printer friendly >
Toolbox
The Toolbox contains a collection of articles with practical advice for school and classroom management.
Toolbox Archives >
Assessment Data + Teacher-Student Partnerships = Springfield Success
In Springfield City Schools classrooms, teachers like Joetta Garberich directly apply district training in the Baldridge Approach for School Excellence.
Teachers administer district reading assessments on a quarterly basis, and the district provides student performance data. The Baldridge training shows how to extend the data beyond teacher use to form student-teacher partnerships in each classroom.
Students see which skills are mastered and which still need work, helping them take ownership of their learning. Check out two resources for assessment and training.
Tool #1: Third Quarter Reading Assessment
General Information: The purpose of this assessment, as with other assessments such as teacher-made tests, checklists, etc., is to gather information about a student’s learning for instructional decision making.
Assessment is not taking time away from instruction, but instead, providing you with a feedback look that allows you to judge how effectively student outcomes/objectives are being learned. Evaluation activities must be a part of instruction, not separate from it.
Before Testing:
The assessment is to be given during the week of January 21. Schedule an appropriate time for this group assessment. The specific time does not need to be uniform across the district, school, or grade level.
Total time: Estimated completion time is 30-40 minutes. Allow all students time to work on the assessment until they finish. This assessment should be given without interruption.
Make sure you have one student booklet per student, plus the teacher copy.
During Testing:
You may clarify directions, for example, defining a word in a set of directions that is not clear to a particular student. However, do not suggest answers and do not evaluate student work.
Begin by saying:
I am going to give each of you an assessment book. Please print your
NAME and your TEACHER’S NAME at the top of page 1. The purpose of this assessment is to show what you have learned. Follow
the written directions. Please try to do your best.
Situations may arise that require you to provide practical solutions to problems that are not touched on in the above guidelines (e.g., a student needs to go the restroom).
Use your professional judgment to carry out the administration of the assessment in the spirit in which it is intended—as a tool to help teachers plan future instruction.
After Testing:
Collect all assessments and score them. You may keep the completed assessments in your class to share with students and parents, use to plan instruction, etc. DO NOT send the assessments home.
A Scoring Guide and Rubric are included with your Teacher Copy of the assessment. After scoring the assessments, record the results on the Class Record Form. Make a copy and give to your principal by February 8. There is no PASS/FAIL score for this assessment.
Tool #2: Baldridge Guide for Data-Based Student/Teacher Partnerships
What is it?
Student/teacher Information and Analysis addresses maintenance and use of all basic and comparative data and how it is analyzed and used to improve classroom performance.
Strong emphasis is placed on selection, management, analysis and use of information as the basis for decisions, resource allocation, and improvement.
Why is it important?
Reliable and accessible information is critical to the informed, fact-based decision making, resource allocation, and problem solving needed to support continual improvement.
Without information systems that support goals and measures, the teacher and students may resort to using “superstitious knowledge” as a basis for decision making.
What should it look like in action?
Teachers and students dedicate regular class meeting time to analyze performance data. They look at past performance of the classroom to spot trends.
They also compare their performance to other comparable classrooms. Data are frequently disaggregated to examine the performance of specific groups of students.
In addition, students maintain Personal Data Folders to guide their decisions about improving their own learning. Data are graphed and publicly displayed to assist with the ongoing analysis and improvement efforts.
Source: Jim Shipley & Associates Classroom Resource Guide
For more information about the Baldridge Approach for School Improvement and Performance Excellence, see www.jimshipley.net/index.htm.
