STATE BOARD EXAMINATION CONSORTIUM

ARIZONA MEETING

November 2009

TOUGH CHOICES in Arizona

•Arizona a “Tough Choices” State

•Designed to address the “throughput” problem in elementary and secondary, and postsecondary education

Portrait of a Failing System

Source: James Hunt, Jr. and Thomas Tierney, American Higher Education: How Does It Measure Up for the 21st Century? (San Jose, Calif.: National Center for Public Policy

and Higher Education, May 2006).

The Literacy Problem

• Majority of high school students graduate with 8th grade levels of literacy or less

• Arrive at college expected to do work at 13th grade level only two months later

• Students have no idea that they cannot do the work

• Consider the idea of moving from a time-in-the-seat qualification to a standards-based qualification

Board Exam Systems

A sound core programof courses defining what it means to be an educated person

High quality exams derived from the curriculum using

multiple assessment methods

Thoughtfully constructed course

designs capturedin a syllabus

Quality teacher training

matched to the course syllabi

Why Board Exams?

• Best global research shows that board exam systems key to success of world’s best performing systems for ALL students

• Why? Because they provide the support students must have to succeed

• Crucially important for low-performing schools and students

Standards+Test Systems vs

Curriculum-Driven SystemsS+T Systems

• Assumes standards and tests alone will drive performance up

• No direct link to classroom practice

• Leaves the disadvantaged behind, with weak curriculum, weak teaching

CD Systems• Assumes that aligned, powerful instructional system is needed to drive high student performance

• Direct link to classroom practice

• Closes the gap between the advantaged and the disadvantaged

The System: A Closeup

Upper Div’n(AP, IB, A Levels)

Work

12

16

18

Core Curriculum, Syllabi, Exams, Teacher Training, All Set to Int’l Standards

2 yr Open Admissions Instns

4 Year Selective Institutions

22

4 yr

Graduate Education

Lower Division Board Examination Program(syllabi, instr’l mat’s, exams, teacher trng)

Board Exams: The Best

College Board APs

Cambridge International Exams

ACT QualityCore

Edexcel

International Baccalaureate

Lower Division Ready Now

• ACT QualityCore

• Cambridge International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) Exams

• Edexcel IGCSE Exams

Lower Division: A Closer Look

• Not elite programs

• But designed to prepare students for elite programs

• Can get students college-ready by 16

• Many bright students are dropping out because they are bored

• But give less-prepared students until 18

• Help targeted to students weak points in grades 11 and 12 can make all the difference

Upper Division Ready Now

• ACT QualityCore• Cambridge AICE Exams• College Board Advanced Placement• Edexcel A-level version• International Baccalaureate

Board Exams: Next generation

• Additional vendors of lower division systems:– IB– College Board

• Cross-cutting skills• “Majors”• Career-oriented programs• Distinct instructional style options

• Cutting edge assessment techniques• Digital delivery systems

Board Exams: Relation to Common Core

Standards• Will compare to board examination

programs

• Will adjust board examination

programs to conform:

– Topics

– Challenge levels

Board Exams: Costs• Less than $100/student incremental at start

• Incremental costs for core program decline to zero

• Savings can be ploughed into support for students

• Decline in school revenues offset by decline in

dropouts, funds to support low performers

• Decline in community college revenues from

remedial programs offset by increase in

enrollments and increased persistence in system

• Vastly better results for same costs

Board Exams: Our Plan• Build state consortium committed to developing this system

• Create buyers co-op

• Provide venue for agreeing on requirements, doing psychometric work, building next generation curriculum and examinations

• Have access to the global intellectual talent needed to do this

Arizona Needs T0

• Agree to a common literacy standard across the states for entrance to open-admissions colleges without remediation, expressed as a score on the lower-division exams

• Use all or a subset of the consortium-approved exams in your demonstration high schools

• Administer the lower division exams at the end of the sophomore year to all students who wish to take them and

• Admit all who pass to your public open-admissions colleges the following fall

What You Will Get as a Member of the Consortium

• Powerful method of raising student achievement

• A seat at the table for design of multi-state system

• Big cost savings• Access to high powered TAC• The ability to compare your scores to those of other states and countries on internationally benchmarked examinations

What’s in it for Arizona Higher Ed

Institutions?• You will get students ready to do

college level work

• You will eventually get out of the

remedial education business, while, at

the same time:

• You will get many more students applying

to your institutions who are ready to do

the work

• Access will improve and persistence will

greatly increase

Next Steps

• You need to let Tom Horne and

the P-20 Council know that you

think this is a good idea and

that you are willing to admit

students who have passed their

board exams as soon as they

pass them

®