Within the Innovation Lab, MCNC is piloting a tool called the College–Readiness Performance Assessment System (C-PAS) in mathematics, English, science and, potentially, social science, devised by the Educational Policy Improvement Center (EPIC). EPIC, founded by Dr. David Conley, has as its mission the improvement of educational policy and practice, particularly with students historically underserved by public schools; it seeks to create a climate of change along with tools and techniques that support dramatic improvement in college and career readiness for students..
C-PAS will track Dr. Conley’s Key Cognitive Skills (KCGs), which have been identified as necessary for college readiness and success. The KCGs include Problem Formulation, Research, Interpretation, Communication, and Precision/Accuracy. C-PAS gives participating teachers access to a Task Bank of activities that can be embedded in existing curricula. Teachers administer these tasks to students, score the tasks using the C-PAS scoring guide, and upload student work to the C-PAS system. Outside moderation will ensure that scoring is consistent across schools and teachers.
The intent is to help students develop the thinking skills needed for success, measuring the development of these skills from grades 6 through 12. The results can be used with other assessments to create a profile of readiness for college and career.
The EPIC/C-PAS pilot will assess students’ college-readiness, profile areas of strengths and weaknesses, and give assessments that will inform curricula and student support interventions. C-PAS will also give powerful evidence that MCNC Early College students have succeeded in courses and sequences most likely to lead to college success.
