1. CCS Parent EmPOWERment Academy Where Knowledge = Power September 28, 2009 “Making Sense of District-wide Assessments”

2. Assessment Walk  View the sample assessments 1- 10  On your notecard, list the grade level that matches the assessment.  Make sure you visit all 10 sample assessments!

3. Answers! 1. 4 2. 6 3. 2 4. 7 5. 10 6. 9 7. 6 8. 8 9. K 10. 5

4. What is Important to Know About Assessment? CClassroom assessment is how teachers find out how well students are learning. It is important because teachers need a lot of information for the decisions they have to make.  It can take many forms, such as paper and pencil assessments, performance assessments, conversations, or observations. CClassroom assessments are built on clear goals and criteria for quality work so that they can help teachers guide students.

5. What is important to know, cont. AA parent should expect that classroom assessments will be clear and reflect what is important in the class. They should provide specific information about what students are learning, and they should use different assessment strategies. TTeachers should provide specific and useful feedback, and assessments should focus on thinking and understanding as well as having correct answers. CClassroom assessments help teachers require high standards for all students.

6. The word ‘assess’ Comes from the Latin verb ‘assidere’ meaning ‘to sit with’. In assessment one is supposed to sit with the learner. This implies it is something we do with and for students and not to students (Green, 1998)

7. What are summative and formative assessment? If we think of our children as plants … Summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. It might be interesting to compare and analyze measurements but, in themselves, these do not affect the growth of the plants. Formative assessment, on the other hand, is the equivalent of feeding and watering the plants appropriate to their needs - directly affecting their growth. The garden analogy

8. Implications for classroom practice:  Sharing learning goals with students.  Involving students in self-assessment.  Providing feedback that helps students recognize their next steps and how to take them.  Being confident that every student can improve.

9. What does assessment look like in our district? Activity:  With a partner, take a moment to look at our CCS District Assessment Calendar.  Complete the scavenger hunt related to the calendar  Create two to three questions you have about the calendar.

10. What is the Kentucky Core Content Test and How Did We Do?

11. The Kentucky Core Content Test and the Kentucky Alternate Assessment Program produce individual student information. KCCT This test is taken by students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11 in the spring of the school year and by students in grade 12 in the fall of the same school year.

12. The reading, mathematics, science, and social studies tests contain multiple-choice and open response (essay-like) questions. For on-demand writing, students at grades 5, 8 and 12 complete a writing task that addresses a prompt. Grades 5 and 8 tests also include passage- based multiple-choice editing/revising items. Kentucky Alternate Assessment Program This program is an assessment process developed for students with the most severe disabilities and who are not able to participate within the general curriculum, even when they are provided all possible accommodations and assistive supports. Kentucky’s Alternate Assessment Program includes less than 1% of the total tested student population.

13. Summaries of the language used to describe the performance levels of Novice, Apprentice, Proficient, and Distinguished are included on the Individual Student Report. The performance levels are used in reporting student results within the KCCT. The Proficient level is the goal for all students. For more explicit and detailed descriptions it is best to consult the descriptions for each particular grade level and content area. These descriptions can be found on the Kentucky Department of Education’s (KDE) web site at: http://www.education.ky.gov. KCCT Performance Levels

14. To communicate a more specific indication of how close a student’s work is to the next performance level, for reporting purposes in reading, mathematics, science, social studies, and on demand writing, the performance levels of Novice and Apprentice are subdivided into the following categories: * Novice Low * Apprentice Low * Novice Medium * Apprentice Medium * Novice High * Apprentice High KCCT Performance Levels Cont.

15. Who Tests In Which Area(s)? See Chart on KCCT Parent Guide Handout (Page 2)

16. How Did We Do This Year?  We’ve made substantial gains across the district with each school making gains in twp or more content areas.  Substantial gains were made with not only our most struggling students, but with our highest performing students.  For the first time, we met all 13 goals for AYP.  The transition index calculated by the Kentucky Association of School Councils rates Campbell County Schools 14th amongst all county school districts, with the 6th highest transition index of the 120 county districts in the state!  Campbell County Schools are now ranked 30th in the state of 175 districts.  Our elementary schools combined showed an outstanding 102 Transition Index. The CCMS TI is now 96. The CCHS TI is now 78.

