2017 - 2018 Interim Assessment Plan
Over the course of the last three years we have evolved our efforts with the integration of formative and interim assessments in significant ways. We have moved from an interim assessment program primarily focused on high level accountability with an interest in predicting accountability test outcomes to a system, now, primarily focused on supporting standards-embedded instructional design.
During this last year, we have “piloted,” to different degrees, five different interim assessment tools. Through this time we have developed a strong sense of what we need from an interim assessment tool and how these piloted resources have aligned with those interests.
As a part of this process, we have spent the last year studying and requesting feedback from a variety of stakeholders around the manner in which these tools support our needs and interests as teachers and leaders. In February we brought together over sixty teachers and leaders to engage in a Listening Session to gain another level of input related to the decision. Certainly, we have found that no tool represents every interest that we have, but we believe we have made a decision that supports many of our interests related to instructional design.
The tool that we have selected to apply as our district-wide base interim assessment tool starting in the 2017-18 school year, for grades 3-8, is the I-Ready interim assessment. The primary reasons for this selection are that the I-Ready tool:
- serves as a standards-based assessment and instructional tool
- provides a platform that allows students to practice in a manner similar to our on-line accountability assessment
- ensures standards-based outcomes and ongoing progress data is instantaneously available to the teacher and student
- provides assessments that can be customizable in terms of standards being assessed
- Includes instructional resources for instructional planning in response to student outcomes
- Is approved by the Colorado Department of Education as a READ Act assessment
Along with serving as our base interim assessment, we will use I-Ready as our READ Act assessment tool for 1st-7th students in APS.(2017-18) The PALS assessment tool will continue to be used for our Kindergarten students.
P-8 and Middle School Principals: We still need to keep a consideration for the 8th grade interim open. We are still not certain about the state level assessments that will be required of our high schools students for the 2017-18 school year. There is the possibility that the CMAS program will shift at the high schools and, once we hear about the direction that takes, we will bring secondary school leaders together to discuss the value of I-Ready and/or PSAT in the 8th-10th grades.
Grades 9-10 will be taking the NWEA MAP assessments on the same schedule as the 3-8 interim assessments.