New Jersey APA

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New Jersey APA

• Parent Workshop
• Presented by
• Tracey I. Maccia
• Interim Director of Special Services
• WALL TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS

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NCLB

• The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB)
  requires that all students, including those with
  disabilities, participate in the state assessment
  program. NCLB also requires that the measurement
  of progress toward meeting state standards
  include assessment results for all students.

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Alternate Proficiency Assessment

• Fulfills state requirements
• Based on Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS)
• Content Areas include Language Arts Literacy,
  Mathematics, and Science
• In this manner all students in New Jersey are
  moving toward the same general standards with
  whatever modifications or supports they need.

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Assessment and Accountability

• Ensures appropriate allocation of resources and
  learning opportunities
• Designed for a small percentage of total school
  population for whom traditional assessments, even
  with accommodations would be inappropriate
  measures of their progress

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NJ Alternate Proficiency Assessment

• Represents a cohesive approach
• Curriculum, instruction, and assessment work
  together
• Builds a comprehensive educational programs
• Curriculum drives instruction and assessment
• Assessment and instruction inform the curriculum

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Linkage of Assessment
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Todays Agenda

• APA What is it and who participates?
• Grades and Subjects Assessed
• Test Design Changes
• Instruction of CPI Links and Evidence
  Documentation
• APA Test Design Details
• Scoring Rubric Dimensions
• Sample Entries
• General Information and Questions

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What is the APA?

• An alternate assessment that measures achievement
  of New Jerseys Core Curriculum Content
  Standards (CCCS) specifically designed for
  students with the most significant cognitive
  disabilities.
• A portfolio of student work that demonstrates a
  students performance of knowledge and skills
  that are LINKED to grade level knowledge and
  skills.

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What is the Purpose of the APA?

• To measure performance of students with the most
  significant cognitive disabilities on the CCCS
  the knowledge and skills that ALL New Jersey
  students are learning
• To ensure that ALL New Jersey students are
  included in the accountability system that is
  required by the No Child Left Behind Act

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Which Students Participate in the APA?

• Students with the most significant disabilities
  whose cognitive impairments may prevent them from
  attaining grade-level achievement standards even
  with the very best instruction
• Decisions about who participates in the APA are
  not based on
• Students disability category
• Students educational placement
• Which assessment the student is most likely to
  score highest

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What Grades and Subjects Are Assessed?

• Students in grades 3 8 and grade 11 must be
  assessed in language arts literacy and
  mathematics.
• Students in grades 4 and 8 must also be assessed
  in science.
• Students in high school must be assessed in
  science the year they receive instruction in
  biology (grade 9, 10, or 11).
• High school students may have an APA submitted
  for science in a different year than the year the
  APA is submitted for language arts and math.

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Changes for 2008-2009

• CPI Links, which are skill statements that link
  to grade-level CPIs, were written and reviewed by
  content staff and NJ educators.
• This is the list of eligible skills for use in
  the APA, and replaces the need for teachers to
  write targeted skills.
• The CPI Links were sent to districts in August
  2008.
• These CPI Links must be used when assessing a
  standard, strand, and CPI for the APA.
• Providing specific skills that link to the CPIs,
  which replace teacher designed targeted skills,
  was a recommendation from APA educators.

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CPI Link
Matched Link
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Providing Grade Level Instruction

• There are multiple ways to provide instruction
• Choose modifications and supports based on the
  students mode of communication, areas of
  strengths and needs
• CPI Links were built based on the idea that any
  student can participate in grade-level linked
  instruction, and make progress acquiring the
  skills, when given appropriate supports and
  modifications

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Keep In Mind

• The portfolio assessment contains a collection of
  graded student work produced during everyday
  classroom instruction.
• Classroom instruction that reflects best practice
  and adheres to federal and state guidelines will
  generate appropriate evidence for the portfolio.
• APA is based on 2004 New Jersey Core Curriculum
  Content Standards (CCCS) for language arts
  literacy and science, and 2008 CCCS for
  mathematics.

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APA

• What will this portfolio look like?
• What are the required components?

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What is the Format of the APA?

