The Large Countywide and Suburban District Consortium

1. Measuring What Matters:
Performance Assessment Collaborative (PAC)
PAC DISTRICT PROFILES
An artifact submitted in support of the Large Countywide and Suburban District
Consortium's application to the Assessment for Learning Project

2. Baltimore County Public Schools (MD)
• 111,127 students (#3 in state; #25 in US)
• 59% students of color; 47% low-income students
“Performance-based assessments enable educators to personalize
learning and meet individual student needs as we help every student
develop the 21st century knowledge and skills to graduate globally
competitive as called for in our Blueprint 2.0 strategic plan.”
− Superintendent Dr. S. Dallas Dance
District Highlights
• Due to a host of flexible, student-centered supports, the
BCPS graduation rate increased for the past four years to
87.6% (class of 2014), and the gap between the largest
student groups, black and white students, has nearly closed.
• Grade 11 SAT participation more than doubled from 37.8% in
2011-12 to 87.5% in 2014-15 due to SAT Day, which gives all
11th graders the opportunity to take the SAT during the
school day at their own school and without cost.
Assessment Highlights
• The S.T.A.T. (Students and Teachers Accessing Tomorrow)
digital learning transformation is training educators to embed
computer-enhanced, machine-scoreable formative
assessments into teaching and learning.
• Real-time results based on high-quality, standards-aligned
assessments will enhance educators’ ability to target student
strengths and weaknesses, increase rigor for all students, and
close persistent academic gaps.

3. Fairfax County Public Schools (VA)
• 186,714 students (#1 in state; #10 in US)
• 60% students of color; 28% low-income students
“This assessment project closely aligns and enhances the work we are
doing in Fairfax County Public Schools with our Strategic Plan and the
Portrait of a Graduate. This proposal will help us develop a more
meaningful and balanced assessment model that accurately reflects
the skills that will be necessary for our students to succeed in college
and careers.”
− Superintendent Dr. Karen Garza
District Highlights
• The FCPS Portrait of a Graduate outlines what our community
believes is important for our graduates to know and be able to
do. Each FCPS student must become an ethical and global
citizen, a collaborator, a creative and critical thinker, a
communicator, and a goal-directed and resilient individual.
• By the end of 3rd grade, 81% of our students are reading at
grade level. Our graduation rate is 92.5% overall and we have
increased the graduation rate for our Black (89.8%) and Hispanic
students (79.6%) as we continue to close the achievement gap.
Assessment Highlights
• A collaborative teaming approach is used to develop,
administer and analyze common formative assessments that
support engaging, rigorous, and authentic learning for all
children.
• In the development of new assessments, the FCPS Portrait of a
Graduate moves us beyond high-stakes testing and promotes
the communication, problem solving, and creative thinking
skills essential for success beyond school.

4. The School District of Palm Beach County (FL)
• 179,514 students (#5 in state; #11 in US)
• 63% students of color; 57% low-income students
"Palm Beach is excited to be a partner in this work. As we engage our
educators and the community in our Strategic Planning process, our future
focus will be on meeting the needs of a diverse student population through a
more personalized learning approach. Partnering in the Assessment for
Learning Project (ALP) will contribute to a system to support effective and
relevant instruction to meet the needs of all students."
− Superintendent Dr. Robert Avossa
District Highlights
• Among large urban districts in Florida, SDPBC has the highest
graduation rate at 78% and the largest Algebra end-of-course
pass rates at 70%.
• Over 300 award-winning choice and career academies.
SDPBC leads the state in number of student earning Industry
Certifications from the medical sciences to construction
industries.
Assessment Highlights
• Implementation of a state-of-the-art formative assessment
platform to provide timely and user friendly information to all
teachers and administrators to support students.
• SDPBC has developed and implemented a high-quality
formative assessment system aligned to standards and the
scope and sequence and is available to all teachers to drive
instruction.

5. School District U-46 (IL)
• 40,440 students (#2 in state; #138 in US)
• 70% students of color; 62% low-income students
District Highlights
• U-46's 4-year graduation rate increased from 80% in 2012 to
85.3 % in 2015, now mirroring the Illinois average despite
being one of the most diverse districts in the state. Our Black
students' graduation rate of 84.6% exceeds the state average
of 75.2%. Our current 9th graders have an 85.2% on-track-to-
graduation rate, which also outperforms the 83.4% statewide
rate.
• 33.5% of 8th graders passed Algebra 1 in 2015 compared to
28.4% across Illinois.
Assessment Highlights
• Principals and data coaches participate in regularly scheduled
data dialogues to review site assessment data and instructional
implications. Dialogues support a robust assessment calendar
inclusive of nationally normed assessments, state assessments,
and district-created assessments.
• We are implementing a Student Learning Objective Process to
support the inclusion of student growth with teacher
appraisal. SLOs include a wide range of assessments. This effort
supports our full transition to standards based teaching,
learning, and assessment from preK through 12th grade.
"One priority in our new U-46 strategic plan is to 'implement and
support a challenging, standards based curriculum across all content
areas.' With the passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act, now is the
time to consider how we can assess a student’s true progress towards
a standard using methods that are more meaningful than a paper-
pencil test."
− Chief Executive Officer Tony Sanders

6. Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VA)
• 68,210 students (#3 in state; #50 in US)
• 49% students of color; 36% low-income students
District Highlights
• More than 40% of 10-12 grade students took at least one
Advanced Placement (AP) course in 2014-15, marking an 8%
increase from the prior year with the largest growth taking
place among African American students (12%).
• Student discipline referrals decreased 50% in September
2015 compared to September 2014 with suspensions
decreasing 53% for the same time period.
Assessment Highlights
• Compass to 2020, our Strategic Framework, calls for a
balanced assessment system, with particular emphasis on
developing and providing training on varied assessments
with an emphasis on performance-based assessments.
• We continue to embed quality performance assessments
across the curriculum, so that all students are presented
multiple ways of demonstrating mastery of content as well
as becoming proficient with globally competitive skills.
"Our classrooms should be laboratories for life. Therefore, we need to
move beyond assessments that measure discreet knowledge to
assessments that measure the globally competitive skills we believe to
be important.”
− Superintendent Dr. Aaron Spence