Assessment
District Assessment Schedule
Balanced Assessment:
Meeting the Needs of All Stakeholders
We must:
- Administer annual accountability testing
- Develop interim, short-cycle or benchmark assessments
- Ensure ongoing, accurate classroom assessments for and of learning
- Consider the student as the most influential user of assessment information
We know that it takes more than just the results of a once-a-year accountability test to improve learning. It takes more than short-cycle or interim assessment, and in fact, takes more than just high-quality classroom assessment. Therefore, we advocate for a balanced approach to assessment, one that meets the needs of policy-makers, instructional decision-makers, and students.
Our district is building a system of assessment, so there is synergy among all levels of assessment –all levels working together to improve achievement.
Two Purposes for Assessment
SUMMATIVE
- Assessments OF Learning
- How much have students learned as of a particular point in time?
FORMATIVE
- Assessments FOR Learning
- How can we use assessment information to help students learn more?
We can divide the purposes of assessment into two categories: assessment of learning and assessment for learning. Summative assessment, or assessment of learning, measures the level of achievement at a point in time. Standardized tests and common assessments fall into this category. Any work that is evaluated that counts toward the report card grade we can consider an assessment of learning. So, if you think about all the assessments given over a trimester or quarter and how many of them are figured into the grade, you’ll discover that a lot of them, if not most of them, are assessments of learning.
Formative assessment, or assessment for learning, on the other hand, is not an accountability tool, but a teaching tool. We can conduct assessments to make decisions about instruction before the learning process or during the learning process. For example, we conduct pretests to help us decide where to begin with certain groups of students, and we give students quizzes to help them decide what their strengths are and what they need to focus on.
MCSD's Summative Assessments
CSAP:
Grades 3-10 take the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) in the subjects of Reading, Writing, Math and Science. This assessment is given in February and March of every school year and results are received in early August. This is a one time "snapshot" of the students mastery of the state standards in each subject for their grade level.
The Colorado Department of Education issues annual School Accountability Reports based, in part, on CSAP. To view these reports, please visit CDE's web site (click here) and type in either our district's name or the individual school.
MCSD 2006-2007 CSAP Results
CSAPA:
This assessment is the CSAP Alternate and is given to a very small percentage of our special education students who have a significant cognitive disability. This assessment measures the expanded benchmarks appropriate for the level of cognitive ability and are created from the Colorado Content Standards.
BEAR:
Grades K-2 take the Basic Early Assessment of Reading (BEAR) which assesses both Reading Basics and Reading Comprehension. This assessment is given in May of every school year. Results are immediate.
MCSD's Formative Assessments
Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP):
Grades 2-10 take the assessment referred to as "MAPS" or "Levels" or "NWEA" by teachers and district personnel. This assessment gives the achievement level of students regardless of grade level or age. This assessment is given in the Fall and the Spring of every school year and is highly encouraged to be given in the Winter as well. This assessment is aligned with CSAP so the results on NWEA can be predictive of the expected results on CSAP. NWEA is given in the subjects of Reading, Language Usage and Math. Results are immediate.
2007-2008 Alignment of MAP scores to CSAP proficiency levels, click here
NWEA will also give the LEXILE range of a student. The LEXILE range is the range of books the student can read successfully at their own reading level.
Parents and teachers: Enter your child/student's LEXILE score here for a list of books!
Along with the achievement level and LEXILE range of a student, NWEA also gives us the continuum of skills necessary to increase achievement. Skills are listed by subject and by the score a student receives. For an example of what the DesCartes continuum of learning looks like, click here.
NWEA Parent Toolkit
DIBELS:
Grades K-3 are given a reading skills screening called Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. These short assessments measure the skill level of students in reading in the areas of Phonemic Awareness, Phonics and Fluency. These quick screenings let teachers know if students are on track with the reading skills necessary to become a fluent reader by the end of third grade. These screenings or "benchmarks" are given three times a year in Fall, Winter and Spring. Parts of these screenings "progress monitoring" can be given weekly to monthly depending on the instructional needs of the student.
DIBELS are also the measures used to determine whether or not a student needs to have an Individualized Literacy Plan or ILP. If students do not achieve the minimum level on the DIBELS measure for their grade level, they are put on an ILP to ensure appropriate literacy instruction is given. Minimum measures by grade level can be found here.
If you have any questions about our assessments please contact Laura Burris.
Coordinator
Laura L. Burris, M.Ed.
Assessment/DAC/Student Achievement
lburris@mcsd.k12.co.us
970-252-7927
Administrator
Sheryl S. Solow, Ed.D.
Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction
Montrose County School District Re-1J
PO Box 10,000
Montrose, CO 81402
970 249-7726 - phone
970 249-7173 - fax
