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Designing from the Ground Floor: Alternate Assessment on Alternate Achievement Standards

Sample Agendas

This workshop has been compressed into a one and one-half day workshop especially designed for technical assistance specialists who are familiar with the issues and terminology in alternate assessment. As previously mentioned, individual pieces of the workshop may be used with a variety of constituencies. For example, State Assessment Technical Panels may be interested in Part II: Who Are the Students who take Alternate Assessments on Alternate Achievement Standards; Part III: Theory of Learning; and/or Part VII: Measurement Perspectives for "Alignment".

Stakeholder groups including multiple constituencies will need up to three days and possibly a return visit to accomplish all of the outcomes. The Curriculum Maps are especially time consuming. The following sample agenda in Figure 3 is what the training might actually look like for a full three day stakeholder planning meeting.

Figure 3: Sample 3-day Agenda

Participants & Set-up

At a minimum, special educators and content specialists in reading and mathematics at grade-bands (e.g., elementary, middle, and high school) are necessary to accomplish the work. Measurement experts, assistive technology experts, and parents of children with the most significant cognitive disabilities will also be valuable participants. In addition, it may be helpful to appoint a second, smaller team to review the work and provide feedback on the work of the stakeholder group.

The room should be set up with an overhead projector, sound system, and round tables to facilitate conversations. On day two, participants should be placed by role in groups of three to five individuals. At least two groups, one for reading and one for mathematics will be needed for each grade-band (e.g., elementary, middle, high school). More groups will be needed if additional content areas (i.e., science) are to be assessed.

Development Site Map

Figure 4: Sample Development Site Map

Developing and linking an alternate assessment to grade-level content involves the processes on the Development Site Map. These include: articulating policy guidance and defining effective assessment practice, defining the assessed population, reviewing and articulating academic standards for the population, using tools from measurement, designing the assessment blueprint, and verifying the design. In this workshop, we will focus primarily on the theory of learning and selecting the assessment content. The arrow indicates the areas discussed in the site map as the training progresses. It is recommended that technical assistance providers use a large version of the site map located within the room to move participants through the training.

Check Points

Figure 5: Sample Check Point

Checkpoints have been provided throughout the entire module. These are designed for either discussion or individual reflection. If using them for discussion, allow plenty of time to accomplish the discussion (15-20 minutes) and opportunity for sharing with other groups in the room. You may want to record participant responses on chart paper or an overhead projector.

Notes

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