Vermont-PASS
Assessment Domain

The Partnership for the Assessment of Standards-based Science uses the National Science Education Standards (1996) as the criteria in developing the assessment. An alignment study conducted by VISMT and West Ed. in the fall of 1999 concluded that there is a very close correlation between the National Science Standards and the Vermont Framework Science Standards. In addition, Vermont's participation in the development of future forms of the PASS assessment will guarantee that the test will continue to measure the scientific skills and understandings that we value for Vermont students. In order to understand and make use of the alignment between the Vermont Framework, the National Science Education Standards, and the Vermont-PASS assessment, an assessment domain has been developed.

The domain for the fifth grade assessment includes the content of the K-4 cluster within the VT Framework and the National Science Standards. The ninth grade test includes the content of the K-8 cluster and the eleventh grade assessment includes the content of the K- 8 cluster and the developmentally appropriate content from the 9-12 Standards. Many of the concepts associated with Vermont's Vital Results (1.17, 3.9), Systems Standards (7.11), and Technology Standards (7.16, 7.17, 7.18) are embedded in the content of the National Science Standards and VT-PASS. However, the Vital Results, Systems Standards, and Technology Standards will not be reported independently on VT-PASS. Therefore, they will not appear independently as a field of knowledge within the VT-PASS domain.

How to use the Vermont-PASS Assessment Domain:

The VT-PASS assessment domain serves three important functions.

• For teachers and students, it describes the skills and understandings that are "fair game" on the VT-PASS assessment.
  
  
• School reports for VT-PASS will provide information regarding the percentage of students who would benefit from additional opportunities to learn the skills and concepts included in the Vermont-PASS domain. (See "Score Reports")
  
  
• For those involved in science action planning at the local level, the domain and accompanying information from the National Science Standards will provide a valuable resource in helping to guide the implementation of the Vermont Framework. In addition to the science content standards, the National Science Education Standards contain valuable information regarding teaching, professional development, assessment, and support related to science education (to order call: 1-800-624-6242).

The graphic on the next page explains the coding and format used in the domain. Click here to view the graphic (PDF file).

Click on titles below to view Vermont-PASS Assessment Domains (in PDF format):

• Domain of the Vermont-PASS Assessment Grade 5
  
  
• Domain of the Vermont-PASS Assessment Grade 9
  
  
• Domain of the Vermont-PASS Assessment Grade 11