• Portfolio Paper based, submit in a
• 3-ring binder
• Content Areas Mathematics, Language Arts
  Literacy, and Science
• Science for grades 4, 8, and high school (grade
  9, 10, or 11).
• Entries relate to content standards, grade-level
  CPIs, and CPI Links
• Evidence documents educational instruction and
  student performance of skills

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When is Evidence Collected?

• Activity Collection Period
• Initial Activity September - November 21, 2008
• Final Activity December 15, 2008 - February 20,
  2009
• Dates on the evidence must include month, day,
  and year
• Instruction and assessment will match each CPI
  Link and content area.
• All students will need to be assessed on an
  initial activity within the correct time frame
  above, even if the majority of instruction will
  not occur until the winter.

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Test Design

• NOTE NO entry should contain more than four
  pieces of evidence.
• This graphic represents a student who is being
  assessed in all three subjects with the APA. Not
  all portfolios will include all three subjects.

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Student Work Samples May Be

• A printout of computer screens of students
  response after hitting a switch
• An essay written using picture symbols scored
  using a rubric
• A worksheet completed by the student
• Drawings to extend patterns
• A printout of a sentences written using a picture
  writer (i.e. Writing with Symbols, PictWriter,
  etc.)
• Completed job application using name, address and
  other stamps
• A graph made from ordered pairs

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Developing an entry

• Step 1 Select a CPI and one related CPI Link to
  be assessed.
• Step 2. Assess the student to get an initial
  piece of evidence (accuracy must be 39 or lower)
  to collect for APA entry.
• Step 3 Identify additional age- and
  grade-appropriate activities for use during
  instruction. Provide instruction on the CPI
  Link.

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Developing an Entry

• Step 4 Determine when evidence can be collected
  to document the final instructional assessment of
  the CPI Link for APA purposes.
• Step 5 Based on students accuracy score and
  level of prompt information on the final
  activity, determine if additional instruction and
  collection of evidence needs to occur for the
  entry.
• Step 6 Review evidence to ensure that all
  required information related to test design
  requirements are included.

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Appropriate Supports

• How will the student access instruction?
• How will the student interact with instruction
  and materials?
• How will the student demonstrate knowledge,
  skills, and concepts acquired?

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Examples of Supports for Reading

• Student reads by
• Following along with the text
• Following along with picture symbols
• Following along with objects
• Following along with tactile cues
• Adapted text
• Shortened text
• Chunked information
• Large font
• Color coding to emphasize important information

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Examples of Supports for Mathematics

• Use of manipulatives or pictures
• Use of calculator
• Task analyzed skills
• Reduced number of problems
• Number line
• Stamps to write numbers
• Word problems read to student
• Enlarged text
• Chunked problems

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Prompting during Assessment
2008-2009 NJ APA Teacher Training
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APA Scoring Rubric

• Scoring Dimensions
• Complexity Link
• Match, near, or far link selection
• Performance
• Percentage of accuracy when performing skill
• Independence
• Percentage of time skill was performed
  independently

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Complexity Link Dimension
Does the evidence assess the CPI Link documented
on the entry cover sheet? Does the evidence
reflect performance of the entire CPI Link that
was selected? If the entire skill is not assessed
in the evidence the score assigned is one. e.g.,
link required compare and contrast, evidence
includes only skill of compare If a grade-level
CPI Link, based on the assigned grade of the
student, is not used, the score assigned for all
dimensions is zero.
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Examples

• Language Arts Literacy EntryWritingFall
  2008Henry

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Pg. 11
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Henry Jones 10/25/08
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Henry Jones February 3, 2009
100 accurate 100 independent
I
1
I
2
I
3
I
4
I
5
Pg. 14
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Henry Jones February 3, 2009
16
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(No Transcript)
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Professional and Ethical Responsibility

• It is the responsibility of all contributors to a
  students portfolio to ensure that any and all
  documentation reflect authentic, accurate, and
  truthful information.
• Any student portfolio that is found to contain
  inauthentic documentation may result in
  professional consequences for staff and financial
  consequences for the school or district.

