CMT-CAPT Skills Checklist Technical Manual. - NAAC

Creation of test specifications aligned to grade level contentAn Alternate Assessment Advisory Committee was created in 1998 to assist in thedevelopment of the alternate assessment and met regularly thereafter. In 2005, thecommittee was asked to identify specific Content Standards and Expected Performanceitems to serve as the basis for test items on a second generation of the CMT/CAPT SkillsChecklist. The curriculum indicators were taken from the Content Strands in theConnecticut Curriculum Framework. The Committee of 18 included special educationteachers, curriculum specialists, school administrators, and parent representatives. Ninemembers of the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) Bureau ofCurriculum and Instruction and Bureau of Student Assessment also served on theCommittee. A list of the Committee members is included in Appendix A.The following is a description of the process utilized by this committee to identifyPerformance Standards and related Expected Performances for inclusion in the SecondGeneration of the CMT/CAPT Skills Checklist.Three all-day meetings were held in winter 2005 to establish the selection and placementof the Content Standards and Expected Performance statements from the ConnecticutCurriculum Framework. Committee members utilized a modified “Dot Vote” procedureto identify the Expected Performance within each Content Standard that they consideredthe most important skills for students with significant cognitive disabilities.The “Dot Vote” procedure is a process whereby knowledgeable participants are asked toutilize a specific number of “votes” (in this case 5) to identify statement, items, etc. thatthey believe to be are most important. Typically, this is accomplished by placing coloreddots (five for each participant in this example) next to specific items on a wall chart or ona list. When all members have voted on an array of items the items are then rank orderedby the number of times they were selected. The items that meet a specified criterion,(e.g., selected by half or more of the participants) are then discussed by the entire groupwithin the context of all items, including those that were not selected. This discussionleads to a consensus regarding the importance of the items selected versus those that werenot selected.To help focus the selection process and the subsequent discussion the CMT/CAPT SkillsAdvisory Committee members were asked to consider the following three questionswhen making their selections:1. What endures? In other words, what skills and knowledge will students gain thatlast from one year to the next?2. What is essential for progress to the next level of instruction? In other words whatskills are essential for success in future classes?xviii