Teachers, parents, students, and community - ask your DCAS questions here.
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Monday, March 1, 2010
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Mr. Philip Keefer
Manager, Testing
Christina School District
Drew Educational Support Center
600 N. Lombard Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: 302-552-2600
Fax: 302-429-4109
keeferp@christina.k12.de.us
Visit us on the web: www.christina.k12.de.us/DCAS
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Manager, Testing
Christina School District
Drew Educational Support Center
600 N. Lombard Street
Wilmington, DE 19801
Phone: 302-552-2600
Fax: 302-429-4109
keeferp@christina.k12.de.us
Visit us on the web: www.christina.k12.de.us/DCAS
Become our Fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
43 comments:
Will Christina still use MAP testing once the DCAS is implemented?
We don't know yet. We are still having discussions about exactly which parts of DCAS are going to be fully implemented by the 2010-2011 school year. The Accountability and Assessment Department is currently engaging the cabinet in discussions about this very topic. As soon as we know, we will communicate the answer to your question.
Will the DCAS be able to provide teachers with information about which specific skills students are deficient in? Is there a way for that information to follow the student, so that his or her future teachers can also access it?
Which schools will be included in the field tests for DCAS?
Yes, specific information about skills and concepts that students are deficient will be part of the reporting system. Yes, that exists now and will continue to exist in the future of DCAS.
All students in grades 2 through 10 in all schools will be included in the field tests starting after spring break for DCAS
Is this in addition to the spring MAP tested that is scheduled in April ?
Yes. The MAP testing in April will continue as scheduled.
Will students receiving special education services be able to continue having accommodations? Will REACH students continue to take the portfolio instead of DCAS?
Yes, special education students will continue to receive accommodations on the new DCAS. In fact, some new accommodations may arise as the students will now take the DCAS on computers. In addition, other accommodations may disappear as they will no longer be needed because the students will now take the DCAS on computers. The DAPA (Delaware Alternate Portfolio Assessment) will continue for REACH and other Special students who have that accommodation.
How many times per year will students take the DCAS and approximately how long are the tests (45 minutes, for example)?
Next year, because it is the first year, the test schedule will be slightly different than the following years. There are two different parts to the DCAS, the Summative test and the Benchmark test. The summative test will be used to see what percentage of students meet the standards and for calculating AYP (Grades 3 - 8). The Benchmark test will be used for informing teaching and learning (Grades 2 - 10).
Next year, It is my understanding that students will take the Benchmark and Summative tests twice each. The field test we are going to be engaged in April and May is 35 questions long. We are expecting students to take between 45 and 90 minutes to complete it. As for the real DCAS next year, we have no idea how many minutes it will be. The test is untimed.
Is it best to schedule students for the practice test and tutorial by classroom? If so, is 30 minutes enough for students to complete it?
30 minutes is plenty of time. There are only 10 questions on the practice test. How schools schedule students into the computer lab to take the practice training test and tutorial (3 questions) is up to the schools. I suggest scheduling them by classroom or homeroom for ease of scheduling. The practice training test and tutorial will be available March 16, 2010 through the end of the year for anyone to take. This includes teachers and parents. Use "guest" as the username and password when logging in.
Thank you for using such clear language to answer these questions! This makes the blog really useful. Maybe the questions and answers could be used somewhere as a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) for teachers?
The Delaware Department of Education will be placing a DCAS FAQ on both their website and the DCAS Portal for people to access. I do not want to duplicate. When it is up and running, we will post a link to the site at the top of this blog.
I understand that the teachers need to pass the test administrator certification in order to administer the field tests in April and May. Do the teachers need to be certified to administer the tutorial and practice reading tests?
Teachers do not have to certified as a test administrator for students to take the Practice Training Test or the Tutorial. However, teachers will have to be Test Administrator Certified to give the field tests.
Do we need to download the Mozilla browser for each computer in the lab, or will that be done for us?
Technology Support Services are going to take care of this for computers in the district.
It would be helpful if schools and test administrators had a checklist similar to the one in the DSTP manual.
We have just completed the practice test. It took approximately 45 min for the children to get through the 13 questions. We are concerned about the time it will take for the students to get the 35 questions done. Add to this that the children do not have the keyboarding skills, the short answer questions are going to be very hard. Schools with technology teachers definately have an advantage for these types of questions. How is the district going to balance out the scores of those schools with and without tech teachers so the scores are a true indicator of success?
There are several DCAS School Readiness checklists available including; Technology, Scheduling, Training, Staff and student. They, however, are not as comprehensive as what is found in the DSTP manual yet. DOE is working on that currently.
Do not be concerned about the students finishing the field test of 35 questions in 90 minutes. It is just a field test and DOE is testing the questions, not the students. Students are to answer as many questions as they can in 90 minutes.
