assessment

EPIC conducts research and designs academic tools in an effort to create new methods to assess the college readiness of high school students. New methods are necessary because current assessments and tests do not necessarily gauge student cognitive capabilities and strategies of the type they will be expected to demonstrate in entry-level college courses and beyond.

Additionally, major changes in the roles of state and federal governments, financing of education, and expectations for schooling have led to policy initiatives that require students to meet standards on high school assessments in order to graduate. EPIC recognizes the need to develop a means of assessing students who have the requisite knowledge and skills, but do not perform well on standardized tests.

College-readiness Performance Assessment System

The ultimate goal of the College-readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS) is to create a formative assessment system that schools, districts, and states can employ to help ensure students are truly ready for success in college. Current state tests tend to emphasize mastery of specific content knowledge. C-PAS is designed so the results can be used in combination with tests of content knowledge, thereby generating a performance profile of a student that indicates college readiness along two distinct but closely interconnected dimensions: key cognitive strategies and content knowledge. As noted in the four-part conceptual model of college readiness upon which the system is built, these are the two central dimensions of college readiness.

The Urban Assembly schools in New York are currently engaged in field trials of C-PAS in 5 high schools and 5 middle schools. The results of the field trials will be analyzed and used to refine the assessment system. EPIC is currently working with several other networks of schools to conduct additional field tests of C-PAS.

Washington Assessment of Student Learning/Washington Alternative Assessment

PAST PROJECT view report

EPIC contracted with the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to design and pilot alternative methods of assessment to the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). The Alternative Assessment Pilot project determined how best to implement in Washington high schools a Collection of Evidence designed by EPIC. The pilot focused on creating the submission guidelines, model work samples, scoring guides, and management processes necessary for implementation. The Pilot included 26 high schools, skill centers, and alternative schools. Each school generated student work samples in reading, writing, or mathematics. These were submitted as a collection that met specified submission guidelines and were then scored by a panel of educators in April 2006.

In addition, two related alternative assessment models were developed:

1) A method in which grade point average could be used in combination with a student's WASL score and the grades of students who took similar courses in the school to determine if the student met the passing standard for the test.

2) An appeals process to to take into consideration unique circumstances that affect some students as they attempt to take and pass the WASL

Based on the findings of the Pilot and related studies, policies and procedures of an alternative assessment system were developed for implementation during the 2006-2007 academic year.