Summer is Here!
Even though the final bells have rung, our work as educators never stops. Our team is finalizing national certification reports, item bank analysis, anchor setting processes, and assessment evaluation reports. Summer provides us the chance to prepare presentations for MS ACTE (July 24-26), create new technology features requested by schools, and build new CTE assessments for the 2019-2020 school year. We are also working on revamping our Assessment 101 program into three courses that can be delivered in online, hybrid, or traditional formats. We hope to offer previews in both summer conferences as well as a few districts this coming fall. If you could, please review the changes outlined in previous newsletters.
- Interpretive Guide: Each August, we typically update the MS-CPAS Interpretive Guide. This document provides data interpretation guidelines for teachers, administrators, and school districts for all CTE reports offered by our department. The guide can be downloaded here.
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Reports:
Secondary and postsecondary reports have been separated to allow for increased customization for each level of CTE assessment. For secondary reports, we have further separated reports due to the reporting requirements of the MS-CPAS contract in an archived area (fall 2010 to fall 2017) and in a current area (spring 2018 to present). Reports can be accessed with your RCU district account
here
.
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Other
Important Dates: T
he 2019-2020 testing dates calendar will be released early this month.
Please take the time to relax, recharge, and reflect on the past year's successes. You deserve it!
Sean Owen, PhD
Assessment Manager
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Important Dates
Summer Roster Submission Period for Postsecondary Schools............June 11-July 2
Summer Postsecondary Testing.....................................................................July 8-12
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MS-CPAS Updates
I enjoy this time of year; routines relax and life seems less stressful. This is the time of year I like to slow down enough to reflect on the last semester or school year. In the coming weeks, I invite you to spend some time reflecting on our MS-CPAS processes. Some test coordinators have already submitted helpful suggestions to make the processes more user-friendly, and we appreciate that input. As you have ideas of improvements we could make, please share them with us at this link:
MS-CPAS Suggestions.
A wonderful tool to help our teachers reflect on instructional practices is the
MS-CPAS Class Report. In this report, teachers can see the class average for each unit and can note the units of high student mastery and the units of lower student mastery. Equipped with this knowledge, teachers can make appropriate adjustments in instructional practices as they plan for the coming school year. Thanks for making these reports available to teachers.
And remember, we are here to help. If you have a question, please reach out to us by sending a
Help Desk ticket or by calling
800.901.7433 or 662.325.2510.
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National Certifications Updates
Now that testing has ended, the process of generating national certification reports has begun. This can be a lengthy process as we are working with a great deal of testing data. Reports should be available in the Reports section of the
RCU Assessment
page
by the first of July if not sooner.
Work has also begun on setting our calendar for the upcoming school year. Please check the
RCU Assessment page
as well as continue to read the MS-CPAS Minute
for information regarding dates for NCCER baseline testing and other relevant information.
As always, if you have any questions about national certifications or assessment in general, feel free to reach us through our
Help Desk or call 662.325.2510.
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Performance-Based Assessment
We invite instructors in the architecture and drafting, digital media technology, polymer science, and simulation and animation design pathways to save the dates for this year's MS ACTE conference, which will take place July 24-26 at the Jackson Convention Complex. We have set aside times for performance-based assessment calibrations for each pathway. In these sessions, you'll have an opportunity to score student work samples with other teachers from your pathway and discuss the work, materials, and rubrics. We hope you'll be able to join us!
As always, if you have any questions, you can let us know via a phone call or Help Desk ticket.
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Assessment Manager ..............................
IAD Meetings and Training Events...........
National Certification ...............................
PBA .........................................................
Research and Standard Setting................
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Have assessment needs not addressed in this issue?
Create a Help Desk ticket, and we'll get right on it!
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