June Board of Ed: Kaleidoscope Collective

 and there's an intro here

Komal Bhasin
Michelle Ryan
Sam Ribnick (innovative assessment)

deep engagement with standard in school

now there's an alarm going off? I think? or a siren?

"but what about MCAS?"
state eco system that supports deeper learning
state assessment that embodies deeper learning
relevant, real-world, interactive
mastery, identity, creativity
building knowledge, producing authentic work, developing 21st century skills
tasks with a deep sense of relevance and purpose can foster deep engagement
interactive and foster development of interpersonal skills are important in developing global citizens
"take a deep look at representation in the classroom"
relevance of grade level standard
problems to solve in groups
task adjustment protocol; equity pause: places where tasks may need scaffolds)
focus on facilitation
teach and then reflect on student work

innovative science assessment: was a 9th grade teacher with the MCAS science assessment at the end of the year
"we got to March" and added time and resources to ensure that students would pass
what does the assessment look like at the end of the year?
"building on so much of what we know works well about the MCAS" but making big changes in three areas:
simulations allow students interact with real science work
storyline in a purposeful context that is culturally responsive
diverse characters doing science 
and there's a chart here with a timeline that I don't know that I can represent quickly in words
2023-24 is prepping for statewide use, though; pilot this year was proof of concept
settings students can change as they conduct word
all characters but particularly adults in positions of expertise and positions of power are diverse
storyline told through what looks like a graphic novel format
now there's a video with little swimming fish that simulating a science experiment
Peyser asks about open response questions: draw on science process in the context of that meaningful storyline
teachers on assessment design committee; teachers helped shape these tasks
goal is to listen to those who are most impacted by this: students on how testing impacts their instructional environment and teachers so not just having opinion but listening 
supporting tryouts in classrooms even before pilot
student comments in the survey: interactive, hands-on, simulations, didn't seem as stressful; felt they could show their knowledge
was some concern over open response
teacher: "you can't memorize your way through this one"
will allow to move away from MCAS prep; "students can do so much more"

bimonthly convenings of Kaleidoscope: intro a strategy, study implementation and impact, engage stakeholders, iterate on strategy introduced
found effective and useful
"to produce and calibrate a suite of tools" including "the deeper learning continuum"
teachers "as savvy consumers" of materials
embed in equity: DEI can't live in a separate PD session, but needs to be embedded
educators "want a pathway not a blueprint"
"initiative coherence is more important than 'initiative collective'"

Kaleidoscope: continued evaluation, future cohorts, scalability; larger pilot and new innovative tasks and moving forward on innovative assessment; webinar July 12 at noon bit.ly/innovativescience21
plan for innovative science assessment is 2025

Hills: size of districts? other tests becoming innovative?
Bhasin: school conditions rather and district: small and medium
Ribnick: not yet piloting on high schools
Riley: introductory overview; they'll come back with findings

West: I didn't understand his first comment; something about introducing variation in student
less ineffective test prep if we transitioned to this type of assessment
why do you think that? would there be fewer standards covered?
really? 
Ribnick: tasks that have a series of related questions related to same scenario
I missed part of his answer
Peyser: balance in number of standards
cost of these sorts of assessments when you come back

Lombos: other states implementing?
Bhasin: not a lot of collaboration with other states at this point

More coming on this