Illinois State Board of Education

Illinois State Board of Education

Gerry J. Chico, Chairman

Dr. Christopher Koch, State Superintendent

Division of Student Assessment

Dr. Mary O’Brian, Director of Assessment

Division of Student Assessment

Illinois State Board of Education

110 North First Street

Springfield, IL 62777

This document is intended to provide non-regulatory guidance and is subject to revision.

AssessmentInventoryFacilitation Process

Theinventory processincludesfivesteps:

  1. Reflectand Plan
  2. ConducttheInventory
  3. AnalyzetheInventory
  4. MakeRecommendations
  5. Evaluate

Step 1:Reflectand Plan

Districtleadersshould ensurethatthey havethenecessary districtand schoolstaffinvolvedin thedistrictteamwho willconducttheinventory.Thefollowing rolesare recommended:

  • DistrictAssessmentDirector/Coordinator
  • AssistantSuperintendentforCurriculumand Instruction
  • Districtfinancialstaff
  • School boardmember
  • Data Coachorotherrolethatworkswithschool-basedstaffaround data
  • School leadersincluding principals,instructionalcoaches,and leadteachers
  • Teachers
  • Schoolcounselors
  • Parents

Itisalsocriticalthatthedistrictteamhavethesupporttheyneedto meetthegoals oftheinventoryprocess.

  • Team memberswillneed accessto assessmentinformation,including practiceassessments,sampleitems,specifications,and assessment windows.
  • Team memberswillalsoneed accesstocontracts,vendors,and budgetinformation.
  • Theteam needsto havetheauthorityto makerecommendationsto therightdecision-makers.
  • Districtleaders,including thesuperintendentand schoolboard,should communicateinternallytothedistrictand tothecommunityaboutthepurposeand importanceoftheinventory process.

District teamsshould answerthefollowing questions to plan theinventory.Rememberto contextualizethe planwithin theimplementationoftheNewIllinoisLearning StandardsIncorporating theCommonCore.

  1. Whataretheobjectivesofthestudentassessmentinventory?
  1. Whatwould indicatetothe districtthattheprocesswas a success?
  1. Whatindividualsareresponsibleforthesuccessofthisprocess? Documenttheirspecificrolesand responsibilities.
  1. Howwilltheresults oftheinventorybecommunicated todistrictpolicymakers(e.g.,schoolboard),schoolleaders,parents,students,andthecommunity?
  1. Who willcollecttheinformation needed fortheinventory table?Howwilltheyaccessthisinformation?
  1. Howwillthedistrictcommunicatetonecessarypartiesthattheseindividualswillbecollectingthisinformation?
  1. Whatisthescopeoftheinventory? Which assessmentshould beincluded and excluded fromtheinventorytable? Basedon thisscope,whatinformation isneeded?
  1. Whatgroupsshould beconvenedor surveyedto helpprovideanswers(e.g.,groups ofteachersand otherassessmentusers)?Howwilltheybeconvened (e.g.,in focusgroupsbygradelevelorsubject)and/orsurveyed?
  1. Whatindividualor entity hastheauthoritytoacton theresultsoftheinventory?Whowillbemaking therecommendations?
  1. Arethereother districtswith whomitwould beusefulto collaborateduring thisprocess?

Step 2:ConducttheInventory

Theassessment inventorytable (see Appendix A) isdesigned to captureinformation thedistrictcollectsabouttheassessments.Districtteamsareencouraged to adaptthetableasneeded fortheirlocalcontext. In addition, the Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts provides examples of how the assessment inventory may be completed for common district assessments such as the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC).

Therearethreetypesofquestionsbeing asked in thetable:

  • Basicinformation questions
  • Use/purposequestions
  • Operationalquestions

Someinformationto completethetablewillnotbedirectly availablefrom assessmentspecificationsand willrequirecommunicating with usersof theassessment,especially withrespecttoissuesofassessmentuse. A short surveyorsetof focusgroupsisstronglyrecommendedtobetterunderstandhowassessmentsarebeingused bymultipleaudiences.

BasicInformation Questions

  • Informationonmostbasicinformation questionsshould beavailablefrom assessmentspecification bookletsand other information providedbyvendors, orfrom stateand districtpolicydocuments(e.g.,contractsand/orbudgets).
  • Basicinformationmay beavailablefromthe vendororstate(ifcommonlyused acrossdistricts),ordistrictsmayundertakean independentalignmentprocess to answer the question, “To which content standards is the assessment aligned?”
  • A districtmightalso wantto consider a more thorough alignment analysis ,tobetterunderstand howmultiplerelated assessmentscan build(or hinder)understanding of studentachievementand needs,orhowassessmentscan bettersupportalignmenttoinstruction.Resourcessuch astheStudentAchievementPartnersAssessmentEvaluationToolmaybehelpful for thistask.

