Alternate Proficiency Assessment

Erin Lichtenwalner

What is APA?

The Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA) is a portfolio assessment designed to measure progress toward achieving New Jersey’s state educational standards

Who participates in APA?

Students with severe disabilities who are unable to participate in the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) or the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA).

Answer 4 questions YES or NO for Language Arts Literacy; Mathematics; and Science **(grades 4&8 and the year a student takes Biology)

1. Is the nature of the student’s cognitive disability severe?

2. Is the student’s cognitive disability so severe that the student is not receiving instruction in any of the knowledge and skills measured by the general statewide assessment?

3. Is the student’s cognitive disability so severe that the student cannot complete any of the types of questions on the assessment in the content area, even with accommodations and modifications?

4. Is the student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) aligned to grade level New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards through modified expectations?

Guidelines to Determine Which Students Should Participate in the

New Jersey Statewide Assessment Through the Alternate Proficiency Assessment

The New Jersey Alternate Proficiency Assessment was developed for two

purposes:

• To measure the progress of a small percentage of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities who cannot participate in the regular statewide assessments even with accommodations.

• To ensure that the educational results for all students are included in the statewide accountability system at the individual, school, district, and state levels.

Key Terms

Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS): The standards adopted by the State Board of Education in 2004 and 2008 that describe what students should know and be able o do in nine academic areas

Cumulative Progress Indicators (CPIs): Concepts and skills to be taught within the content standards, specified by grade level

CPI Link: Skill statements that directly link to the critical essence of specific grade level CPI’s

Entry: A collection of evidence that documents a student’s knowledge and application of key concepts and skills pertaining to a particular content area. The entry must document student performance of a CPI link, which relates to specific standards, strands and CPIs identified for assessment in the APA. The entry contains 2 pieces of evidence, one collected during each of the two collection periods

Evidence: Representation of a student’s performance of a CPI link

A completed APA must contains:

A completed APA must contains:

ENTRY COVER SHEET Student Name Anthony Smith Grade Level 4th  Evidence of Initial Activity – Dated Between September to November 21, 2008

Evidence of Final Activity – Dated Between December 15, 2008 - February 20, 2009 This entry is for: (Circle one) LAL MATH SCIENCE This is entry number: (circle one) 1 2 3 4 3.1 4 F 4Standard Grade Strand CPISTANDARD 3.1 READING: All students will understand and apply the knowledge of sounds,letters, and words in written English to become independent and

fluent readers, and will read a variety of materials and texts with fluency and comprehension.Strand F: Vocabulary and Concept DevelopmentCPI 3.1.4F4 Use a grade-appropriate dictionary (independently) to define unknown words CPI Link: Use a dictionary to define new words CPI Link type: (Circle one) Matched Near Far Description of Initial Activity:Anthony used the glossary in his reading book to define words from his story. He matched the vocabulary word to the definition. Description of Final Activity:Anthony used the glossary in his science text to define vocabulary words. He cut and pasted the vocabulary word, the guide words, and the definition.

Understanding CPI Links

The CPI Links offer three levels of connection to each CPI

Matched Link Near Link Far Link

The complexity and difficulty varies from Matched to Far Link

• Complexity is the expectation level at which the student should perform the skill (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating & creating)

• Difficulty involves the number of concepts,s kills or ideas on which the student will be working or the type of adaptations and supports in place

More CPI Information

Matched Link Contains skill statements that are approximately the

same complexity level of the CPI expectations but the level of difficulty is lessened

Near Link May be the same or lower complexity as the CPI

expectation but the difficulty level has been lessened even more

Far Link Content skill statements that are a lower complexity

level and difficulty is lessened even more.

Types of Evidence for the APA

A work sample should:

Document the student’s performance on the CPI link

Reflect a grade-appropriate activity Provide details on the questions and answers

assessed Include all of the necessary scoring information Must include a minimum of 5 assessment items

Task Direction, Prompts & Instructional Supports

Task Direction: the information provided to the student at the beginning of an activity or test

This is not a prompt Prompt: Instructional details that teachers

provide to students in order to lead or guide the student to the correct response during instructional activities

• Purpose is to guide students to the correct answer

• A distinction needs to be made between direct prompts and indirect prompts

Direct and Indirect Prompts

Direct Prompt

Verbal, gestural, or model prompts that directly give the students the correct answer

CANNOT be used for APA

Indirect Prompts

Provides the student with a cue

Can be verbal, gestural, or model

Are acceptable for APA, but must be documented in the evidence

Scoring a piece of evidence

Each piece of evidence must contain 2 scores One for ACCURACY One for INDEPENDENCE

Scoring Continued

Accuracy Correct (+) or

Incorrect (-) Score is based on the

student’s first attempt to perform the skill

If the student requires a physical prompt, the item is scored as incorrect

Independence If student responds

independently, it will be marked with I

If the student needs a prompt, the level of prompt will be marked: Verbal = V Physical = P Gestural = G Model = M

Example of scored evidence

For More Information:

New Jersey Department of Educationhttp://www.state.nj.us/educationhttp://www.nj.gov/education/assessment

Pearsonhttp://pem.ncspearson.com/nj/apa