In order to measure student growth and progress, regular assessment of student learning takes place throughout the school year. Multiple types of assessments are used to guide instruction and determine students’ progress within the White Bear Lake School District Reading and Math Curriculum Frameworks. This handout is intended to provide parents with more specific information about the assessments used in White Bear Lake School District. An assessment calendar is also provided at the end of this document.
ClassroomAssessments
Oneofthemostcommonformsof assessmentisclassroom-basedassessment.Theseinclude,butare notlimitedto:classroom observations,writtenassessments,dailywork,classroomprojects,etc. Classroomassessmentisutilizeddaily.Theseassessmentsare alsoused forreportingstudentprogressonyour student’s report card.
AIMSWEBBenchmarkTesting
Inadditiontoclassroomassessments,WBLASD K-5 schools usecurriculum-basedmeasurement(alsoknownasCBMs)threetimesa year(fall,winter,spring). CBMshave established reliability and validity and are used to summarize both a student’s level of performance and rate of progress. The majority of the AIMSWEB CBMs take approximately one minute to administer. This allows the team to screen a large number of students in a short amount of time. They give us a “snapshot” of a student’s early literacy skills, early numeracy skills, oral reading fluency, and/or academic growth in reading and math. They are used to identify students whocould benefit from additional support or enrichment. Once students are identified, additional assessment might be needed to determine what kind of support each child might need. Differentiated instruction and intervention plans might take place inside or outside of the classroom. The different CBM probes are explained in more detail on the next page.
MeasureofAcademicProgress(MAP)Testing
MeasureofAcademicProgress(MAP)isanassessmenttakenbystudentsingrades1-11.StudentscurrentlytakeassessmentsinReadingandMath.Assessmentsare giventoallstudents2-3 times each year for grades 1-11 Whentakinga MAPtest,thedifficultyof eachquestionisbasedon howwella studentanswersallthe previousquestions.Asthestudentanswerscorrectly,questionsbecome moredifficult.Ifthestudentanswerincorrectly,thequestionsbecomeeasier. Inanoptimaltest,a studentanswersapproximately halftheitemscorrectlyandhalfincorrectly. The final score is an estimate of the student’s achievement level.
Studentsreceiveanindividualscore,calleda RIT score. Individualgrowthgoalsaredevelopedforeachstudentbasedonhis/herachievement.Thismodelofassessmentisbasedonindividualgrowth,ratherreachingthesamebenchmarkforeachstudent. By individualizingforeachstudent,teachersareabletooptimizelearningandensureeverystudentismakingprogress.Theresultsofthe testprovideparentsandschoolpersonneltheabilitytomonitorstudentgrowthovertime.
MinnesotaComprehensive Assessment (MCA) of Academic Skills
TheMinnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) Assessmentsandthe MCAAlternativeAssessments arerequiredstatetestsgivenannuallyinthe Springto studentsin grades3-8, 10 and 11.AreastestedincludeReading(3-8, 10),Math(3-8, 11),andScience(5, 8, and 10), and GRAD Written Composition (9).
ACCESSforEnglishLanguageLearners
The ACCESSforELLsisdesignedtoassessstudentprogressinachievingEnglishlanguageproficiency.Itisgivenannually in February.ThetestisgiventoallstudentsingradesK-12whoareidentifiedasEnglishLearners (ELs) in the language domains of: Listening,Speaking,Reading,andWriting.
AIMSWEBLiteracyCBMsExplained
Studentswhohavemasteredcertainearlyreadingskills(identifyingletternames/sounds,readingbasic words,etc.)inkindergartenand first gradearemuchmorelikelytocontinueto havesuccessinliteracy.The AIMSWEBliteracyCBMsareintendedtoassistusinidentifyingstudentswhomaybeatrisk forfallingbehind sothat wemayprescribeappropriateinterventions. Itisimportantto note thattheseCBMscannotbe used for gradingpurposes.Theyareintendedtobescreenerstotrackstudentprogressand growthover timeandidentifystudentswhomaybein needofadditionalintervention.The followingCBMsareoftenadministeredto studentsin elementary school:
LetterNamingFluency(Kindergarten)
Kindergartenstudentsare givena pagewithlettersandaskedto nameeachone.Thisprobetakesone minuteto administer.
LetterSoundFluency(Kindergarten)
Kindergarten students are given a page of letters and asked to name each letter’s sound. This probe takes one minute toadminister.
