1	UPDATE: NEW JERSEY’S NEW STATE ASSESSMENTS Jay Doolan, Assistant Commissioner Division of Educational Standards and Programs Timothy Peters, Director Office of State Assessments New Jersey Department of Education June 20, 2007
2	BACKGROUND . . . Assessment Advisory Committee convened December 2005; Committee consisted of representatives from key educational organizations (NJSBA, NJPSA, NJEA, etc.) and from business community, as well as DOE policy makers; Resulting RFP for Grades 3-8 sought to embody vision and priorities of Advisory Committee; RFP released January 26, 2007; contract awarded to Measurement Inc (and its partner Harcourt) June 6, 2007.
3	Key Themes of New Program Formative assessments: resources for locally administered, ongoing diagnostic and benchmark assessments to guide instruction; Professional development: training for teachers in “assessment literacy” and in making use of assessment resources and practices; Score reporting that provides schools more information about student achievement; Statewide “summative” assessments administered later in the year, i.e., May not March; Maximum transparency.
4	Additional Features Provision for eventually including performance assessments; Shorter, more diverse LAL reading passages; Increased use of web-based score reporting, and integration of statewide student ID; Provision for piloting online testing, with eventual transition to full online mode; Spanish-language versions of tests; Annual testing irregularity detection plan.
5	IMPLEMENTATION Grades 5- 8 implemented 2007-2008; Grades 3-4 implemented 2008-2009; Testing window for 2008: April 28-May 15; Scores reported to districts early July 2008; Professional development and formative assessment provided throughout each school year starting September 2007; Harcourt’s Learnia program is heart of formative assessment program – online diagnostic and benchmark assessments that allow focusing on specific content strands and impediments to learning.
6	BENEFITS AND GOALS Fuller integration by schools of assessment practices into daily instructional program; Continuity between formative and summative assessments; Consolidation and improved efficiency: by 2009, one contractor for grades 3-8; Promotion of student achievement through challenging test content, and more of it (more test items, and more open-ended content: e.g., shorter LAL reading passages allow us to use more passages and more test questions.).
7	High School Assessment Update High School reform initiatives currently underway will eventually transform HSPA; American Diploma Project favors end-of-course testing model; HSPA Science test will be replaced by Biology end-of-course test in May 2008; NJDOE piloting Achieve-developed Algebra II end-of-course test May 2008; HSPA tests for math and LAL to continue until new High School redesign and assessment policy completed.
8	QUESTIONS? Thank you!