Stuart Shaw Principal Researcher - PowerPoint Presentation

Stuart ShawPrincipal ResearcherCCSSO, Texas, June 2017 Peer Review Submission from the stance and perspective of a UK-based international awarding body Evidence and Information Needed and Provided for using Nationally Recognized High School Assessments for ESSA

Presenter’s Name Job Title Date Space for subtitle 20pt PART 1: Cambridge International Curriculum coherent, aligned, instructional systemevidencing primary measurement standardsPART 2: Peer review submissionsubmission of the Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education to Arizona State Board of Education for consideration of their inclusion on the Menu of Assessments Outline

PART 1Cambridge International Curriculum

Increased latitude afforded by guidelines embodied within ESSA legislation Cambridge programs of learning and assessment set standards that: provide fair, valid, reliable accountability allowing rigorous interventions in the lowest performers meaningfully map towards readiness for college or careerprovide local flexibility to achieve resultsCambridge stakeholders agree that its curriculum: nurtures 21st Century skillsoffers sensitivity to student cohorts for whom English is not a first languageencourages independent thinking and active learningenables learners to apply knowledge and understanding in logically ordered and coherent argumentsCambridge International Curriculum

Aligned instructional system - characteristic of a good educational programassessment cannot be decoupled from teaching & learning in the classroom (e.g. Pellegrino, Choi, Venddlinksi, Baker & Herman, 2001 ) Alignment occurs when curriculum, pedagogy and assessment are mutually supportive relationship between how curriculum is taught, a learners’ exposure to curriculum, and performance on assessments (Schmidt et. al., 2001)Cambridge provides coherent assessments that form part of school curriculumCambridge learner attributes - Reflective, Confident, Innovative, Responsible, Engaged intended to help schools think about cross-curricula competenciesCambridge process made transparent to teachers and students through: training events, conferences, professional development qualificationsprovision of teacher support materials support for exams officers in administering examinations   Progressive , aligned, competency-based curriculum

Continuum starting at the age of 5 and running through to the age of 18 or 19 Four stages in Cambridge international programs and qualifications: Cambridge Primary (grades 1-5) & Secondary 1 (grades 6-8) - diagnostic feedbackCambridge Secondary 2 & Cambridge Advanced - International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for 14-16 year olds (grades 9-10)International Advanced Subsidiary (AS Level) & Advanced Level (A level) for 16-19 year olds (grades 11-12)AICE Diploma - prescribed number A level and/or AS level more than 550 US institutions formally recognize AICE/A/AS qualifications The Cambridge International Curriculum

IGCSE/international AS/A Level - certificated by means of an award-based examination common in high-performing jurisdictions such as the UK, Singapore, Hong Kong and many other countriesAward-based system – no attempt to pre-calibrate difficulty of items thresholds determined after performance data have been collected, quality-assured, analyzed Awarding process - combination of technical and statistical evidence and professional judgement to determine cut scoresaligning standard in any one examination series (e.g. June 2019) with standard applied in earlier series‘maintaining the standard’ - ‘standard’ refers to standard of performance required to achieve available gradesMaintaining the standard - ensure valid conclusions are drawn from results validity - extent to which assessment is assessing what it is intended to assess and flows out to uses to which information from the assessment is being put Awarding-based assessments

Ensure high quality through four major processes in assessment:s yllabus - statement of academic content to be covered; knowledge, understanding, skills to be acquired; scheme of assessment to be applied design of the tests: production of tests for each administration with scoring rubrics that show how Examiners will score (‘mark’) the students’ responsesprocess of scoring (‘marking’) the students’ responsesgrading: conversion of total numerical mark to format of result usedIGCSE: A*, A, B, C, D, E, F, G or U (ungraded) in each subjectGrade G – 1st passing grade AS Levels are graded from A* to E or U (ungraded) in each subject Grade E – 1 st passing gradeCore & Extended Tiers Validity ensured by measures to ensure security of materials up to point of examination Quality assurance of Cambridge qualifications

Post-hoc validation exercises take place after examination and issue of results Validation ultimately guided by identification of threats to validity:construct under/over representation construct irrelevance Two validation strategies in parallel: experimental validation strategy - full post-hoc validation studies operational validation strategy - gathering/synthesis of procedural evidence currently generated routinely within operational processesEvidence-based validation research designed to ensure that:demonstrate the important subject constructsassessment outcomes are a reflection of quality of performance on the tasksperformance is indicative of potential performance on all possible tasks in syllabus indication of likely wider performance, both within subject being assessed and beyondindication of success in further study/employment and can be used to make appropriate decisions regarding college entry and ability in employment The Cambridge validation program

PART 2Submission of IGCSE to Arizona State Board of Education for the consideration of their inclusion on the Menu of Assessments

