Science and Technology/Engineering in Massachusetts:

Using Learning Progressions to Support STE Learning, and

Development and Scoring STE MCAS Items

Sponsored by

The Salem State Collaborative

Presenters: Katie Bowler, Student Assessment Services, ESE

Jake Foster, Office of Science, Technology/Engineering, and Mathematics, ESE

Location: SEEM Collaborative, 92 Montvale Avenue, Stoneham MA

Audience: Grades K-12 Curriculum Directors, Teachers and Department Heads (Science Content)

Time: 8:15-2:15 PM (lunch included)

Date: 26 February 2010 (Friday)

Fee: Free

Description:

This workshop is designed for K-12 teachers teaching any science subject or grade. Katie Bowler and Jake Foster from the Massachusetts DESE will engage participants in considering the implications of the current standards revision process and MCAS development and scoring processes.

Jake Foster will share how the Science and Technology/Engineering Framework Review process is developing, focusing on possible implications of revised standards for STE programs. In particular, participants will explore strand maps of state standards and learning progressions in science to systematically support student learning. Participants will examine different instructional practices and assessment strategies that take advantage of learning progressions.

Katie Bowler will present multiple facets of both the test creation and scoring process. The process of developing items for the Massachusetts MCAS Science and Technology/Engineering tests will be described. It is a complex process, taking at least two years for an item to be considered “common eligible.” In addition, participants will examine student work on science open-response items and discuss how this work was assessed. Participants will be able to assess student work given scoring criteria for specific items. We will discuss the use of open-response data and its limitations.

This workshop is sure to provide you with insights to the standards revision and MCAS testing process that will help your students achieve in Science and Technology/Engineering.

Registration Information:

Please register at our website www.salemcollaborative.org, or email the following information to

Jim Kearns at registration@salemcollaborative.org. If you have registration questions, please

either email (preferred) or call Jim at 781-771-4860.

Make checks or Purchase Orders payable to CPMSIE and Bring to the First Session

DEADLINE to sign up is 22 March 2010