Using Assessment for Classroom Decision Making

Jaimie Howe contributed today's post. More of Jaimie's thinking can be found here.

Over the last 4-5 years the use of assessment in our district has really evolved. Below is a look at the progression of how assessment has looked in my building specifically.

In my building, we have always tried to use assessment to make decisions , but in the past it was much more informal and observational – mostly just used to form reading groups; partly due to limited assessment options.  Our knowledge and thinking started to shift back in 2011 as we began to gain knowledge of building systems and the RtI Framework.  Now with more systems in place and more knowledge of assessment, we are starting to use it more effectively with many other areas of instruction and for many other purposes.

There have been several things that have been implemented that were crucial to our shift in thinking and ability to start to use assessment more effectively.

• Standards Based Report Card: We implemented a Standards Based Report Card in 2011 for ELA. This caused us to see the need for assessments to align and be more systematic rather than only informal or observational.  

• More Assessment Options: We also began using the DRA2 in 2011, which gave teachers the opportunity to look at each individual child more closely and select specific learning targets for students.  It also allowed teachers to consider grouping students by skill/strategy versus reading level based off of the DRA2 Class Profile.

• District Assessment Frameworks: Each grade level has an Assessment Framework indicating which assessments they need to give and when.  It is organized by type of assessment (screener, diagnostic, formative, etc.).  This creates so much more consistency and common knowledge across buildings in our district and specific grade levels.

• Master Schedule and Intervention Block: Implementation of a master schedule and an intervention block in 2012 made it so much easier for us to have a consistent collaboration schedule.  This was imperative for us in moving forward.  It gave us the opportunities we needed to look at our assessments more closely and make decisions as a team. Below are the consistent collaboration times that we use each year; however, much more collaboration happens as needed.

• Grade Level Teams meet 2x per week during MAPE (45 minutes: 1 day – ELA, 1 day – Math)
• Grade Level and Cross Grade Level Teams meet with Literacy Coach 1x per month. (½ hour - before school)
• Unit Teams (K-2 and 3-5) meet with Math coach 1x per month. (½ hour - before school)
• Individual Grade Levels with resource teachers (SPED, psych., lit. coach, etc) ½ day every 6-8 weeks (4x per year) – includes analyzing assessments and instructional planning
• Opportunities for ½ day release time for instructional planning to create common assessments and/or collaborate around assessment.

This consistent collaboration schedule has been imperative in the work that we do. Without collaboration, it would be nearly impossible to use assessments to guide our instruction. We are trying to develop a system where assessment is a precursor to instruction; telling us what to teach, not just how students did.  This takes time and a lot of hard work, but it’s worth it!