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Elizabeth School District relies heavily on academic assessments to determine if students have obtained the intended knowledge at the appropriate level of mastery. Assessments serve multiple purposes. They can inform student learning and growth, provide a school or district global perspective through root cause analysis, and provide meaningful insight into required course changes and curriculum modifications. Assessments exist in multiple forms, and clarity of language is incredibly important.
- Classroom formative assessments are typically teacher-generated assessments ranging from short exit tickets, pre/post quizzes, unit/chapter tests, midterm exams, final exams, performance assessments, and many more. Typically, these assessments are designed to inform the teacher of a student's individual mastery level and generally have a high degree of influence on a student's grade on a course.
- Interim assessments occur between classroom formative assessments and benchmarking assessments. They are typically highly selective on content and are used to gauge the incremental growth and development of a student during the time between benchmarking assessments. Examples can include common formative assessments on a topic, such as Geometry, or DIBLES reading assessments.
- Benchmarking assessments typically occur two to three times per year. They are generally used to measure growth between the beginning, middle, and end of the year for students. In many cases, they serve as predictors for state and national summative assessments. Elizabeth School District currently uses iReady Fall, Winter, and Spring benchmarking assessments in Reading and Mathematics.
- Standardized summative assessments are generally considered assessments for school and district accountability. These assessments should not be used to evaluate individual student achievement and/or growth but should be used to inform on organizational root causes. Examples of standardized summative assessments include: CMAS, CoGat, PSAT, SAT, and other similar assessments.
Learning Targets and Assessment Matching
It is important that units of instruction contain clear and concise learning targets that outline what students will be learning, and inform students of the intended level of mastery of the content. There are typically four major types of learning targets: Knowledge/Understanding; Reasoning; Skills; and Products.
Learning Target Type
Explanation
Content Standards KeyWords
Examples
Knowledge/
Understanding
Some knowledge/
facts/concepts to be learned outright; some to be retrieved using reference materials.
Explain, understand, describe, identify, tell, name, list, define, label, match, choose, recall, recognize, select, know
- Vocabulary
- Measurement concepts
- US Government structures
- Patterns of growth and development
Reasoning
Thinking proficiencies - using knowledge to solve a problem, make a decision, plan, etc.
Analyze: components, parts, ingredients, logical sequence, steps, main idea, supporting details, determine, dissect, examine, order.
Compare/contrast:
discriminate between alike and different, distinguish between similarities and differences, juxtapose
Synthesize: combine into, blend, formulate, organize, adapt, modify
Classify: categorize, sort, group, give examples
Evaluate: justify, support opinion, think critically, appraise, critique, debate, defend, dispute, evaluate, judge, prove
- Think critically
- Analyze the author’s use of language
- Solve problems
- Compare forms of government
- Self-evaluate
- Analyze health information
Skills
Behavioral demonstrations; where the doing is what is important using knowledge and reasoning to perform skillfully
Observe, focus attention, listen, perform, do, question, conduct, work, read, speak, assemble, operate, use, demonstrate, measure, investigate, model, collect, dramatize, explore
- Read fluently
- Oral presentation
- Play an instrument
- Use laboratory equipment
- Conduct investigations
Products
Where the characteristics of the final product are important; using knowledge, reasoning, and skills to produce a final product.
Design, produce, create, develop, make, write, draw, represent, display, model, construct
- Writing
- Artistic products
- Research reports
- Make a map
- Personal fitness plan
- Make a model that represents a scientific principle
Stiggins, R.J., Arter, J.A., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2004). Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it well. Assessment Training Institute, Portland, OR. (p.64)
Understanding the type of learning target provides the teacher with the ability to assess mastery using the best form of assessment. It is critical that units of instruction address learning target and assessment type matching. There are typically four major types of assessment: Selected Response (SR), Written Response (WR), Performance Assessment (PA), and Personal Communication (PC). The matrix below demonstrates the best learning target and assessment match.
SR
WR
PA
PC
KNOWLEDGE
Good
Strong
Partial
Strong
REASONING
Good
Strong
Partial
Strong
SKILLS
Partial
Poor
Strong
Partial
PRODUCT
Poor
Poor
Strong
Poor
Elizabeth School District Assessment Calendar (Subject to change at any time)
