Anticipated MCAS Reporting Schedule 2014

Here are the dates that were shared in last week's MCAS test administration training (FYI, the conference call version of the training is being offered again next Wednesday 2/12). Of course, these dates may be subject to change but are still very useful for planning!

 

Anticipated MCAS Reporting Schedule 2014
March 21	Access February Biology data files and rosters at DropBox Central
April 16	Access March Retest data files and rosters at DropBox Central
May 1	Districts receive February Biology and March Retest Parent/Guardian Reports
Mid-May	Schools and districts receive printed ACCESS for ELLs reports and data posted at DropBox Central
Mid-June	Districts access prelim MCAS and MCAS-Alt student results:
	ELA: preliminary results, including performance levels, scaled scores, and SGPs
	Math: multiple choice only
	STE (5&8): multiple choice only
	MCAS-Alt
	MCAS ELA long comps available at MCASservicecenter.com
July 1-July 31	MCAS discrepancy reporting by phone
August 6	Preliminary Math and STE MCAS results (combined with June ELA)
August 6-12	MCAS discrepancy reporting online
mid-September	Official results in security portal for districts
(week of Sept 19)	One day later: Public release of results; Parent/Guardian Reports shipments
Note: data will be in Edwin Analytics within 3 days of DropBox release

Edwin Analytics Update

Here is a summary of yesterday's ESE Edwin Analytics User Group WebEx (thanks to my Data Specialist colleague in Greater Boston, Paula O'Sullivan, for this update as I was unable to attend the WebEx.)

Teacher Access - As presented at the Edwin Workshops in November, ESE is doing a "soft" rollout of teacher access to Edwin Analytics.

• At this point, access is available only to those participants of the workshops, but districts can email the Edwin Analytics team to request access if they did not go to a workshop. The security role is "Global Access Teacher" and should NOT be assigned in combination with any other Edwin Analytics role.
• There are three reports available to teachers. These reports are also available to administrators in the Classroom folder.
• Teachers can view the data for last year's students, and for two years prior. At this point, teachers can not run the reports for their current students, but eventually that will be available for districts that have implemented SIF. Manual student claiming does not include updates to teacher reports for current students.

WIDA/ACCESS reports - You can now run these reports for your "claimed" students, i.e. those currently enrolled, IF your district submits claim files.

Local Assessments Data Uploads - ESE is revisiting the idea of allowing districts to upload local assessment data, particularly data from "off-the-shelf" assessments.

New User Guide - This will be posted any day now, along with a new Security & Access Guide.

Housekeeping - ESE is retiring the remaining references to Education Data Warehouse, EDW and DW. The new email address is edwinanalytics@doe.mass.edu, although the old address still works as well). Security role names have changed (e.g., DW 211 School User is now Edwin Analytics School Administrator).

Cubes - A basic demonstration of the cube functionality was provided.

The Edwin Analytics User Group WebEx is held the first Wednesday of the month at 11a.m. and the third Wednesday of the month at 2p.m. ESE sends email reminders to several lists including the Edwin Analytics Contacts as identified in Directory Administration and to subscribers of the EDWusers email list.

To subscribe to the EDWusers list:
Please send an email to imailsrv@list1.doe.mass.edu
with the following text—and only this text—in the body of the message:
subscribe listname your_full_name (e.g., subscribe edwusers john smith).

Student Assessment Update - ACCESS For ELLs; Retirement of Score Request Tool

The latest Student Assessment Update is now posted on the ESE Web site at http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=7487, including updates on ACCESS for ELLs score report interpretation resources and retirement of the MCAS Score Request Tool.

Please note: These updates come out via email before they are posted online. Please see the information listed at the bottom of the update page for more information about receiving the updates via email.

Resource Round-Up

Wow...what a busy time of year! There is lots of great information on data, assessment, and educator effectiveness related topics coming our way...here are some of the latest resources that you may find valuable:

PARCC Release of Assessment Blueprints and Test Specifications: PARCC has released a set of test specification documents, including assessment blueprints and evidence statement tables, to help educators and the general public better understand the design of the PARCC assessments.


EWIS Implementation Support Pilot: ESE is looking to select approximately six districts to receive regular on-site technical assistance, facilitation, and training to support their use of the Early Warning Indicator System (EWIS) data in the 2013-14 school year. Applications are due on Friday, May 31st.

New Educator Evaluation QRG: Data Collection provides information about the data elements that districts will report as part of EPIMS related to the educator evaluation system.

ESE Newsletters and Update Pages:
Student Assessment Updates (latest update: 4/22)
Educator Evaluation E-Newsletter (latest version: April 2013)
RTTT Newsletter (latest version: Spring 2013)

Upcoming Webinars:
ACCESS for ELLs Score Reporting - May 23, 28, or 29
Assessment Literacy Webinar Series - Archives of Sessions 1-3 (Session 4 will be in July)