Mississippi State Board of EducationPresentation on

State Board Examination System

Lynn J. House, Ph.D.January 20, 2011

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Setting the Stage

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®

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Profile of Successful U.S. Firms in the Future

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Profile of Successful Workers

• Top academic performance in all five core areas: English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and the Arts

• Creative and innovative• Able to learn very quickly

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Portrait of a Failing System

Source: James Hunt, Jr. and Thomas Tierney, American

Higher Education: How Does It Measure Up for the 21st Century? (San Jose, CA.: National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, May 2006).7

First Principles of “Tough Choices or Tough Times”

(TCTT)• Recruit teachers from the top third• Let students move on when ready• Reprogram funds for higher payoff• Fewer, much higher quality tests in math,

science, language arts, social studies and the arts

• Create incentives for schools to perform• Give schools room to innovate 8

First Principles of TCTT

• Create lean, performance-oriented management systems

• Create a fair financing system so all kids have a good shot at success

• Reform our nineteenth century governance system for 21st century results

• Create the same opportunities for working adults

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Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) Report:

Skills for the 21st Century Fundamental Competencies

• Effective workers productively use: 1)Resources 4)Interpersonal skills

2)Information 5)Systems 3)Technology

Foundation Skills• Competent workers need:

1) Basic Skills 5) Thinking skills2) Creative Thinking 6) Decision-making3) Problem-solving 7) Knowing how to learn4) Reasoning 8) Personal qualities

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STATE BOARD EXAMINATION SYSTEM

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Pillars of Board Exam Systems

A sound core programof courses defining what it means to be an educated person

High quality exams derived from the curriculum using

multiple assessment methods

Thoughtfully constructed course

designs capturedin a syllabus

Quality teacher training

matched to the course syllabi

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Why Board Exams?

• Best global research shows that board exam systems key to success of many of world’s best performing systems for ALL students

• Why? Because they provide the support teachers need to teach well and students must have to succeed

• Crucially important for low-performing schools and students

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Standards+Test Systems vsCurriculum-Driven Systems

S+T Systems• Assumes standards and

tests alone will drive performance up

• No direct link to classroom practice

• Leaves the disadvantaged behind, with weak curriculum, weak teaching

C-D Systems• Assumes that aligned,

powerful instructional system is needed to drive high student performance

• Direct link to classroom practice

• Closes the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged

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How the State Board Examination System Would Work

Upper Div’n(AP, IB, ACT,

CTE, A Levels)

Upper Div’n(AP, IB, ACT,

CTE, A Levels)

Add’l time to meetComps.

Add’l time to meetComps.

2 Yr Open Admissions Institutions (OAI)

2 Yr Open Admissions Institutions (OAI)

WorkWork

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Lower Division Exam SystemCore Curriculum, Syllabi, Exams,

Teacher Training, All Set to Int’l Standards

4 Year Selective Institutions

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4 YrOAI4 YrOAI

Graduate EducationGraduate Education

ApproximateStudent

Age

Educational Pathway

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Move U

p When Ready

Move U

p When Ready

State Consortium on Board Examination Systems Options

Public Open Admission Colleges2-year4-year

Public Open Admission Colleges2-year4-year

Lower Division Board Examination System

High School Diploma Program

(exams can be taken/diplomas awarded as early as end of 10th grade)

Lower Division Board Examination System

High School Diploma Program

(exams can be taken/diplomas awarded as early as end of 10th grade)

Move on W

hen ReadyM

ove on When Ready

Accredited Career and Technical Programs

Accredited Career and Technical Programs

Upper Division Board Examination System

High School Diploma ProgramSTEM focusedCTE focused

Purely College Prep Focused

(exams can be taken/diplomas awarded as early as end of 12th

grade)

Upper Division Board Examination System

High School Diploma ProgramSTEM focusedCTE focused

Purely College Prep Focused

(exams can be taken/diplomas awarded as early as end of 12th

grade)

Public Open Admission 4-year

CollegeSelective 4-year

College

Public Open Admission 4-year

CollegeSelective 4-year

College

Public Open Admission 4-year

CollegeSelective 4-year

College

Public Open Admission 4-year

CollegeSelective 4-year

College

WorkplaceWorkplace

WorkplaceWorkplace

WorkplaceWorkplace

Public Open Admission

2-year College4-year College

Public Open Admission

2-year College4-year College

Age 14 - 17 (approx) Age 16 – 19 (approx) Age 17 – 23 (approx) Age 14 - 17 (approx) Age 16 – 19 (approx) Age 17 – 23 (approx)16

Board Exam Systems: The Best

College Board APs

Cambridge International Exams

ACT QualityCore

International Baccalaureate

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Lower Division Ready Now

• ACT QualityCore

• Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Exams

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Lower Division: A Closer Look

• Not elite programs• But designed to prepare students for elite

programs• Many bright students are dropping out

because they are bored• Can get students college-ready by 16• But give less-prepared students until 18• Assistance targeted to students’ weak points

in grades 11 and 12 can make all the difference

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Upper Division Ready Now

• ACT QualityCore• Cambridge AICE Exams• College Board Advanced Placement• International Baccalaureate

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Key Benefits

• Students motivated to take tough courses and study hard

• A very strong curriculum and teachers trained to teach it for schools and students with weak instructional resources

• A strong system for preparing the most able students for selective colleges

• A way to identify students not college-ready by the end of their sophomore year and to provide focused instruction on the things they must do to succeed

• Trading a time-in-the-seat system for one that rewards performance

• College entrants ready to do college-level work 21

Suggested Implementation

• Start with 4-10 demonstration schools• Make sure they are reasonably

representative• Try to set up feeder systems to include

higher education institutions• Volunteer schools, volunteer teachers,

volunteer students• Set up a specific diploma based on the

lower-division exams• Expand as system proves itself

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Accountability and Assessment

• After 2 years of data collection will be able to compare MS with other states

• State Board Exams will be utilized in the MS Accountability Model as data become available

• State Board Exam systems mesh well with Common Core State Standards and Assessments

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State Needs To:

• Collaborate on data for standard setting

• Get higher ed involved• Grant high school diploma to those

who meet the lower division board exam standards

• Develop a plan for scaling up

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Program Costs

• Exams: $50/student/5 courses

• Teacher Training: $850/teacher

• Materials: $35/student/5 courses• Totals approximately $32,000 per

cohort per year– Year One: If both Grades 9 and 11 - $64,000

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Sample Number of Students Participating

Yr 1 Yr 2 Yr 3 Yr4

Gr 9 (lower div.) 65 76 87 98

Gr 10 -0- 65 76 87

Gr 11 (upper div.) 59 69 74 83

Gr 12 -0- 59 69 70

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Program Evaluation

• Gates Grant to National Center on Education and the Economy to evaluate program success

• Ten states are exploring and/or planning the use of State Board Exam System(Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont)

• States will collaborate on implementation strategies

• NCEE will provide guidance and assistance

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Interest of MS Districts

• Seven districts attended initial information session including districts representative of various geographic areas and demographics.

• Four of those districts have expressed deep interest in moving forward.

• 100+ individuals representing over 50 districts registered for the second information session cancelled due to weather.

• Clear interest from districts in being innovative in seeking solutions to dropouts, apathy and lack of preparedness for college and careers.

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Proposed Next Steps

• Request approval to determine appropriate sites for pilot implementation for the State Board Exam System

• Hold information session for other interested districts

• Arrange assistance to districts from NCEE

• Identify which policies need discussion to allow full implementation of the pilots

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Questions ??

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