17. What is MAP testing and how can it help my child?

18. 53 NWEA Partners in Kentucky Anderson County School District Augusta Independent SD Barren County School District Bath County SD Beechwood SD Bellevue Independent School District Bowling Green Christian Academy Breckinridge County School District Bullitt County School District Calloway County School District Campbell County School District Casey County SD Christian County School District Christ the King (Lexington) Clark County School District Cloverport Independent SD Clinton County School District Corbin Independent School District Crittenden County School District Daviess County Public School District Dayton Independent SD Erlanger-Elsmere Schools Estill County School District Fayette County School District Fleming County School District Franklin County SD Green County Board of Education Hancock County SD Hardin County School District Henderson County School District Lawrence County School District Lewis County SD Ludlow County School District Madison County SD Mason County SD McCreary County School District McLean County Board of Education Meade County School District Middlesboro SD Muhlenberg County School District Newport Independent School District Owensboro Public School District Paris Independent SD Russellville Independent School District

19. 53 NWEA Partners in Kentucky Silver Grove ISD Simpson County Public Schools Southgate Independent School District Taylor County SD Union County School District Walton Verona Independent School District Webster County Public School District Williamstown Independent School District

20. State and Local Standards and Expectations State and Local Standards and Expectations Norm-Reference Model Standards-Based Model Growth-Model

21. QUESTION… How would education change if you knew exactly where each student was in their achievement and growth?

22. Traditional distribution of student performance

23. Conventional Assessments  Single form test per grade level  Item focus is Grade Level Specific  Item difficulty fixed, wide-range  Limited sample of goal area items  Data used to Sort and Rank students  Purpose is external accountability

25. Zone of Proximal Development  Research suggests that children make the most significant gains in learning when they are presented new concepts and skills that are slightly ahead of what they can do independently.  In other words, instruction should challenge the child and aim toward the upper levels of what Vygotsky (1978) calls the "zone of proximal development."  The trick is to find the match between what the child knows and the optimal degree of assistance needed to move the child toward the next developmental step.

26. This is another sample math item. Notice the calculator at the bottom. It will appear for some items. The student will use it just like a regular calculator, only they click on the buttons with the mouse instead of pressing them with their finger.

27. Sample Math Question Work the problem on your scratch paper Click on the best answer Click on the “Go on” button Sample Math Question Work the problem on your scratch paper Click on the best answer Click on the “Go on” button

28. Some reading items have scroll bars on the passage. Students must move the scroll bar down to see the entire passage by using the mouse.

29. 2008 NWEA RIT Scale Status NormsStatusNorms

30. Expectations? Review the previous slide. What is the average (mean) RIT score for mathematics at your child’s level for the BEGGING OF THE YEAR?

31. See P. 7 in Select Reports

32. nwea.org Class breakdown

33. Math, Reading, Language Usage (Science) Daniel took this test in 46 minutes and 17 seconds

34. District by School

35. Student Progress Report

37. 500L Look at the Lexile as a range of scores… 205 600L The teacher might use the lower part of this range as a target for the student’s independent reading level The upper part of a 500-650L range might be used for the student’s group reading program seen as the student’s instructional reading level 650L LexileNWEA RIT

38. www.lexile.com

39. Lexile Book List Using key words for appropriate text

40. 40 2401330Gulliver’s Travels – Jonathon Swift 2331200USA Today 2431380N.Y.Times 2251080 The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey 216880Harry Potter Series – Rowling 205680The Firm – John Grisham Approx. RITLexile Examples of Lexile Measures

41. Investigating a student report:  View the report for “A. Student” on pages 11-13.  Locate the student’s RIT Score for F09 Math. Is the student lower, higher or right on the district average?  What is the student’s goal performance for F09 in Geometry?  How many RIT points did the student grow from F08 to F09 in reading. Is this higher or lower than the typical growth?  What is the student’s percentile range for Language Usage in F09?  In Language Usage, what goal did this student achieve the highest goal performance in for F09?  Look at the individual student graph report. Is the student scoring above or below the District Avg. RIT?

43. Most Importantly! As a parent you play a critical role in promoting your child’s academic growth and overall well-being… Remember to set goals and monitor their growth!

44. Exit Slip 3-2-1 Please list 3 things you have learned. Please list 2 things you want to know more about. Please list one thing that we can do as a district to better inform parents of assessment results.