A Bit about Assessment

By Travis Miller, Principal

                As the school year continues into the second semester, we will enter into what many educators call “testing season.”  This is the time of the school year when students will be taking a variety of assessments, ranging from classroom quizzes and tests to state required tests and nationally standardized tests.  During this “testing season” teachers, parents, and students often find themselves frustrated by the amount of time that is dedicated to taking assessments.  However, it is important for all of us to remember that assessment is an important part of the educational process, and there are many purposes for assessments. Therefore, I dedicate this month’s article to the topic of assessment.

What is Assessment?

Assessment is the process of collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information to aid in decision-making.  As stakeholders in the education of the children of Banner County School, it is important that we recognize that there is much more to assessment than simply administering tests to pupils. Banner County School has designed a comprehensive assessment system, which is coordinated across the various grade levels and uses multiple sources of information when important decisions are to be made about students, curriculum, and instruction.

According to the Mathematical Science Education Board, there are three fundamental principles of assessment:

·    The Content Principle: Assessment should reflect the content that is most important for students to learn.

·    The Learning Principle: Assessment should enhance learning and support instructional practice.

·    The Equity Principle: Assessment should support every student’s opportunity to learn important content.

Different Types of Assessment for Different Purposes

The Banner County Public School assessment system includes multiple assessment opportunities to determine what students know and what students can do.  Here is a brief overview of terminology that is often used by educators when talking about assessments:

Formative Assessments are intended to help students and teachers make decisions about instruction. (Assessment for learning)

Summative Assessments are intended to help teachers determine whether students have reached desired levels of academic achievement.  (Assessment of learning)

Norm Referenced Tests (NRTs) are large-scale assessments that are often used to determine student achievement relative to other students at the same grade level.  Often these scores are reported in percentiles or in Rasch units (RIT Scores).

Criterion Referenced Tests (CRTs) are assessments that are used to determine student achievement relative to a “criterion” or goal.  In the case of the state standards tests we use at Banner County School, the criteria are whether students have met the Nebraska State Standards.  Students’ scores on CRTs are often reported in terms of how the student tested in relation to the standard.  Banner County Student results are published as Beginning, Progressing, Proficient, and Advanced.  On this scale, students in the Proficient and Advanced scores are deemed as having met the state standard.

My Philosophy of Assessment

It is my philosophy that assessment is a tool which educators use as part of the teaching and learning cycle.  This cycle is perhaps best described as the relationship between curriculum, instruction, and assessment.  Assessment is a vital link in this cycle, as quality assessments provide data and information which lead to more informed decisions about the education of every student.  In short, quality assessment is critical if we are to achieve our mission of preparing all the children of today for the world of tomorrow.