NonsenseWordFluency(Grade 1)
Theabilitytoblendtogetherthe soundsrepresentedbyletterstomakewordsisanimportantskillinlearningtoread.Thisskillhelps usdeterminehowwellstudentscanusetheirbasicdecodingskillstoreadshortvowelsoundsandconsonants. Whenthisprobeis administered,childrenareshowna pageofmake-believewordslike“tob”or“miv”,andasked toreadthembysayingtheindividual soundofeachletterinthewordorthewhole worditself.Ittakesonlyone minuteto givethistest.Thistestisadministeredto first gradestudents.
OralReadingFluency(Grade 1-5)
Thisisameasureof howfluentlyandaccuratelystudentscanreadpassageswrittenattheirgradelevel.Thisisgiventostudentsin grades1-5inthefall, winter,andspring.Childrenaregiventhreepassagesand askedtoreadeachonealoudforoneminute.Childrenwho readaccuratelyand fluentlyarebetterabletocomprehendwhattheyread.
AIMSWEBMathCBMsExplained
Studentswhohavemasteredcertainearlynumeracyskillsin kindergartenandfirst gradeare muchmorelikelytocontinueto havesuccessinmath.Additionally,itisimportantthatstudentsdemonstrateefficiencyandaccuracywhencompletingbasiccomputation skills.The AIMSWEBMathCBMsusedinWBLASD Grades 1-5areintendedtoprogress monitorstudentswhoareatriskforfalling behindsothatwecan be more certain interventions are effective.Itisimportantto notethattheseCBMscannotbe used for grading purposes.Theyareintendedtobeprogress monitoring tools totrackstudentprogressandgrowthovertime. Your student’s intervention teacher will share the type of Math CBM and purpose if your student is identified for math intervention in grades K-5.
Date / Test / Grades TestedSeptember 2012
Sept 10-Oct 5, 2012 / Fall MAP Reading / 1-11
Sept 10-Oct 5, 2012 / Fall MAP Math / Grades 1,2 and 6-11
Sept 5-Oct 5 / Fall Aimsweb Literacy Assessments – Administered by Specialists Only (Title I/Intervention) / K-5
Sept 4- 11 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
October 2012
Oct 2-9 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
November 2012
Nov 6-13 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
Nov 7 / GRAD Writing Retest / 10-12
Nov 13 / GRAD Writing Retest Make Up / 10-12
January 2013
Jan 1-8 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
Jan 7-Feb 22 / Optional Local Purpose (OLP) MCA Assessment Window – Math / 3-8
Jan 7- 31 / Winter Aimsweb Literacy Assessments – – Administered by Specialists Only (Title I/Intervention) / K-5
Jan 21-Feb 15 / Winter MAP Reading / 1-5
Jan 21- Feb 15 / Winter MAP Math / 1-5
February 2013
Feb 5-12 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
Feb 15 / Winter MAP window ends / 1-10
Feb 22 / OLP MCA Math Window Ends / 3-8
Feb 4-March 22 / ACCESS for EL Window / K-12
March 2013
March 11-May 10 / MCA III Online Math Window / 3-8
March 5-12 / GRAD Retesting Window** / 10-12
March 18-May 10 / MCA III Online Reading Window / 3-8, 10
March 18-May 10 / MCA Modified Reading Grades 5-8, 10 and Math Grades 5-8 Online Window / 5-8, 10
March 18-May 17 / MCA Online Science Window / 5, 8 and High School
March 18-May 10 / MTAS Reading, Math and Science Window / 3-11
March 22 / ACCESS for EL ends / K-12
April 2013
April 2-9 / GRAD Retest Window** / 10-12
April 16 / MCA Grade 11 Math (Paper) Modified Math Grade 11 Segments 1 and 2 / 11
April 16 / GRAD Writing and Writing Retest Seniors Only / 9 and 12 (for retest only)
April 17 / MCA Grade 11 Math (Paper) and Modified Math Grade 11 Segments 3 and 4 / 11
April 23 / GRAD Writing Make Up and Writing Retest Seniors Only / 9 and 12 (for retest only)
May 2013
May 7-14 / GRAD Retest Window** / 10-12
May 2-June 6 (will close window May 31st for grades 1-5) / Spring MAP Reading / 1-11
May 2-June 6 (will close window May 31st for grades 1-5) / Spring MAP Math / 1-11
May 2-31 / Aimsweb Spring Literacy Assessments – – Administered by Specialists Only (Title I/Intervention) / K-5
May 10 / MCA Reading and Math Online Window Ends, MCA Modified Reading and Math online grades 5-8 Ends, MTAS All areas ends
May 17 / MCA Science Online Ends / 5, 8. and High School