The Maine Department of Education has agreed to recruit schools to serve as field testing sites to administer NECAP science inquiry tasks in grades 5, 8 and 11. The field tests will occur between Oct. 29 and Nov. 20, 2012.
Students will be given the opportunity to engage with science content in a different way than traditional assessments and will be able to provide feedback about the experience. This marks the third year with great participation from schools in the state.
Students will work on the inquiry task in pairs at grades 5 and 8. Students in grade 11 will work independently. For the field tests this fall, the grade 5 and grade 8 inquiry tasks are “hands-on,” and the grade 11 task is a paper and pencil test.
Schools will be paid $5 per tested student. It is helpful to have more than one classroom within a school participate in the inquiry task field test.
These inquiry tasks will help schools understand the shape that performance assessment tasks in science can have.
If you are interested in having your classroom(s) participate, please contact Kellie Beaulieu at Measured Progress at 800-431-8901 ext. 2156, or at beaulieu.kellie@measuredprogress.org.