Schedule Information
Day 1
Welcome and Opening message
Discover the power of a statewide professional learning community. Throughout the conference, a strand will be dedicated to learning from LEAs about shared practices where attendees can hear from several California districts on their successes and challenges in implementing the full statewide assessment system.
Shared
Practices
Chief Deputy Superintendent of the California Department of Education, Lupita Cortez Alcalá, will open the first annual California Assessment Conference. She share her inspiring messages of equity and access for California students, and how this conference will build your capacity to support all students.
Opening Keynote: California Teacher of the Year Rosie Reid
A self-professed agent for social justice, the 2019 California Teacher of the Year Rosie Reid will inspire you with her strategies for achieving success in the classroom. Ms. Reid’s guiding principle is that “by helping our most marginalized students develop literacy (and numeracy) skills we may achieve social equity.” Join us to hear a Rosie’s story of how she uses a combination of rigorous instruction, data on student learning, and remediation strategies to increase successful outcomes for students.
Starting with the Basics: Assessment 101 Sessions
This series of introductory sessions on seven different assessment topics will allow attendees to gain foundational knowledge in areas of their choosing, before engaging in two days of deeper learning. These sessions will provide an overview of the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) and the English Language Proficiency Assessment for California (ELPAC) assessments. Join us to learn more about the purpose and use of each assessment program and to explore tools and resources available to support student success. Individual sessions will focus on the formative assessment process with support from the Smarter Balanced Digital Library, the Smarter Balanced Interim Assessments, the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments in English language arts and math, the California Science Test (CAST), the California Alternate Assessments (CAA) and the ELPAC.
Connecting Summative Results to Improved Teaching and Learning in the Classroom Sessions
Computer Lab
Engage in hands-on exploration of interim assessments and the digital library in a lab setting. Attendees will get hands on experience with the Interim Assessment viewing system and the Digital Library from knowledgeable trainers. Space is limited and is offered on a first come first serve basis.
One of the most important uses of assessment data is that it can help drive instruction. End day one with a deep dive into the possible uses of assessment results, and consider how those results may be used to improve teaching and learning in one of the following content areas: ELA, mathematics, science, or English language development. Join us for a hands-on exploration of the data with a look at the new California Educator Reporting System that will aid in uncovering key information about the performance of student groups, and identify areas for improvement.
Day 2
Plenary Session: Shared Practices
Do you often wonder how others are using assessment tools to improve classroom practices? If so, this session is designed for you! In this session you’ll learn about creative and innovative ways of using the formative assessment process while teaching science in early elementary grades. The panel consists of five finalists of the CDE-sponsored Science: It’s Elementary! contest for elementary school teachers. The Panelists will share their local formative assessment practices and individual approaches to ensuring that all of their young students can access and enjoy science in their classrooms.
Making Connections: Standards, Targets and Claims Sessions
At the end of Day 1 you explored the connection between summative assessment data and improved classroom instruction. In this session, you will dig deeper to bolster your understanding of the connections between assessment reporting elements such as claims, targets and the standards in a content area of your choosing. Featuring the ‘Content Specs Explorer,’ a new resource designed by Smarter Balanced, this session will focus on understanding student expectations and provide you with tools that will improve student success.
Powerful Resources: Practice Test Sessions
Practice tests are a powerful way to acquaint educators, students, and their families with the expectations and rigor of California’s assessments. This session will begin as a plenary session with everyone learning together about the availability and purpose of the practice tests before making a selection in a content area of your choice, including ELA, math, science and ELD. In the content specific sessions, you will discover how to harness the power of practice tests to improve teaching and learning in your classroom. This session will also focus on exploring the item types, identifying skills and knowledge required of students, and highlighting the rigorous academic language.
Break Down to Build Up: Deconstructing a Task Sessions
Deconstruct an assessment task to understand the academic and language demands, as well as classroom implications. Working in the content area of your choosing, break down task types into their aligned standards (and targets if applicable), the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) students need to have to successfully complete each task type, and the classroom implications of those KSAs for a deeper understanding of how task types are created and how you might build your own.
In Support of Teaching and Learning: Interim Assessments, Digital Library, and Performance Tasks
Expand your knowledge by learning more about the resources available to support teaching and learning in a content area of your choice. Review the available tools as well as learn how to create your own based on existing resources.
Day 3
Plenary Session: The Basics of Assessment Accessibility
Equity in the classroom is one of the most important underpinnings of public education. Join us to learn about the different types of accessibility resources available to students in their classrooms and on the assessments. This session will explore the importance of an equitable process for selecting appropriate resources that are matched with individual student needs.
Equity in Action: Assessment Accessibility Sessions
Engage in an in-depth exploration of one of many accessibility topics. Create a systematic process for matching students with appropriate accessibility resources. Consider the many aspects of evaluating individual student accessibility needs. Ensure that your students are familiar with the appropriate accessibility tools by exploring how accessibility resources can transition from classroom instruction to assessment.
Plenary Session: Supporting English Learners in All Classrooms
Expand your capacity for supporting all students in your classroom. Learn about the ELPAC task types by grade level, in all content areas, by exploring the ELPAC task your English learner students are presented on assessments.
Supporting English Learners in Your Classroom Sessions
Explore how you can best support English learner students in all environments and across all proficiency levels. This session will provide an opportunity to examine the various ELPAC task types and the role they play in different content areas. Examples of methods to integrate ELPAC task types into other content areas such as science will be provided.
Closing Keynote: Professor Doug Fisher
A professor of educational leadership at San Diego State University and renowned literacy scholar, Doug Fisher has served as a teacher, language development specialist, and administrator in public schools and non-profit organizations. During his career Dr. Fisher has endeavored to create environments that ensure all students develop the critical-thinking skills needed for success in pursuing college or a career. In this keynote, Dr. Fisher will explain what it means for students to be assessment-capable, and how educators can foster the skills students need to take charge of their learning.