It's not just what kids know New 'performance assessments' to test science students' skills in practical ways Thursday, October 02, 2007 • BY JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff High school students taking the state's new biology test this spring will do more than answer multiple-choice questions about photosynthesis and cell structure. They also will need to put science into action. The biology test will include New Jersey's latest shot at "performance assessment," a testing model requiring proof of knowledge through performance of tasks or experiments on paper. That could mean, for example, determining and explaining the cause of a fish kill in fictional "Lake Gordon" based upon information provided on algae growth and oxygen levels in the water. Students will have 90 minutes to answer such practical questions with charts and a brief essay, and a network of teachers from across the state will score the responses. "It asks kids to use data, ar range it, record it, and decide what it means -- it puts together the real thinking skills of science," said Willa Spicer, chief architect of the new assessments and now the state's deputy education commissioner. While not novel, such performance tests are a tricky way to assess students statewide, and for now will just be field-tested alongside more traditional testing of short answers and multiple-choice questions. None of the new testing will be required for graduation, with the current High School Proficiency Assessment in the 11th grade continuing to serve as the state's high school exit exam. But state officials say the HSPA likely will be phased out in the coming years, replaced by the new course exams as part of a broader reform that they claim will revolutionize how school children are tested in New Jersey. "Finally, we have a system that will serve educational purposes and not just paper reporting," said state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy. Other changes include a trial introduction of a new Algebra II test in 60 high schools, the state's first elementary school assessments written in Spanish, new state-developed practice exams for teachers to use in the course of the year, and New Jersey's first venture into online testing. In all, the state expects to spend about $28 million on assessments this year, officials said, up from $24 million budgeted last year. Revamping the state's testing system has been a priority for Davy, who in one of her first acts as commissioner three years ago scrapped a state proposal for a new assessment contract and started anew. She also brought New Jersey into what is called the American Diploma Project, a national partnership that includes more than 25 states seeking to raise the rigor and requirements of high school, especially around science and math. Part of the project is the subject-by-subject testing over the course of high school, instead of the HSPA that is given in a single week of testing, starting in 11th grade. For the new biology test, an estimated 70,000 students -- most of them in ninth or 10th grade -- will take the exam near the end of their course in the spring. Among them will be a dozen biology classes at Mount Olive High School, where teachers are starting to tinker with their curriculum to make sure the necessary topics will be covered by the time the test is given in late April and May. "We're bringing forward a little of the evolution piece and the diversity of life," said Michael Cieri, the high school's science supervi sor, who also teaches advanced placement biology. "Before we might have done an introduction, but now we'll spend a little more time with it." Cieri said his colleagues aren't so much nervous about the new biology test as uncertain about what will be covered. Most have only started to tell students about it, he said, and parents will get word at back-to-school night later this month. "The state put this in pretty fast, so we don't know what it will look like," he said. "As a teacher, you want to be sure you aren't digging into some minutia." Cieri likes the idea of the performance portion of the test, however. Mount Olive was part of the state's early trials, and he said it helps students who aren't as strong in traditional testing. "It won't change much for kids in maybe my AP class, but it will help our core kids. It will allow them more chances to express themselves," Cieri said. Performance testing is complicated, though, and has a mixed history in New Jersey and elsewhere. The state first tried it several years ago to assess public speaking, but quickly abandoned the effort as too time-consuming. There also are questions about its reliability. It is more prone to subjective judgments about whether an answer is right or wrong. The state has developed a specific scoring rubric, and early trials went well, officials said. But they concede challenges in expanding to 70,000 students at once. "We can train (the graders) to the standards, but whether the scoring ends up being equivalent to that, that's a hard question to answer at this point," said Spicer, the deputy commissioner. "But when finished, we'll have a lot of data and know a lot more." John Mooney may be reached at jmooney@starledger.com or (973) 392-1548. © 2007 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.