What changes will be made to the structure of high school to facilitate the implementation of school-wide diploma assessment systems?

The changes will depend on the nature and needs of your assessment system. Some changes could include scheduling changes for teachers and students, the development of dedicated scheduling changes, common language, common tasks by grade level, school-wide rubrics, curriculum changes, professional development (for all stakeholders to understand and support your school's initiative), updating technology, forming review panels, and ensuring other forms of support necessary for implementation of this graduation by proficiency system.

What's the relationship between Carnegie units and assessments of student proficiency for the purposes of graduation?

Courses offering Carnegie units provide students the opportunities to learn the knowledge and skills needed to demonstrate proficiency. It is expected that students will, through their high school experience, have the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency in all of the six core areas: ELA, math, science, social studies, technology, and the arts. One vehicle for assessing student proficiency will be the School-Wide Diploma Assessment (Exhibitions, Portfolios, and the CIM).

What information will the greater community receive about the changes to the Rhode Island Diploma System?

In January 2004, RIDE disseminated initial guidance to all school districts regarding the graduation by proficiency component of the Regents' High School Regulations that applies to all students graduating in 2008. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation supported statewide initiatives, networks, and demonstration sites focused on graduation by proficiency throughout 2005.

Who will facilitate the dissemination of information about the changes to the Rhode Island Diploma System to the school and local community?

Districts/schools are responsible for the design and implementation of a school's response to the changes to the diploma system. This includes the communication about the system to both the school and local community and ongoing communication about student progress toward graduation by proficiency to students, parents, and other adults responsible for supporting student learning. The exhibition and portfolio toolkits contain samples and strategies for developing this communication system.

How do we fairly assess students who move into our system late in their academic career?

All School-Wide Diploma Assessments will be aligned with common standards and school-wide assessment systems will be developed according to state guidelines. It is therefore likely that students will be able to transfer their skills, knowledge, and learning to the new school's diploma assessment more readily than they do in the current systems. However, it will be up to the individual school to facilitate this transition.

What are the implications of the new RI Diploma System for students with special needs or English Language Learners?

This is a system for assessing all students, and all students are expected to demonstrate proficiency through their local assessments, School Wide Diploma Assessments, and course work. In designing an exhibition or portfolio assessment system, schools need to develop structures that ensure student success. Further consideration must be given to the following:

• Use of Universal Design for assessments
• Time modifications
• Student Supports
• Instructional Changes
• Curriculum Changes

In addition, RIDE's Office of Special Populations, other RIDE staff, and practitioners from the field who have experiences with these important issues will continue their work to ensure equity, access and fairness for all students. As always, all IEP and 504 Plans must be strictly adhered to and appropriate accommodations must be made for all students that require them.

What is in a "toolkit"?

The toolkits describe a step-by-step process for designing and implementing exhibitions and portfolios as a School Wide Diploma Assessment. They include guidelines, instructions, system design requirements, rubrics, resources, suggested strategies, and samples from other schools.

Has the state developed a way to assess the technical merit of exhibition and graduation portfolio assessment systems?

RIDE is developing a system for assessing and validating all District Diploma systems throughout the state. RIDE is piloting a peer support and review system that will be used to certify the components of each district's local assessment system. It will also be an opportunity for school teams to see the work of their colleagues and collect new strategies for design and implementation.

Who will or should coordinate planning and implementing an exhibition assessment?

This is the responsibility of schools and districts. Some schools have designated exhibition coordinators who may be teachers with reduced schedules. This may be an administrative responsibility in other schools. In other cases, a committee may be used to advocate, support, and implement the school's exhibition system. Regardless of who coordinates this effort, it is essential to have the full leadership and support of the school principal.

How do I get teachers on board?

Teachers must be invited into the design process from the beginning to ensure support for and success of this initiative. They must be provided with on-going, job-embedded professional development to successfully teach and assess.

How do you get kids to buy into the process?

