This year’s Ohio School Report Cards are expected to be released by the Ohio Department of Education on September 15. The change for 2016 that is getting the most attention is the addition of letter grades for each of the six major components (Achievement, Progress, Gap Closing, Graduation Rate, K-3 Literacy and Prepared for Success). The ODE website has a resource page about the 2016 Ohio School Report Cards, including a Report Card Guide and links to search for district and building report cards.
Posts Tagged ‘Ohio Achievement Assessments’
From ODE: “Department of Education Recommends Reduction in Testing”
January 15, 2015(http://education.ohio.gov/Media/Media-Releases/Department-of-Education-Recommends-Reduction-in-Te)
The amount of time students spend on testing can be reduced by nearly 20 percent under recommendations made today by the state superintendent of public instruction as part of a comprehensive report.
The legislatively-required report – based upon a survey of testing practices in hundreds of Ohio districts and schools – suggests the elimination of certain tests used for teacher evaluations plus reductions in other tests taken by students in early grades. Many of the changes would require legislative action.
“I am committed to improving testing efficiency and reducing the testing burden on students while maintaining accountability in our schools,” said Richard A. Ross, superintendent of public instruction at the Ohio Department of Education. “These recommendations are in the best interest of students. They will reduce testing and increase instructional time for Ohio’s boys and girls.”
In preparing the report, the department of education surveyed districts, spoke with teachers and stakeholders and analyzed testing data. The survey indicated that the average student spends 19.8 hours testing per year, or approximately 1 to 3 percent of their school year. The survey also indicated that students spend approximately 15 additional hours on practice tests each year.
“Testing serves an important purpose for monitoring and improving student learning,” Ross added. “Each test should contribute to instructional improvement or making our schools and teachers better.”
Legislative recommendations include:
- Limiting the amount of time a student takes state and district tests to two percent of the school year and limiting the time spent practicing for tests to one percent of the year.
- Eliminating the fall third grade reading test but providing a summer administration of the test for students who need it.
- Eliminating the state’s requirement that districts give math and writing diagnostic tests to students in first through third grade.
- Eliminating the use of student learning objectives as part of the teacher evaluation system for teachers in grades Pre-K through 3 and for teachers teaching in non-core subject areas in grades 4 through 12.
Other actions the department will take include:
- Working with the federal government to advocate for flexibility for Ohio’s testing system.
- Monitoring the first year administration of Ohio’s state assessments including PARCC (English and math) and AIR (science and social studies) tests to determine if any changes should be made to ensure that Ohio’s testing system provides accurate data on student performance in a reasonable way.
- Increasing the efficiency of local testing by finding ways that schools may use a single test for multiple purposes.
- Exploring whether new state tests can be used for gifted identification.
Separately, the department will revise the new Kindergarten Readiness Assessment in response to teacher concerns about its length and reporting process.
“I believe the report provides a solid overview of the overall testing landscape in Ohio,” Ross said. “This report will serve as a starting point for conversations with teachers, stakeholders and policymakers regarding testing.”
To see the full report, click here.
From ODE: “Register now – 2015 regional meetings on Ohio’s New State Tests, graduation options and Value-Added reports”
January 13, 2015Get key information for your district in 2015. Attend one of five one-day meetings – Jan. 20, Columbus; Jan. 22, Bowling Green; Jan. 26, Cincinnati; Jan. 28, Cambridge; and Feb. 2, Independence. Registration is available in STARS, keyword Regional Meetings.
The agenda includes:
- Ohio’s New State Tests – Prepare for the spring 2015 administration of new tests in English language arts, mathematics, science and social studies. Receive a checklist of important dates and activities, the suggested timeline and key dates for the process, protocols and procedures for test administration, and information related to performance-based and end-of-year tests.
- Technology Support for Computer-Based Testing – Make sure your district and school technology staff have the necessary details to manage local connectivity, hardware and software needs for the new computer-based testing.
- Ohio’s Options for a High School Diploma – Get information about Ohio’s unprecedented graduation options for students, including new ways to earn a high school diploma.
- Value-added reports – With the implementation of Ohio’s New State Tests in science, social studies and at the high-school level, understanding the Value-Added model used for reporting in these new subject tests is essential. This session also will assist in the preparation for teacher-level Value-Added reporting that will occur in fall 2015.
ODE Update on 2014–2015 Administration of Ohio’s New State Tests
September 29, 2014The Ohio Department of Education has posted information concerning the 2014–2015 administration of Ohio’s New State Tests. Among the news:
1) Each test has a performance-based assessment (PBA) and an end-of-year test (EOY). In the performance-based assessment, students construct their responses and a trained education professional scores them. In the end-of-year test, student responses are computer scored. The amount of time that each school must schedule for testing:
- Grade 5 and Grade 8 Science
- PBA: 75 minutes
- EOY 75 minutes
- Physical Science
- PBA: 90 minutes
- EOY: 90 minutes
2) Practice tests for science will be available in October 2014 through the Ohio Computer Based Assessments Portal.
