Testing
We live in an era when student testing is more important than ever. Parents, teachers, and administrators seek testing data in order to know as much as possible about the ongoing learning needs of students. Taxpayers, policymakers and other community members look to test scores as a means of holding school districts and schools accountable for student learning and education dollars.
Assessment is an important part of a child’s education
Good decisions about each child’s instruction and program placement begin with the use of high quality assessments. In the medical world, we expect physicians to conduct diagnostic tests to better understand a patient’s condition. Based on these tests, a doctor is then able to determine the best course of treatment. Similarly, teachers and school administrators use testing to determine a child’s academic performance. With this information, our staff can focus on specific content and determine the best instructional approaches and materials to use with each child.
There is a reasonable fear among many educators and parents that students today are “tested too much.” District 153 is highly sensitive to this potential and is committed to a balanced use of assessment measures.
Goals of District 153’s Student Assessment Program
- To measure and evaluate student achievement and growth on a regular basis for the purpose of guiding classroom instruction and improving student learning
- To diagnose student needs so that they can be supplied with appropriate resources and programs to support their learning
- To provide parents with meaningful information about their child’s growth and development
- To determine the effectiveness of the district’s instruction and curriculum
- To meet federal and state requirements
Types of Assessment
District 153 believes there is no single test that can adequately profile a student’s knowledge and growth or a school’s effectiveness. Therefore, the district uses a variety of assessment measures.
Formal assessments are most frequently used for district or state evaluation, accountability purposes, program improvement, student placement into or out of programs, and performance comparisons. District 153 uses the following assessments at various in this category:
- Terra Nova Standardized Test
- Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT)
- Otis Lennon Student Achievement Test
- IMAGE
- Illinois Adaptive Assessment
- Kindergarten screening
District 153 has invested in additional formal assessment tools whose results are used in a more formative manner. These assessments provide immediate data which can assist staff in planning for individual student learning throughout the school year. Examples of these types of tests are:
- Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Performance (NWEA)
- AIMS Web
District 153 teachers also use a variety of informal formative and summative assessments. Examples include:
- Teacher-created assessments
- Daily observations of student work in the classroom
- Textbook publisher-created assessments
- Student projects
- Grade-level curriculum-based common assessments
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