Establishing a Statewide Performance Assessment Collaborative: A Theory of Change for Practitioner-Driven Research Engagement

• In Event: Accepting Responsibility for Equitable Educational Opportunities Through a Statewide Collaborative to Support High-Quality Performance Assessments

Abstract

Purpose, Perspectives, & Significance

Drawing upon her experience as a founding member, this presenter will share the history of the statewide performance assessment collaborative in California and will describe the theory of change that helped transform a conversation around state assessment policy into a practitioner-driven learning community with associated research, policy, and communications initiatives. At the time that the collaborative started, the California High School Exit Exam (a standardized assessment of graduation readiness) had been suspended. Practitioners involved with high-quality performance assessments (specifically in the context of 12th grade "portfolio" and "capstone" defenses of learning) came together with research and policy partners to build the case for adopting a new perspective on assessing students’ readiness to graduate. Unlike partnerships that originate due to external funding opportunities, this collaborative resulted from individual school and district leaders initiating a conversation with a nonprofit research and policy organization.

Although the exit exam was not reinstated, the group decided to establish a collaborative network focused on supporting the implementation of high-quality performance assessments in California schools and districts. The collaborative has since developed associated research, policy, and communication initiatives. This includes a research project designed to investigate and support the conditions for effective implementation of high-quality, district-level performance assessments.

As the collaborative has evolved and additional stakeholders, including technical assistance providers and school network partners, have joined, developing relational trust has become essential to addressing authentic practitioner needs. Research shows that a lack of relational trust can be a barrier to partnership and that providing structures for collaboration is critical. This statewide collaborative model has built relational trust among stakeholders through regular convenings of the learning community. Though collaborative members embrace contextually relevant models for designing and implementing performance assessments, they share a commitment to assessment practices that support more equitable and higher-quality student learning and teacher practice. Thus, the collaborative is an example of a “trading zone” that provides space for “building collaboratories, creating new types of organizations, and organizing coalitions for action or reform.” This approach builds upon previous evidence showing how to support meaningful, sustained professional learning through design-based implementation research and networked improvement communities, using collaborative design and social mechanisms to impact systems change. It provides a model for how to build trust and develop an effective partnership between a diverse set of stakeholders responding to a timely assessment policy opportunity. During COVID-19, these relationships proved essential. Practitioners leveraged the collaborative to sustain a sense of community and improve practice during distance learning.

Methods, Data Sources, & Results

Collaborative members regularly gathered narrative data and survey responses on the ways in which their work together influenced teaching and learning. The data indicated a positive influence on assessment practice, as well as increased relational trust, which resulted in the members pursuing funding to expand the collaborative and developing a mutually beneficial research agenda in three participating school districts. Together, these findings support a theory of change for how a practitioner-driven initiative led to a full-fledged research partnership.

Author

• Julie Kessler, San Francisco Unified School District