3) Student registration for the Spring 2015 administration runs October 27–November 7.
4) Spring 2015 test coordinator manuals, test administration manuals, and technology guidelines will be available in January 2015 through the Ohio Computer Based Assessments Portal.
ODE’s posted information is available as a PDF file: ODE PARCC AIR tests 2014–15
Want to learn more about preparing students for performance-based test items? ODE and ESCs are partnering to present five-day “Performance Task Writing Workshops” for teachers—find out more on the ODE website.
Spring 2014 OAA Results Available
July 7, 2014[UPDATE 2/25/16: Looking for 2015 State School Report Cards? Check here.]
The preliminary results of the May 2014 Ohio Achievement Assessments are available:
- District scores
- School and student scores (district administrators have OOARS login information)
- [UPDATE 8/1/14]: May 2014 Statewide statistical summary
(Thanks to House Bill 153, statewide item analysis and released test questions are only available for 2003-2011.)
Additional information and reference materials can be found through the Data Tools Portal:
Spring 2013 OAA Results Available
June 20, 2013[UPDATE 7/7/14: Looking for May 2014 OAA results? Check here.]
The results of the May 2013 Ohio Achievement Assessments are available at last:
- District scores
- School and student scores (district administrators have OOARS login information)
- Statewide statistical summary (2013 data available in August)
(Thanks to House Bill 153, statewide item analysis and released test questions are only available for 2003-2011.)
Additional information and reference materials can be found through the Data Tools Portal:
More ODE resources to access data
May 24, 2013Finding data about schools on the Ohio Department of Education’s website can sometimes be confusing. On the OCESS blog, we’ve written about the Data Tools portal and various pages on the ODE website that have Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA) results. Now, ODE has described an additional resource:
OGT, OTELA and OAA results can be accessed through the Success website by selecting the Educator’s Workroom. After logging in, access the downloadable student data file for the desired test at left. Select the appropriate administration from the drop-down menu. From the batch type drop-down menu, select General for on-time results. The data are available in .csv and .txt versions. To access interactive data, on the right side of the screen, click a test name to access a list of available administrations. Select a grade and then a subject to access available reports.
Data, Data, and More Data: ODE Assembles Resources into One Website
February 21, 2013Here on the OCESS blog, some of our most-read entries are about how to locate the Ohio Department of Education’s data about schools (like looking for Spring 2012 OAA results). These databases are distributed all over the vast ODE website, and tracking them down hasn’t always been easy. But ODE has unveiled a new webpage to help you locate the data you need:
ODE has introduced the Data Tools portal, a new and better way to access dozens of ODE-sponsored data resources that track school improvement and student progress. Through the website – which replaces, and improves upon, a previous Data Tools Catalog document – administrators, teachers and members of the public can find resources organized by questions they may want to answer. Among other information, users can explore student achievement, school finance, career technical education, and early childhood and K-12 assessment data.
Although most of the portal’s data tools, such as the Local Report Card, are accessible to anyone, 10 tools require a secure login and pre-authorization from ODE or a district. If you frequently use secure sites, you may find it beneficial to personalize your own My Data Tools Web page by following the Set-Up Job Aid instructions available here in print form and here in a video format. By doing so, you can login once to the portal through SAFE and then have seamless access to many of secure data tools, including the SUCCESS site. To access other SAFE applications you may be authorized to use (e.g. CORE, CCIP and STARS) from your My Data Tools page, login to SAFE, follow the Set-Up Guide instructions and add this SAFE portal link to the My Links section. For answers to questions about an individual data tool, contact the person indicated on the tool’s description in the About section. For questions about the My Data Tools set-up instructions, call (877) 644-6338.
Looking for Spring 2012 OAA Results?
July 16, 2012Some people find it hard to track down the results for the May 2012 Ohio Achievement Assessments (OAA) on the Ohio Department of Education website. Here are some ODE links to help:
- District scores
- School and student scores (district administrators have OOARS login information)
- Statewide statistical summary and statewide item analysis (2012 analysis available in August)
- Released test questions
[UPDATE 2/21/13: See “Data, data, and more data: ODE assembles resources into one website” for more information]
[UPDATE 6/26/13: Looking for Spring 2013 OAA results? Try here.]
From ODE: “OAA Spring 2012 results available”
June 17, 2012Electronic files that contain score results for the Spring 2012 OAA will be made available June 15 on the Ohio Online Assessment Reporting System (OOARS) website. Test coordinators have been given login and password information to access these data. Printed score reports will be distributed by June 29.
A variety of additional electronic reports, rosters and functions (content standard rosters, frequency distributions, longitudinal test records, re-rostering and PDF report generation) also will be available through OOARS as interactive data on June 29. Late batch downloadable data will be posted on OOARS on June 25 and Breach Form downloadable data will be available on July 5.
[UPDATE 7/16/12: You can find links to the various sources of OAA data at this OCESS Blog entry.]
[UPDATE 6/26/13: Looking for Spring 2013 OAA results? Try here.]
Ohio Council for Elementary School Science 