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Testing / Assessment

"Let's assess what we value and not simply value what we assess." ~Daggett

Assessment Beliefs

  • Assessment is an on-going, spiraling data driven process that guides instruction.
  • Assessment is a balance between “of” learning and “for” learning.
  • Assessment quality is more important than quantity.
  • Assessments insure that students have a clear understanding of what they have learned, and why.
  • Assessment is aligned and integrated with curriculum.
  • Assessment is essential to achieve student and teacher accountability.
  • Assessment promotes greater learning and growth through differentiated yet respectful tasks.
  • Assessments need to have breadth, depth, and rigor.
  • Assessments should include opportunities for student self reflection.
  • Assessments are a form of communication.

Grading Beliefs

  • Grades communicate student achievement relative to standards.
  • Grades clearly reflect a student’s growth rather than average performance.
  • Behavior and academic achievement are reported separately.

Definitions

Formative Assessment:
Assessments that provide information to students and teachers that are used to improve teaching and learning. Formative assessment is not limited to paper/pencil or those used in the calculation of a grade.
Summative Assessment:
Cumulative assessments used to measure student growth after instruction. Examples include performance assessments, extended written response, short answer and selected response items.
Standards and Competencies-Based Assessment:
Using a broad array of assessment techniques in order to provide feedback about student performance relative to standards (statements of what students should know and be able to do regardless of background or special needs).
Performance Assessment:
Authentic assessments require students to perform complex tasks representative of activities done in and out of school settings used in either a formative or summative manner.
The above are not mutually exclusive.
Growth Model Assessment:
A growth model traces student progress within and between grade levels. A minimum of one year's growth should be achieved by each student.

Academic Rigor
Coppell ISD believes “rigor refers to academic rigor – learning in which students demonstrate a thorough in-depth mastery of challenging tasks to develop cognitive skills through reflective through, analysis, problem-solving, evaluation, or creativity. Rigorous learning can occur at any school grade and in any subject. Doing more and longer assignments does not equal rigor. Rigor is about the quality, not the quantity, of student work.” (Jones, 92)

Rigorous

Hard

Students use knowledge and skills to perform authentic work in the discipline.

Learning includes extensive memorization of facts, details, or text.

Curriculum and instruction focus on conceptual understanding.

Curriculum and instruction focus on isolated facts and information.

Teachers connect knowledge and skills to students' lives or interests.

Learning experiences are characterized by the irrelevance of the knowledge or skills.