Agenda Item: PSAT Programming Meeting Date: October 6, 2015 From: Through: Background West Hartford Public Schools Dr. Nancy DePalma, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment Tom Moore, Superintendent In December of 2014, we made a presentation to the WHPS Board of Education on the redesign of the SAT, outlining the impending changes to College Board s suite of college readiness assessments including the PSAT. This month, the current junior class will participate in the redesigned Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test otherwise known as the PSAT/NMSQT. This same group of students is targeted to take the new SAT beginning in March of 2016. Participation in the PSAT/NMSQT is elective and as a district we generally see roughly 80% participation among the junior class. Registration for the PSAT/NMSQT occurs through the school counseling offices. Fee waivers are available for families who qualify for the free/reduced lunch program. Since the late 1990s, West Hartford has provided all tenth grade students with the opportunity to take the PSAT/NMSQT free of charge. Tenth grade participation was traditionally intended to provide sophomores with a no-risk practice opportunity to learn the format and scope of the assessment. The College Board has always provided PSAT takers with detailed score reports that enabled students to analyze their response patterns relative to item content and difficulty level. With the redesign of both the SAT and the PSAT to closely match the high school core curriculum, and the State s recent announcement of the SAT as its new high school accountability measure, these opportunities take on greater significance to benchmark student progress toward college readiness and to inform our instructional planning. In January of this year, following our report on the SAT redesign, we announced an opportunity for freshman and sophomore students to participate in a free pilot of the PSAT. The community seized upon this opportunity with some 200(+) students at each high school giving up over 4 hours of personal time on a Saturday morning to participate. A total of approximately 200 freshmen students participated in a pilot of the redesigned PSAT 8/9 while another roughly 200 sophomores participated in the PSAT. Given the overwhelming response, and in recognition of the relevance of assessment results and community interest, this year, we have chosen to expand our offering of nocost PSAT practice opportunities to include 9 th graders. PSAT Opportunities for grades 9-11 The second Wednesday of October serves as a nationally established PSAT school-based testing day. On Wednesday, October 14 th, Conard and Hall freshmen, sophomores, and juniors will have the opportunity to participate in either the PSAT 8/9 (freshmen) or PSAT/NMSQT (sophomores Agenda Item: VI. B. 2.
and juniors). This year represents the first administration of the redesigned PSAT and the first year that freshmen students will have the opportunity to participate. Historically, given the scope of PSAT testing at the high school, freshmen students would have some form of specialized programming typically connected to CAPT instruction and preparation while seniors will have late arrival or a student space to work or read their favorite literature. Given the move from CAPT to Smarter Balanced and now to the SAT as our state accountability measure (at the high school) alongside the dramatic community interest in the redesigned PSAT and its relevance for instructional planning, the district moved to provide all freshmen with an equivalent opportunity provided to sophomores and juniors. The PSAT parallels the SAT relative to its design and scope, measuring students understanding of Reading, Writing and Language, and Mathematics (both calculator and non-calculator sections). Unlike the SAT, there is no essay option. PSAT tests are 2 hours and 45 minutes plus time for breaks and administration logistics. Under the redesign, scores are aligned across the suite of college readiness assessments. Score reports for the PSAT provide a stunning level of detail to support individual and collective (class or school-based) instructional planning. Students can avail themselves of additional targeted support through the College Board on-line portal. Additionally, if students choose to link their results to Khan Academy, they can receive personalized practice recommendations free of charge. Summary of the Redesign The redesign of the PSAT/SAT focuses on key concepts and analytic and interpretive skills practiced within the broader K-12 high school curriculum. The major features of the assessment redesign center on the following changes: Words in context students engage in close reading of text to interpret the meanings of relevant vocabulary words Command of evidence students are asked to interpret, synthesize, and use evidence found in a wide range of sources, support chosen answers, and integrate information from passages and informational graphics Math that matters most students encounter questions that focus on problem solving, data analysis, mastery of linear equations, and familiarity with more complex topics Problems grounded in real-world contexts questions that relate directly to college and career ready skills grounded in contexts that include science, social sciences, as well as other fields or careers Analysis in science and in history/social studies students apply their reading, writing, language, and mathematics skills to solve problems in a broad array of contexts US founding documents and the great global conversation students engage with either an excerpt from one of the US founding documents or a text from the ongoing global conversation about freedom, justice, and human dignity These same critical skills form the basis of the core content and instructional shifts targeted within our curricular redesign efforts over the last several years and are very much in keeping with the spirit of the Common Core Standards movement.