Also, do not be concerned about the level of keyboarding skills needed to type responses to short answer questions. DCAS is designed for students to have minimal computer skills. It is also untimed, so students can take all the time they need to "type" out there answer. The test does not require students to be proficient in "keyboarding". Schools that have technology teachers will NOT have an advantage over those that do not.
Just FYI - 30 minutes was NOT enough time to get past the practice test for 2nd grade. In 25 minutes, we were only on question 4 average. I hope DOE takes this into consideration when planning time for the actual test next year.
The practice test's purpose is to get the students familiar with the controls and buttons available on the testing interface. It does not matter if they answer any of the questions. The actual Summative test next year is untimed and will be taken by Grades 3 through 8, and grade 10.
How will the scores be generated? Will they be the same as DSTP's scores (3-to pass, etc.)?
Will they have to do summer school or get held back?
Two scores will be generated, a scale score and a performance level (PL1 through PL5, like it is now). No student level consequences have been determined to date.
Can the state or district recommend any websites that have similar tools like the DCAS software (i.e. scroll bars and highlighting) to allow students more practice on the use of the tools? I know the test will not be timed, but anything we can do to reduce the frustration level for the students, especially special ed, will increase the success level of the students
In the fall, the DCAS will have a full length, on grade level, practice test that can be taken as many times as the student wants.
After the field testing is complete this spring, will the test vendor (AIR, I think) conduct validity and reliability studies for the DCAS? If so, will the vendor be able to use students' MAP scores to establish concurrent validity? If not, what would be used? Finally, does the state require that the assessment meet any technical standards (particularly for validity and reliability) before the DCAS will be implemented? If not, why not?
American Institutes for Research (AIR) is the vendor that is supplying the new Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS). Unfortunately, the vendor will NOT be able to use student's MAP scores to establish concurrent validity because NWEA is a competing vendor and has no contract with AIR or DOE. In fact, it was NWEA who conducted the present correlation that we use today to predict success on the DSTP, not DOE. My understanding is that AIR will align the new DCAS in some manner with the DSTP. However, the work of implementing the new DCAS is ongoing and DOE has released only limited information. As soon as Christina knows how the new DCAS will correlate to the DSTP, along with other technical standards, we will communicate that information to the district stakeholders.
So I took an example practice DCAS ? Not sure but I did take some form of DCAS last year for the teachers to see how it worked on the students and the whole class thought it was completely pointless. No one takes the testing seriously just like the DSTP. The kids in my class used this as an excuse to get on the internet and play around. I say this test is a no go.
The DCAS is what has been provided by the state and we must do the best we can with it. I have seen the test and the reports, and have faith in what I have seen as valid and appropriate. The best way to get students to take the test seriously is to engage the students in their own assessment process and score. Make sure every student knows what score it will take to obtain a PL3, and by the end of the year I'll bet they do.
How much are the DCAS test scores out of for third graders, 600?
The scale ranges from 200 to 1300, with most scores falling between 400 and 900. To meet standards in Reading, a 3rd grader needs to score at least 690. To meet standards in Math, a 3rd grader needs to score at least a 659. Performance level cut-off scores for all grades and performance levels can be found on the CSD Website on the DCAS page.
As an educator and as a parent of a special needs child, I am concerned that only the questions are read to students with reading disabilities. Why aren't the passages read to them? The questions are generally short and easy to comprehend; however, the passages are quite lengthy. Aren't we really setting the children, the special education children, up for failure?
I am also concerned about students with disabilities and the accommodations we give them during testing. However, if we read the passages to the students, we change the construct of the READING test and it now becomes a test of listening skills rather than Reading ability. Also, because of the new AYP rules, if we read passages to any students other than NON-READERs, we are penalized by DOE in our AYP participation calculations. Even though they take the test, students who get the passages read to them are now counted as NON-participants. The district must have 95% of eligible students take the test to meet AYP requirements. And so, the number of students the district reads the passages to has greatly reduced. The online test is also adjustable to the students achievement level. This means that after the Accountability score has been determined, the test will adjust to the student's reading ability. The old DSTP did not.
Where can I go to find out what my student's test scores mean?
What is the difference between the ELA Accountability score and ELA Instructional score?
How is my student performing at his grade level?
http://de.portal.airast.org/tab_family.html
My child is in 10 grade at Brandywine High School. She received a 2 on her math test. She will take it again in May. If she does not pass with a 3 or above will she have to repeat 10 and/or go to summer school.
Hi, what are the standard raw scores for reading in math for each grade? Is there a document that lists them (as you told the commenter in the Oct 25th comment)? I looked but I didn't find one online.
My son provided me with his 1-4 ranking today, but also told me his raw score and I'd like to know how to interpret it since he scored above his grade level standard.
Thanks!
John,
Here are the cut scores you requested by grade and subject area. http://de.portal.airast.org/resources/DCAS_Student_Performance_Cut_Scores_2011-2012.pdf
hey my name is jay and I jus took the sanitation exam for nyc feb 7 2015. can sum1 tell me how long does it take 2 get ur score in the mail.
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