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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Good afternoon,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Please see the attached slides for updates on the Maine Through Year Assessment and Maine Science Assessments shared during today’s Assessment Team Office Hours. (If you would like to attend future office
hours, please register using this <a href="https://networkmaine.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMlde2upj8pE9KIRpEuP2n2vmlZXDmWQ0JU#/registration">
link</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">In addition, today a question arose regarding the information contained on slide 14 (attached). Please see the complete response below:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><b>Can you provide clarification regarding the guidance on slide 14? Would there be impacts to validity of scores if students are reading passages solely for the purpose of locating the answer?
<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">A large set of questions is created by NWEA for each set of paired passages, with some questions in the set applying only to the first passage, some applying only to the second passage, and some applying to both
passages. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">During our review of the Spring 2024 computer-adaptive forms, the Maine DOE Assessment Team identified occasions in which the questions selected by the computer-adaptive engine from the set were all about only one
of the two passages. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">The guidance on slide 19 is intended to prevent students from reading a passage about which there are
<b>no questions </b>on the assessment. It is <u>not</u> intended as a test-taking strategy, for example suggesting that students skim the passage only to seek the answer to the question rather than reading thoroughly for comprehension.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">Within the question, the passage it refers to is identified by its title.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in">Because this issue was identified by Maine DOE (rather than by the assessment vendor) and is consistent with the constraint-based engine that selects all questions, a “fix” before the opening of the spring administration
window is not possible. Post-administration, Maine DOE has requested statistics around what percentage of paired passages were presented with questions pertaining to only one passage. Paired passages only appear on the spring administrations of the Through
Year Assessment.<span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Krista<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">________________________________________ </span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Krista Averill (she/her/hers)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Assessment Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Office of Federal Programs<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Maine Department of Education<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">23 State House Station<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Augusta, ME 04333-0023<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Email</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">:
<a href="mailto:krista.averill@maine.gov"><span style="color:#0563C1">krista.averill@maine.gov</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">Phone</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">: 207-215-6528<br>
</span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="http://www.maine.gov/doe" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">Maine DOE</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">
| </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MaineDepartmentofEducation1/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">Facebook</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">
| </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="https://twitter.com/mdoenews" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">Twitter</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">
| </span><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Segoe UI",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/mainedepted/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Aptos",sans-serif;color:#0070C0">Instagram</span></a></span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none">
| </span><span style="mso-ligatures:none"><a href="https://mainedoenews.net/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#0070C0">Maine DOE Newsroom</span></a> </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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