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USBE: updated DLM science essential elements released; districts to field-test items this year
Summary
USBE trainers said updated science essential elements are published and that DLM will field-test items this spring. Districts and teachers were urged to review and begin using the new elements to support instruction and to help produce the data needed to set future operational test forms.
Tracy Gulley, special education assessment specialist at the Utah State Board of Education, told district DLM coordinators that updated science essential elements are complete, posted on the DLM website and will be used for science field testing beginning this school year. Gulley said the science learning maps and linkage levels have been expanded from three to four linkage levels for future operational use and that additional K–2 essential elements were added.
Gulley described the rollout plan: this school year will still use the existing operational science essential elements for scored testlets, but DLM will deliver four field-test testlets (packaged as two test forms with two testlets each) at the start of the spring window alongside the nine operational science testlets. The field-test items must be taken by students so DLM can collect data for standard-setting before the new standards become operational. Gulley encouraged teachers to incorporate the new science elements into instruction where feasible; she called out a DLM crosswalk resource that maps old elements to the new ones to help teachers plan.
Gulley also advised districts and IEP teams about practical testing considerations for this population: some students require teacher-administered testlets at the lowest linkage/access points using manipulatives and scripting, and administrators should not ‘‘chase children around the room with computers.’’ She said districts should balance the burden on teachers and students when deciding whether to include optional field-test items if the test session will be very disruptive to a child.
District coordinators were asked to ensure first contact surveys and PNP settings are complete before field-test items are assigned, because those settings guide linkage-level delivery and accommodations. Gulley said she expects the updated science standards to be used operationally after sufficient field-test data are collected and that the current year’s field testing will inform next year’s operational test forms.