Exhibitions are designed to allow students to showcase their interests, creativity, and strengths. It is an opportunity for them to exercise choice and autonomy and to highlight their skills, knowledge, and learning. Because an exhibition offers students a chance to learn something new, create something they are proud of, and accurately reflect the skills and knowledge they have developed over the years, students are often very interested and engaged in the process.

How do we encourage community involvement, both business and otherwise, in the exhibition process?

Initially, schools should look at collaborations and partnerships that are already in place. For example, internship programs, chambers of commerce, school improvement teams, parent-teacher organizations, boosters, school advisory councils, school committees, and/or alumni organizations can provide access to community members. School publications and websites and the local press can also facilitate community involvement. Once the exhibition system is established, schools should continue to educate their community about their efforts to ensure continued involvement.

Who takes responsibility for managing or overseeing exhibitions?

This depends on how you design your exhibition system. Some schools have found it useful to create discipline-specific "exhibition" courses specifically designed to provide students with the instruction, facilitation, mentoring, and support they need to create an exhibition independently. Some schools house the exhibition in a particular department (e.g., guidance, PE, English, social studies), while other schools choose an interdisciplinary approach.

What standards are students expected to meet in exhibition projects?

RIDE requires that all exhibition projects must be aligned with elements of Rhode Island's GSEs, applied learning standards, and appropriate national standards. However, schools may identify additional standards and expectations for their students. More information about strategies for alignment can be found in the exhibition toolkit.

Has the state developed a way to assess the technical merit of exhibitions?

Exhibitions are multi-faceted demonstrations of student learning that require a variety of assessment strategies. The exhibition toolkit provides guidance and rubrics to help schools ensure fairness, reliability, and validity in their exhibition system. In addition, RIDE is developing a peer review and support system for assessing and validating exhibitions throughout the state. The peer review process will focus initially on five system dimensions (Sufficiency, Fairness, Standard-Setting, Access and Opportunity, and Alignment). Many components of these dimensions attend to elements of technical merit.

What are the implications for K-12 curriculum instruction and assessment?

As districts design and implement their exhibitions system, they will need to review and revise curriculum and instruction to provide students with multiple opportunities across multiple disciplines and grade levels in order to gain and practice the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully complete a graduation by proficiency exhibition project. These changes must happen at both middle and high schools so that students have many opportunities to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in their exhibitions.

Will students receive credit for the capstone or exhibition?

For schools that have designated "exhibition" as a measure of proficiency, successful completion will be required for graduation. In schools that have created a separate discipline-specific course, students will receive a grade and earn the assigned number of Carnegie units. Schools that embed exhibitions into particular departments or into the school-wide learning experiences generally count portions of students' exhibitions-related work toward their overall class grade and requirements.

How can we create valid exhibition assessments that are fully supported and user-friendly across the curriculum?

Ensuring validity is a continual process. As schools design and implement exhibitions, they will need to consistently check that they are aligned with the appropriate standards, that students have opportunities to learn the content and skills being assessed in exhibitions, that the exhibition process is fair, and that negative, unintended consequences are not being imposed on students. The protocols, rubrics, guidelines, examples of student work, and checklists provided in the exhibition toolkit should assist in creating valid, reliable, and fair assessments.

What if a student does not pass an exhibition project?

When schools design their exhibition system, multiple opportunities to learn the skills and knowledge to succeed in an exhibition project must be embedded across the curriculum and throughout grade levels. Additionally, schools should design systems (year long due dates, built-in check points and assessments, opportunities to re-exhibit, etc.) to support the student's success. In addition, a student that fails his/her final exhibition must be offered an opportunity to redo the component(s) that were failed. However, if a school has done all it can to support the student, has offered the student multiple opportunities to learn and practice their skills, has communicated clearly and carefully with all advisors, mentors, parents/guardians, has provided an opportunity to resubmit failed elements, and the student still does not pass, the student's diploma should be withheld until the student meets all of the graduation requirements.