CTAP4 Data Assessment

It is ethically imperative that educators develop assessment strategies that ensure equity in assessing and interpreting student performance.

Assessment Guru Grant Wiggins on Measuring Student Progress. All the talk about changing the way we measure student progress raises important questions. What do we mean by assessment - as opposed to grading? How do you design reliable assessments? Should you "teach to" standardized tests? How can you evaluate an individual performance on a cooperative project? And how do we explain it all to parents? To get answers, Instructor senior editor Meg Bozzone interviewed assessment expert Grant Wiggins, president of the nonprofit Center on Learning Assessment and School Structure (CLASS).

Looking closely together at student work can unveil a treasure trove of insights to guide school communities as they reflect on their purpose, assess their progress, and plan strategies for reaching all children better. It's scary work, though, and respectful protocols can help.

From judging performance to guiding students to shaping instruction to informing learning, coming to grips with informative assessment is one insightful journey.

This report addresses some of these issues by summarizing findings from an exploratory study of the school-based assessment practices in a sample of elementary, middle, and secondary schools. The purposes of the study were twofold: (1) to add to the growing base of knowledge about how schools use student assessment data obtained from multiple sources to inform important decisions about programs, instruction, and individual students; and (2) to identify and describe the factors and conditions that make schools' use of the student assessment data more probable and valuable.

Successful middle schools engage students in all aspects of their learning. There are many strategies for accomplishing this. One such strategy is student-led conferences. As a classroom teacher or administrator, how do you ensure that the information shared in a student-led conference provides a balanced picture of the student's strengths and weaknesses? The answer to this is to balance both summative and formative classroom assessment practices and information gathering about student learning.

Performance assessements go beyond traditional tests and serve as an important teaching tool.

This site is intended to help K-12 educators work with raw student and school data.

Article by Rick Stiggins [Journal of Staff Development]. Assessment FOR learning rather than assessment OF learning helps students succeed.

"Data-based decisions"-the phrase has become a buzzword in education over the last few years. However, it does make sense that using information to help clarify issues, identify alternative solutions to problems, and target resources more effectively will lead to better decisions. The real question should not be whether to integrate the use of data in decision making, but how.Finding good data and using it effectively is actually a complex process-one that many schools and districts are just beginning to address. One specific type of data-based decision making that shows promise for helping schools dramatically increase student achievement is the use of assessment data to drive instructional improvement

Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement, Mr. Black and Mr. Wiliam point out. Indeed, they know of no other way of raising standards for which suc

A tool and means to the development of human capital and capacity building in education. - Free Online Library

Journal of Staff Development. New routes open when one type of data crosses another. As educators become more familiar with collecting and interpreting school data, they can begin "running data at each other," framing questions that require analysis of multiple types of information. Educators can cross two, three, and four categories of data in ways that can provide new insight into student learning and how to improve it.

Delivering targeted instruction to students at all levels isn't easy. Here are some straightforward strategies. June 15, 2005

How schools can harness data over the long term to raise student achievement in a consistent, sustained manner. Technology & Learning Magazine, Oct 2005.

A Comparative Analysis of Superintendent, Principal, and Teachers' Perceptions of Accountability Systems. The purpose of this technical report is to develop a better understanding of the assessment and accountability practices and policies that educators are implementing in the classrooms, schools, and districts and to examine whether those policies are associated with perceived school and student improvements in achievement.\n\nThe study provides descriptive information about the need for schools and districts to effectively use data, how schools and districts use data to guide classroom practice, and the difference in data use based on the level of student proficiency in individual schools.

From PBS 39 Education. What is data driven decsion making and why is it needed? Using data is critical in strategies for student achievement.

Karen Greenwood Henke: Presentation at the 12th Annual COSN Conference, San Francisco. Report on the COSN Data Driven Decision Making Initiative.

Increasingly, school board members from around the country are using data to help make good decisions about improving public education for all children. As school districts across the country grapple with how to think systemically and strategically about reaching student achievement goals and forging creative solutions from standardized test data, data-driven decision making can be used to inform board decisions.