DISCUSSION ITEMS

Program Review of Assessment Processes and Procedures

To: Michael Green, Superintendent of Woodland School District

From: Asha Riley

Date: September 19, 2019

Board policy 2090 indicates that we will complete an annual review assessment processes and procedures to determine if the purposes of the evaluation pro­gram are being accomplished. Please find attached PowerPoint in pptx and pdf.

Attached is the report describing our comprehensive assessment system. This report does not detail all assessments used in our district but includes tests that are most frequently used to assess student and program performance. 

The report reflects three main types of assessment, diagnostic screeners, formative measures of student progress, and summative evaluations of achievement. Below are working definitions for each.

Diagnostic assessment help identify students’ current knowledge of a subject, their skill sets, and capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before teaching takes place.

Types of Diagnostic Assessments 

• Pre-tests (on content and abilities)
• Self-assessments (identifying skills and competencies)
• Discussion board responses (on content-specific prompts)
• Interviews (brief, private, 10-minute interview of each student)

Formative assessments provide feedback and information during the instructional process, while learning is taking place, and while learning is occurring. Formative assessment measures student progress but it can also assess the progress of the instructor.

Types of Formative Assessment  

• Observations during in-class activities of student non-verbal feedback during a lecture 
• Homework exercises as a review for exams and class discussions 
• Reflections journals that are reviewed periodically during the semester 
• Question and answer sessions
• Conferences between the instructor and student at various points in the semester  
• In-class activities where students informally present their results 
• Student feedback collected by periodically answering specific questions about the instruction and their self-evaluation of performance and progress 

Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been completed and provides information and feedback that sums up the teaching and learning process.

Types of Summative Assessment  

• Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)  
• Final examination (a truly summative assessment)  
• Term papers 
• Projects
• Portfolios 
• Performances 

Our policy also states specifically the district will adjust its curriculum if student performance under the Washington State Assessment Program indicates the district's students need assistance in identified areas.

In recent years, we have recognized a growing need to better identify if students are making expected progress with foundational skills of literacy. Therefore, this year we have selected one new assessment for use in grades K-4 (and on occasion, in our middle school with struggling readers). This assessment tool is the Acadience Diagnostic and Progress Monitoring Assessment.  Specifically, the assessments measure foundational literacy skills including phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, letter sound knowledge, reading accuracy and fluency.  

The assessment has established reliability and validity standards based on national norms that help us determine if students are making expected progress. The data collected from the assessment helps teachers determine where student struggles are specifically occurring so additional supports or interventions can be implemented. The assessment also helps monitor progress of students as these supports are put in place.

This tool meets the new state criteria for dyslexia screening and as such we will be using it to help us identify signs of dyslexia.