Use/PurposeQuestions

  • Whatisthedifferencebetweentheassessment’sintended purposesand uses? Thepurposeoftheassessmentiswhatitwasdesigned to measure,whiletheintended useoftheassessmentreflectsthekindsof decisionsthattheassessmentisdesigned toinform.Forexample,thepurposeof an assessment may beto measurestudents’reading comprehensionwhiletheintended useistoidentify studentsin need ofextrasupport/intervention.
  • In order to understand whetherusersfind assessmentresultsusefulor not,it is stronglyencouraged that districtssurveyteachers,parents,students,andcommunitymembers.Thisinformationwillprovidecriticalsupportforanyrecommendationsthatemergefromtheprocess.
  • Closelyexamining assessmentusewillhelp districtsbetterunderstandwhyparticularassessmentsareseenasuseful or notbystakeholders(parents,teachers,principals,centralofficestaff,schoolboardmembers,etc.).Questions districts can ask stakeholdersaboutassessment usemightinclude:
  • Howwellareassessmentpurposeand assessmentusealigned?
  • Howareassessmentresultsused toinform instruction (or not)?
  • Howtimelyareassessment results?
  • Areassessmentresultsreportedtransparentlysothatstakeholdersfind themuseful?

OperationalQuestions

  • Informationto addressoperationalquestionswilltypicallybefound in vendor’sassessmentdescriptionsand technicalguides,aswellasinthecontractbetween districtandvendor.
  • Assessmentadministrationfrequency and timearecriticalquestionstoaddressthrough theinventory table.Aggregating thatinformation acrossgradesand subjectswillhelp givedistricts abettersenseoftheoverall‘assessment burden’facedbyadministrators,teachers,and students.

PotentialExtensionsoftheTool

  • Your districtmaywanttopartnerwith othersimilardistricts(e.g.,demographics,location,size,instructionalfocus)toshareoutcomesof theinventoryand strategiesforstreamlining thenumberof assessments.Incollaborationwithotherdistricts,yourdistrictmightalso wanttoconsidera more thorough alignment analysis,to betterunderstand howmultiplerelatedassessmentscan build (orhinder)understanding ofstudentachievementand needs, or howassessmentscan bettersupportalignmenttoinstruction.

Step 3:AnalyzetheInventory

In analyzing theinventory,itiscriticaltodoseverallevelsof analysis.

  • Developa student-levelperspectivebylooking acrossallassessmentsstudentstakeataparticulargradelevelor gradeband,and then byparticularstudentneedsand characteristics.
  • Identify assessments thatthe districtwillcontinuetoadminister,and clarifyany needs or changes that may be necessaryto ensurethe assessmentsarehelpfulforintended uses.
  • Identify the assessmentsthatseemtobe on thetableforeliminationorsignificantchanges.
  • Help districtsbuild toward recommendationswhilere-engaging withkeystakeholderstoreviewpotentialoptionsand decision points.

More information may be found in the Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts concerning this step in the process.

Step 4: MakeRecommendations

Basedon theinventoryanalysis,whatrecommendationswillthedistrictmaketo streamlineand/orstrengthen itsassessmentprogram? The Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts provides a table that district teams may use to document and evaluate the district’s decisions. Districtsareencouragedtoadaptthistableaswell (see Appendix B).

Step 5:Evaluate

Finally,districtteamsshould createan evaluation plan.Thisplanwillensurethatdistrictteamscontinuetheprocessofexamining theirassessmentsona regularbasistoensureassessmentsareprovidingqualityinformation to thedistrict.

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Appendix A

Assessment Inventory Table

Name of Individual(s) completing the table:
Date:
Name of assessment:
Entity requiring assessment
state – SEA or other agency; district; or school:
Grade(s) assessed:
Course(s) or subjects assessed:
Which students are eligible or required to take assessment?
Type of assessment
summative; interim; formative; diagnostic:
Number of years assessment has been administered in the district:
To which content standards is the assessment aligned? (source of alignment verification):
Intended purpose(s) of the assessment:
Intended use(s) of the assessment:
Users of the assessment:
Do users of the assessment use it for its intended use(s)?
To what degree do users of the assessment find it useful or not useful?
1 – not useful
2 – somewhat useful
3 – useful
4 – very useful
Explain why.
Type of administration:
Item type(s):
Accommodations:
Assessment administration time:
Assessment window:
Assessment frequency:
Time between Assessment administration and results to users:
Vendor:
Contract expiration date:
Entity that holds contract:
Annual cost (total and per student):
Funding source(s):

Appendix B

Recommendations Table

Assessment / Recommendation / Rationale / Authority / Timing of Recommendation / Action Steps

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