CREATING A LOCAL SYSTEM OF ASSESSMENTS WCPS ACTION PLAN

COMMON ASSESSMENTS What IS the purpose of the common assessments? What is NOT the purpose of the common assessments?

ACCORDING TO TEACHERS….

ACCORDING TO TEACHERS…

WHO WILL WORK ON COMMON ASSESSMENTS? 87 Teacher Leaders and Curriculum Coordinators, including:  Representatives from all schools  Representatives from all grade levels  Representatives from Math, ELA, & Science

WHEN WILL THE WORK TAKE PLACE? This summer. Tests should be finished before the start of 2015/2016 school year.

TEAMS GOALS Create common unit assessments to be used throughout the district. A portion of the assessment will likely be multiple choice, depending upon the grade level. A portion could be written/performance based.

TEAM PRIORITIES Create/refine common unit assessments for Math and ELA Create common pacing guides for Science, then create assessments as time permits

WHAT KIND OF INPUT DO TEACHERS HAVE? After assessments are written, tests will be shared with all teachers in the district. Feedback can be given to the teacher leaders before the assessments are finalized, and revisions can be made.

COMMON ASSESSMENTS: WHY COLLABORATE? “If all students are expected to demonstrate the same knowledge and skills, regardless of the teacher to which they are assigned, it only makes sense that teachers must work together in a collaborative effort to assess student learning.” DuFour, DuFour, Eaker, 2007

CREATING COMMON ASSESSMENTS: TEACHERS LEADERS WILL... 1.Using district unit plans, decide which standards will be assessed. Then, decide which learning targets from those standards will be assessed. 2.Decide how learning targets will be assessed. 3.Develop the assessment plan or map. 4. Write the assessment items and create scoring guides/rubrics. 5.Prepare the assessment for administration.

TENTATIVE PLANS: 2015/ /2016 All teachers administer common assessments Grade using GradeCam PLC’s study data at the classroom level, identify areas for intervention/reteaching PLC’s request professional learning needs School and district level PLC’s study data, identify and plan for professional learning needs Plan for and implement instructional changes to address needs identified by test data Gather feedback/suggestions for improvement of common assessments

TENTATIVE PLANS: 2016/ /2017 Make corrections/additions/deletions to tests as needed. Create Science common assessments. Design additional versions of assessments Administer common assessments Grade using GradeCam Study data at the classroom, school and district levels Plan for and implement instructional changes to address needs identified by test data Gather feedback/suggestions for improvement of common assessments