Sample Progression of Skills The PSAT 8/9, PSAT/NMSQT and SAT are situated along a common continuum of content, knowledge, and skills providing for vertical articulation of skills and instructional planning. The below table offers some examples of the progression from lower to high levels of complexity across the SAT Suite of Assessments. Area of Focus PSAT 8/9 PSAT/NMSQT SAT Reading Inference Relationships Graphics Mathematics Complexity Geometry Probability and Statistics Trigonometry Draw a fairly simple, one-step conclusion spelled out clearly in text Identify relationships based on multiple, fairly straightforward pieces of information stated in a text Determine explicit meaning from the graphic or text Many items requiring one or two steps to solve common geometric relationships Includes ratios, proportions, percents, introductory probability, and statistics properties of right triangles to solve problems Draw an inference to reach the correct conclusion Infer somewhat more complicated relationships based on more subtle pieces of information stated in a text Recognize trends in graphical data Many items requiring one or more steps to solve common geometric relationships and spatial reasoning Requires comparing linear and exponential growth trigonometric relationships Perform several steps to draw the correct conclusion Infer more complex relationships from the text by piecing facts or incidents together Synthesize information from a graphic and passage Emphasis on multistep problems geometry concepts and reasoning Includes statistics topics such as sampling and inferring correlation and causation from a research method trigonometry
Score Reporting Students receive detailed and comprehensive individual score reports that outline an overall score, an evidence-based reading and writing score, a mathematics score, national percentile rankings for each of the above, and college and career readiness benchmarks for each subject area. In addition, they receive separate test scores for Reading, Writing and Language, and Mathematics as well as cross-test scores for analysis in History/Social Studies and analysis in Science. Finally, students receive scores across the seven major skills: command of evidence, words in context, expression of ideas, standard English conventions, heart of algebra, problem solving and data analysis, and passport to advanced math. Section, test, cross-test, and total scores are aligned on a common vertical scale enabling comparisons across the different assessments and longitudinal growth measurements. Score reports provide students with a listing of relative strengths and areas for growth separately across reading, writing and language, and mathematics. Individual score reports also catalog all of a student s answers to each individual question, whether they answered correctly, incorrectly, or omitted the question, the relative difficulty level of the question, the test sub-score category (e.g. words in context, command of evidence, etc.) and cross-test score category (history/social studies or science if applicable). The on-line portal provides students additional detail on their individualized results and the ability to view question and answer explanations. Students may also access a range of practice materials and view information to support the development of additional skills and improvement steps informed by their current performance. Educators will have the ability to create class reports and analyze response patterns by question or content area. Interactive tools in the reporting engine will enable teachers to develop a profile of class needs, develop and analyze instructional planning reports to identify areas of focus for intervention and review, develop question analysis reports designed to identify response patterns across question types, and much more.
Khan Academy The College Board has partnered with Khan Academy to provide free, high quality, individualized resources for SAT and PSAT preparation. Khan Academy features four full length practice tests complete with study guides and practice tips, eight diagnostic quizzes to pinpoint areas for targeted review, thousands of questions, interactive video lessons and hints, and features instant and ongoing feedback to let students know where they stand. Students may choose to share their PSAT results with Khan Academy which will enable individualized materials aligned to the students areas of need. Benefits Participation in the PSAT/NMSQT provides entry into the National Merit Scholarship Program. Participation in the test is the entry vehicle and test performance represents one of the first selection criteria. In addition, students may choose to release their information to be considered for the National Hispanic Recognition Program, the Telluride Association scholarship, as well as additional scholarship partners. Students and families should contact their school counselor for additional information. Conclusion As a district, we are excited to launch the redesigned PSAT this month and pleased to be able to offer the PSAT to ninth graders. We see this assessment not only as a practice opportunity for students, but an important learning tool that can be leveraged by both families and teachers. We recognize the value placed on the SAT Suite of Assessments by the West Hartford community as evidenced by past student participation and we seek to make the experience a meaningful learning opportunity. Dr. Nancy DePalma, Mr. Paul Vicinus, and Mr. Tor Fiske will be available for questions.