Cambridge and independent organisation - The National Centre for Education and the Economy (NCEE) consider alignment of Cambridge to either US Common Core Standards (USCCS) or Arizona College and Career Ready Standards ( ACCRS)Evidence of equivalency & rigour of Cambridge qualifications submitted for peer review compared to relevant ACCRSCambridge small-scale studies - ‘mapping studies’ how well each Cambridge subject matches subject content and cognitive skills laid out in Academic Standards Alignment Studies Cambridge syllabi offered for inclusion in the Menu of Assessments Cambridge IGCSE English First Language (US) (code 0524) Cambridge IGCSE Literature (English) (US) (code 0427) Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics (US) (code 0444) Cambridge IGCSE Additional Mathematics (US) (code 0459) Cambridge AS Level Language and Literature in English (code 8695)

Aim: alignment to the ACCRS Methodology: subject experts with experience of education & assessmentassessment objectives and subject content (Cambridge syllabuses) mapped for each subject IGCSE Mathematics (US) & IGCSE Additional Mathematics ( US)nearly all of Algebra 1 standards explicitly and directly matched (Extended) all of Arizona Mathematical Standards for Geometry directly matched across syllabuses (Extended)nearly all of Arizona Mathematical Standards for Algebra 2 explicitly and directly matched (Extended) IGCSE First Language Englishgood overlap with Reading Standards for Literature and Reading Standards for Informational Textsgood overlap with Writing standards and Language standardsIGCSE Literature (English) very high overlap with Reading Standards for Literature Standards; some overlap with skills but no overlap with content in Reading Standards for Informational Text standards; degree of overlap with Writing Standards - analytical writing but also narrative writingAS Level Language and Literature in English high alignment between Arizona Reading Standards for Literature, Writing standards and Cambridge - Imaginative Writing (narrative) & Writing for Audience (discursive/argumentative) literary texts in different forms (prose, poetry and drama) Alignment Study: ACCRS (adopted 2016)

Sets of CCSS mapped to Cambridge subjects IGCSE Mathematics (US) & IGCSE Additional Mathematics ( US) good degree of similarity between two small number of standards not explicit in syllabus (do not form part of assessment) however, standards covered in scheme of work ‘Scheme of Work Cambridge IGCSE Mathematics’ (US) 0444 and therefore they can be incorporated into teaching programIGCSE First Language English & IGCSE Literature (English) high degree of similarity (overlap) between Arizona’s ELA standards and Cambridge IGCSE Literature (English) for Reading Standards for Literature in particular Cambridge First Language English - close match for Reading for Key Ideas and Details and for Craft and Structure; Writing; Speaking and Listening; and Languageschemes of work would help teachers to address any instances in which there was a risk of not covering any of the standardsAlignment Study: CCSS/ACCRS CCSS/ACCRS (2010) for... were mapped to Cambridge subject/s… English Language Arts grades 9/10 IGCSE First Language English IGCSE Literature (English) High School Mathematics IGCSE Mathematics (US) IGCSE Additional Mathematics (US)

Independent study carried out by National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) (2014) Aim: extent to which English IGCSE programs reflected relevant CCSS how well balanced IGCSEs were relative to expectations of relevant CCSSwhether levels of intellectual challenge posed by IGCSEs were consistent with Common Core expectationsPanel of subject experts comparing items of two sets of IGCSE testsmaking holistic judgments about how well end-of-course examination aligned to Common Core expectationsIndependent NCEE alignment to the CCSS CCSS compared to Cambridge English Language Arts grades 9/10 IGCSE First Language English (Extended tier) IGCSE Literature (English)

a strong, rigorous program that is well aligned with CCSS in both content and intellectual challenge Panelists thought the examinations for both courses did an excellent job of addressing a majority of the Common Core, but because of some gaps in coverage, they uniformly rated the alignment as “Good”’ ‘ Good’ is defined in ‘The Alignment of the University of Cambridge International Examinations’ International General Certificate of Secondary Education – English Language Arts Examinations with the Common Core State ’ as …. “the test samples a strong swath of standards, given available test time; it mostly gives priority to those standards that are most important and does so at a level of rigor that generally is consistent with the spirit and demands of the grade level standards. There may be gaps because of the nature of the assessment (i.e. paper-pencil), but the assessed content is strong. The assessment serves a strong signaling function: it communicates most of what is important for students to know and be able to do.”Independent NCEE alignment to the CCSS

Cambridge’s core mission is to assess classroom learning and one of Cambridge’s goals is teaching students how to learnSubject syallbuses offered to Arizona State Board of Education’s Menu of Assessments are aligned to Arizona’s College and Career Readiness Standards seamless learning experience for students, using assessments that are a part of tightly integrated instructional system already in place in Cambridge schoolsProposal will demonstrate that Cambridge not only meets all of ESSA’s six critical elements but also offers a simple solution to Arizona schools seeking to focus on one coherent and aligned instructional and assessment system to ensure students master Arizona standards at college and career readiness levelConclusion

Thank you for your attention

Learn more!Getting in touch with Cambridge is easy Email us atinfo@cie.org.uk or telephone +44 (0) 1223 553554 www.cie.org.uk