Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 2

17 BY DR. DEBORAH SWENSON The Future of Assessment O ver the past fewyears the landscape of State Summative Assessments has seen significant changes such as paper based tests to adaptive computer tests. Once again the assessment landscape is changing. The 2017 state legislators passed significant modifications to the structure of the state public education assessment system. To strengthen the voice of the state’s public charter schools in the decisions being made in assessments, the UAPCS formed a new committee. The Assessment committee was created to work in behalf of charters in this critical area of education. The Assessment committee members are representative of high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. Committee members currently serving are Deborah Swensen - Hawthorn Academy, Anna Trevino - UCAS, Buddy Ivie - Freedom Academy, Lex Puffer-Syracuse Academy, Rick Kempton-Noah Webster Academy, Steve Davis – NUAMES, Sydney Young - Early Light Academy, Aimee Campbell - Ogden Preparatory Academy, and Tina Smith - UAPCS. The committee reviewed how the State Board of Education has identified and defined the purposes of assessment account- ability for the state’s public schools. The SBOE has articulated that its purpose is to encourage continuous improvement focused on student-level outcomes, recognize schools of excellence and growth, and identify the lowest performing schools that need additional resources to provide for improved student achievement. Based on this state focus, the Assessment committee has identified three key ways in which charter schools can increase their influence on the assessment and accountability decisions made in the state: 1) Charter schools need to be informed and have a meaningful voice in the process of revamping the statewide assessment system, 2) Track and influence the direction of the legisla- ture and the state board, and 3) Be strategic in how and when committee members and the UAPCS staff share recommendations. To achieve these goals the com- mittee is working to increase charter school representation on various assessment committees through com- munication with key personnel in the State Charter School Department, the Assessment and Accountability Department, and the Curriculum Department. Only through building these relationships and establishing a working partnership can charter schools influence the direction and decisions made in assessment and accountability for the students in our schools. The committee has begun to make connections to bring the voice of the state charter schools to committees and to key decision makers. Legislators who have authored legislation on state assessments have expressed an openness to meet during the interim session. Also, members of the Assessment committee recently met with Laura Belnap, SBOE member. During that meeting the committee members were able to articulate the frustration with the lack of clear communication in changes and the ability to have any influence on decisions made. Laura Belnap validated the concerns about communication and the involvement of other stakeholders on state committees. Noteworthy is the fact that many of the concerns raised by the committee in behalf of charter schools were the same concerns communicated to the UBOE by districts. As change occurs in the state’s accountability plan, there will be no grades for schools for the 2017-18 school year. In addition, the state will be changing the assessments for students and has distributed the following proposed timeline: In order to be proactive and provide valid feedback to the State Office, please stay informed. We will be presenting to the state’s charter schools the steps we are taking and welcome your input and feedback. It is our commitment to you to help keep you informed of changes being considered, the work of state committees, and opportunities for you to engage and have an impact on the direction of assessment in the state.