state board examination consortium arizona meeting november 2009
TRANSCRIPT
TOUGH CHOICES in Arizona
•Arizona a “Tough Choices” State
•Designed to address the “throughput” problem in elementary and secondary, and postsecondary education
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, Calif.: National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education, May 2006).
The Literacy Problem
• Majority of high school students graduate with 8th grade levels of literacy or less
• Arrive at college expected to do work at 13th grade level only two months later
• Students have no idea that they cannot do the work
• Consider the idea of moving from a time-in-the-seat qualification to a standards-based qualification
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
Why Board Exams?
• Best global research shows that board exam systems key to success of world’s best performing systems for ALL students
• Why? Because they provide the support students must have to succeed
• Crucially important for low-performing schools and students
Standards+Test Systems vs
Curriculum-Driven SystemsS+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
CD 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
The System: A Closeup
Upper Div’n(AP, IB, A Levels)
Work
12
16
18
Core Curriculum, Syllabi, Exams, Teacher Training, All Set to Int’l Standards
2 yr Open Admissions Instns
4 Year Selective Institutions
22
4 yr
Graduate Education
Lower Division Board Examination Program(syllabi, instr’l mat’s, exams, teacher trng)
Board Exams: The Best
College Board APs
Cambridge International Exams
ACT QualityCore
Edexcel
International Baccalaureate
Lower Division Ready Now
• ACT QualityCore
• Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Exams
• Edexcel IGCSE Exams
Lower Division: A Closer Look
• Not elite programs
• But designed to prepare students for elite programs
• Can get students college-ready by 16
• Many bright students are dropping out because they are bored
• But give less-prepared students until 18
• Help targeted to students weak points in grades 11 and 12 can make all the difference
Upper Division Ready Now
• ACT QualityCore• Cambridge AICE Exams• College Board Advanced Placement• Edexcel A-level version• International Baccalaureate
Board Exams: Next generation
• Additional vendors of lower division systems:– IB– College Board
• Cross-cutting skills• “Majors”• Career-oriented programs• Distinct instructional style options
• Cutting edge assessment techniques• Digital delivery systems
Board Exams: Relation to Common Core
Standards• Will compare to board examination
programs
• Will adjust board examination
programs to conform:
– Topics
– Challenge levels
Board Exams: Costs• Less than $100/student incremental at start
• Incremental costs for core program decline to zero
• Savings can be ploughed into support for students
• Decline in school revenues offset by decline in
dropouts, funds to support low performers
• Decline in community college revenues from
remedial programs offset by increase in
enrollments and increased persistence in system
• Vastly better results for same costs
Board Exams: Our Plan• Build state consortium committed to developing this system
• Create buyers co-op
• Provide venue for agreeing on requirements, doing psychometric work, building next generation curriculum and examinations
• Have access to the global intellectual talent needed to do this
Arizona Needs T0
• Agree to a common literacy standard across the states for entrance to open-admissions colleges without remediation, expressed as a score on the lower-division exams
• Use all or a subset of the consortium-approved exams in your demonstration high schools
• Administer the lower division exams at the end of the sophomore year to all students who wish to take them and
• Admit all who pass to your public open-admissions colleges the following fall
What You Will Get as a Member of the Consortium
• Powerful method of raising student achievement
• A seat at the table for design of multi-state system
• Big cost savings• Access to high powered TAC• The ability to compare your scores to those of other states and countries on internationally benchmarked examinations
What’s in it for Arizona Higher Ed
Institutions?• You will get students ready to do
college level work
• You will eventually get out of the
remedial education business, while, at
the same time:
• You will get many more students applying
to your institutions who are ready to do
the work
• Access will improve and persistence will
greatly increase
Next Steps
• You need to let Tom Horne and
the P-20 Council know that you
think this is a good idea and
that you are willing to admit
students who have passed their
board exams as soon as they
pass them