to modify the due date on this form? Again, I would like to have a due date; I feel that January 9 is too soon.

*         In the "I understand that by signing" sentence, I think most or all of our opt out parents will take strong exception to agreeing that they are losing "valuable" information. I'd recommend striking "valuable" or using a different adjective there.


Some more general questions:

*         What are the distribution requirements? Does it have to be mailed, etc?

*         Who are the required recipients? Only parents of students in grades 3-8 and 11 or must we also distribute to students who will take ELPA, Science, etc.? What about 12th graders (presumably they wouldn't opt-out as that's voluntary, but clarification would be good).

*         Will this be translated? I presume just into Spanish. What is the timing of translations?

Thanks for asking for input. As you know this was a pretty big deal in PPS last year and while we really appreciate a district form, the comments above are a reflection of a lot our experience and learning on this topic from last year.
Joe


From: Assessment_Advisory_Committee [mailto:assessment_advisory_committee-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of CARTER Holly
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2015 1:33 PM
To: assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us<mailto:assessment_advisory_committee at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Cc: KOCH Meg
Subject: [Assessment_Advisory_Committee] Assessment Advisory: Opt-Out Form Feedback
Importance: High

Hi All,

As communicated in a numbered memo released on September 10th, ODE will be publishing a combined Opt-Out form and 30-day notice for districts to access on November 9th. To date, ODE has shared drafts of the form with parent focus groups and partners such as  OEA, the Chief Education Office, OSBA, Stand for Children, and the Chalkboard Project. Based on feedback from these groups, ODE has made several revisions in order to address concerns about the language, accessibility, format, and content. These changes include, but are not limited to:

*         Removing redundant or ineffective phrases, like college- and career-readiness

*         Simplifying page 1 text

*         Providing additional information about state tests

*         Encouraging parents to talk to their child's teachers and school principals

*         Providing links to resources and acknowledging House Bill 2655

*         Moving away from overselling the results of Smarter Balanced

*         Broadening the language for opting out to include Smarter Balanced ELA and math tests and the extended assessments

*         Remove and soften the language on page 2 about when parents/adult students should return the form

*         Add the qualifier "may" to the bolded statement above the parent signature

Before finalizing the form for publication, we wanted one last opportunity to gather feedback. We value your input, and request that you please send any feedback to Meg Koch (meg.koch at state.or.us<mailto:meg.koch at state.or.us>) no later than end of day next Wednesday, November 4. Once finalized, we will disseminate the form to schools and districts November 9 as planned. In our message to schools, we will include additional resources to assist them in communicating with parents and students.

Thank you,

Holly Carter
Interim Director of Assessment
Office of Learning | Inst., Stand., Asmt, &Acc. Unit | Oregon Department of Education
Phone: 503.947.5739 | Fax: 503.378.5156 | *holly.carter at state.or.us
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