MAKING IT COUNT feature Alcorn Career and Technology Center Teachers at the Alcorn Career and Technology Center in Corinth decide individually if they wish to factor students’ MS-CPAS2 scores into course grades, but, according to center director Rodney Hopper, “Most of our CTE instructors use the scores as part of the final grade. Many programs reward students who score high with some type of special recognition during our end-of-year recognition ceremony. Having a timely class [MS-CPAS2] results report allows instructors to analyze results and reward students before they leave the class.” Stephanie Parsons, a polymer science instructor at the center, has seen her students shine on the performance-based assessment (PBA) component of her Career Pathway’s MS-CPAS2. “Many students are not good test takers,” she acknowledged. “A balance can be achieved by averaging class projects graded with rubrics and CPAS scores. PBAs allow students who are not good at written exams to showcase practical skills that Common Core curricula and career and technical education teach, train, and require.” Parsons stressed, “I remind my students throughout the school year
a nine-weeks grade or an end-of-course grade because so many of our classes are hands on, but counting it as a major grade added a lot more weight to it as far as how it affected the student. We feel that it’s a good compromise.” Hobson attributes her center’s dramatic rise in MS-CPAS2 scores to the policy change. “The year before we started this, we had seven students who made 80 percent or higher on the CPAS,” Hobson stated. “The next year when we counted it as a major grade, we had over 30 students, and the next year over 40. It has been a tremendous help for us in getting up our CPAS scores.” West Point Career & Technology Center Before Patrick Ray took over as career-technical director, the West Point CTC had implemented an informal building policy in which teachers count students’ MS-CPAS2 scores as a final exam grade, although students can win exemption from having the MS-CPAS2 counted in their grade by having a high grade at the end of the course. Ray believes that, without such a policy, “There is no positive or negative for the kids taking the CPAS, and they kind of know that,
“I remind my students throughout the school year that our learning will be evaluated with our CPAS exams. I reassure students that their performance measurements help teachers adjust teaching, projects, review, assessments, and time allowed for skills practice.” that our learning will be evaluated with our CPAS exams. I reassure students that their performance measurements help teachers adjust teaching, projects, review, assessments, and time allowed for skills practice.” Nan Nethery, a Teacher Academy instructor at the center, concurred: “I use the CPAS as my Teacher Academy students’ final exam grade.” Otherwise, she said, “While [a student’s] individual score is recorded on his or her permanent record, it does not have a real significance in the student’s eyes, in terms of graduation. Using the CPAS as the final exam grade, students are more likely to try harder because it reflects the outcome of the class.” New Albany/Union County Career and Technical Center The New Albany/Union County Career and Technical Center is in its third academic year of counting the MS-CPAS2 as a major test grade in CTE courses, counselor April Hobson stated. Previously, Hobson said, “We felt that some of our students did not take the test seriously because it was not tied to a graduation requirement like the subject area tests are.” The center’s teachers proposed a remedy—counting MS-CPAS2 scores as a major test grade in conjunction with offering an additional incentive, such as last year’s bowling party, for students who score 80 percent or higher on the test. Hobson noted, “[This combined approach] has really increased our number of students who have scored Advanced [on the MS-CPAS2].” She added, “For us, it is the right policy. We did not want to count [the MS-CPAS2] as
other than the programs that have moved to [industry certifications].” Now, Ray said, because the MS-CPAS2 is administered in April, “[students] know they’ve got to try.” He explained, “They could lose their exemption before the end of the term, and not all of them know whether or not they’re going to be exempt.” He added that using the MS-CPAS2 as the final exam is also practical from the teachers’ standpoint: “It’s a comprehensive exam. The teachers look at it as that there is no point in giving [students] another comprehensive exam three or four weeks later as a final. The kids understand that, too. They’re not going to be tested twice.” The result is less stress on teachers and students. “It saves the teacher a lot of work, and it’s a real motivating factor for the students,” he said. Smith, herself a former CTE instructor and career counselor, applauds these centers and many more like them across the state using MS-CPAS2 scores to hold students more accountable for their learning. It is a practice she hopes other centers will adopt. She noted, “Our CTE teachers consistently work hard and put forth their best effort in the classroom every day. Their students’ scores should reflect the same level of effort.”
For additional information about the MS-CPAS2, please contact Betsey Smith, betsey.smith@rcu.msstate.edu. Spring 2014 CONNECTIONS 27