Plan for assessments, report card
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Dakota Department of Education has been working with districts and stakeholders to determine how best to proceed with both the state assessments and the accountability report card.
In December, the department sought public comment on an addendum, waiver, and amendment to its Every Student Succeeds Act State Plan. The addendum creates a streamlined accountability process to address the impacts of COVID-19. The waiver is specific to the 95-percent participation rate in state assessments, the administration of the science assessment, the identification of TSI schools, the economically disadvantaged subgroup, and the annual reporting of student achievement and English language proficiency. The amendment addresses changes related to English learners, TSI designations, small/special school audit processes, and other programs that may be seeking updates to programming needs.
What does this mean for state assessments?
ELA and Math – The state will not offer remote administration of the ELA and math state assessments. Therefore, students can only take the state assessment in person. Districts are asked to test students to the greatest extent possible.
Science – The state is requesting to not be required to offer the South Dakota Science Assessment or South Dakota Science Alternate Assessment. This was to have been the first year of the new science assessments, which means that cut scores and benchmarks would have been set following the assessment window. Due to COVID-19, the department would like to delay the first administration of these tests until 2021-22 in order to set cut scores on more reliable data.
English Learner Proficiency – Like the ELA and math assessments, the South Dakota English Language Proficiency Assessment and its alternate must be administered in person. Districts are asked to test students to the greatest extent possible. In addition, students will have two ways they can exit from EL services:
- Overall 5.0 composite on the SD-ELP Assessment; or
- Overall 4.0 composite on the SD-ELP Assessment AND 3 or 4 on the SD-ELA Assessment
What does this mean for the accountability report card?
Participation Rate – Federal law requires that 95 percent of students take the state assessments. Even though districts are being asked to test to the greatest extent possible, students who attend school virtually will likely not be tested. The department is requesting a waiver from this requirement.
Indicators – Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, the state must calculate different measures, called indicators, on the report card. The department plans to calculate four-year cohort graduation, high school completion, and college and career readiness indicators, but is asking that attendance, student performance on the state assessments, English learner progress, and academic growth NOT be calculated for the 2020-21 Report Card. In the private report card found in SD-STARS, information can be made available to districts for internal purposes. However, on the public version of the report card, these data would not be displayed.
School Support Designations – Without new calculations for the indicators, the department plans to keep the school support designations the same. This means that the designations from 2018-19 will continue. In addition, because federal law does not allow it, the department will no longer have a “special schools” audit or designation.
The department will submit the addendum, waiver, and amendment to the U.S. Department of Education in early February, and the changes would be reflected in the 2020-21 Report Card.
If you have any questions about the state assessments, contact DOEAssessment@state.sd.us. For questions on the accountability report card, contact DOE.Accountability@state.sd.us.