Assessments
Smarter Balanced Testing (State Testing)
The Smarter Balanced assessment system provides educators, students and parents meaningful results with actionable data to help students succeed. The assessment is aligned to Common Core State Standards and consists of three major components, all designed to improve teaching and learning.
The Smarter Balanced Summative assessments are required. They will take place during the last 12 weeks of the school year. These computer-based tests will help schools evaluate how well their students performed by comparing them with students from other schools across the nation. The end-of-year assessments also will empower families by providing them with a clear indication of how well their children are progressing toward mastering the academic knowledge and skills necessary for college and career readiness.
Smarter Balanced assessments replaced the math, reading and writing portions of the MSP students in grades 3-8. The science portion of the MSP (tested in grades 5 and 8) remained the same. 11th graders will take the high school level of the new Smarter Balanced tests, but meeting standard on the tests is not a graduation requirement until the Class of 2019. Students will not take the new Smarter Balanced tests in grades K-2, 9, or 12. 10th graders will only take the English Language Arts Smarter Balanced test.
Classroom Assessments
Teachers use a variety of assessments to determine where students are performing to best match their teaching to the students needs.
All teachers will use the i-Ready platform to assess students at least three times a year in both reading and math. These assessments are on the computers and are adaptive based on how a student responds to questions. The data from these assessments will be shared at conferences and throughout the year.
Teachers also use IRR (or running records) to assess students reading levels.
Additionally, we use ongoing assessments in phonics, writing, and math to monitor student growth.
If you ever want more information on the assessments in your student's classroom, just ask their teacher!