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In District Support

• Administrators must complete the paperwork which
  registers your APA students. This will generate
  the delivery of binders and return materials.
• Administrators should periodically review the
  collection of evidence in the portfolio.
• Administrators must collect all necessary data
  that is required on the APA Scan Sheet.
• Administrators must collect the portfolios from
  teachers on or before February 20, 2009.
• Administrators must review the portfolios for
  potential evidence of security breach materials.
• Administrators must package the materials, and
  ship them back to the contractor no later than
  March 6, 2009.

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Accountability

• APA test results will be combined with the
  results from the general assessment for
  accountability purposes for state and federal
  reports.
• For accountability purposes, the APA is both a
  student assessment, and a school/district program
  assessment.

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Federal Results 1 Cap

• The NCLB 1 cap limits the number of APA
  proficient and advanced proficient results that
  can be used in the AYP calculation. It does not
  limit the number of students who may participate
  in the APA.
• Districts legitimately testing more than 1 of
  the total grade population with the APA should
  apply for a waiver from the Office of Special
  Education Programs. The waiver, if approved,
  allows proficient and advanced proficient results
  greater than 1 to be used in the AYP
  calculations.

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Proficiency Levels

• Due to the test design changes for 2008 - 2009, a
  standard setting panel will be convened to set
  new cut scores for proficiency levels.
• Standard setting will occur for every content
  area and grade level.
• Therefore, the 2007 2008 cut scores that
  defined the proficiency levels were applicable
  for last year only.

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Learner Characteristics Inventory

• The National Alternate Assessment Center (NAAC)
  has validated a nine-item inventory that
  describes a student according to their
• expressive communication,
• receptive communication,
• hearing,
• vision,
• motor,
• engagement,
• attendance,
• reading skills, and
• mathematics skills.

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Accessing Instruction

• There are multiple ways to access instruction
• Choose modifications and supports based on the
  students mode of communication, areas of
  strengths and needs
• CPI Links and Sample Activities were built based
  on the idea that any student could access
  instruction when given appropriate supports and
  modifications

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Learner Characteristics

• Symbolic communicators
• Use symbolic language to communicate
• Emerging symbolic communicators
• Use intentional communication, but not at a
  symbolic level
• Pre-symbolic communicators
• Do not have a recognizable or consistent form of
  communication

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Symbolic Communicators

• Characteristics
• Expressive Communication
• Consistently uses verbal or written words, sign,
  Braille, or language-based augmentative systems
  to request, initiate, and respond to questions,
  describe things or events, and express refusal.
• Receptive Communication
• Understands and independently follows simple
  directions presented verbally, signed, or in
  print without accompanying gestures.
• Follows print directions when given supportive
  gesture, picture, object cues, or
  demonstrations/models.

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Emerging Symbolic Communicators

• Characteristics
• Expressive Communication
• Uses (or inconsistently uses) understandable
  communication through such modes as gestures,
  pictures, objects/textures, points, etc., to
  clearly express a variety of intentions.
• Receptive Communication
• Inconsistently follows simple verbal or signed
  directions when accompanied by gestures,
  pictures, object cues and minimal physical
  assistance.
• Alerts to sensory input from another person
  (auditory, visual, touch, movement), but requires
  physical assistance to follow simple directions.
  

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Pre-Symbolic Communicators

• Characteristics
• Expressive Communication
• Communicates primarily through cries, facial
  expressions, change in muscle tone, etc., but no
  clear use of objects/textures, gestures,
  pictures, signs, etc., to communicate.
• Receptive Communication
• Uncertain response to sensory stimuli (e.g.,
  sound/voice, sight/gesture, touch, movement,
  smell).

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Large Group Instructional Planning

• Review the CPI Links and collaborate with other
  participants on the development of instructional
  activities.
• Prepare planning forms and discuss supports
  needed during instruction related to CPI Links.
• Request general assistance from training
  assistants.

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Small Group Extra Guidance

• Discuss planning process when producing lesson
  plans for CPI linked instruction for students who
  are pre-symbolic.
• Think about a student and the grade level CPIs
  and/or curriculum
• Consider students current mode of communication
• Consider students support needs
• Brainstorm communication and support needs to
  allow the student to
• Receive instruction
• Demonstrate performance
• Engage in the activities
• Review the difference between providing supports
  and providing prompts
• Review of evidence production including scribing
  student work and documentation of activities

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Thank You

• Thank you for taking time to attend this session.
  

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