Actionable Assessment and Data-Driven Decision Making
Students achieve improved literacy outcomes when educators utilize assessment data to inform instruction and intervention and create flexible learning environments that attend to the unique needs of all learners.
“Whole group, small group, and independent practice are based on students’ individual needs. Hill Central students qualifying for intervention are moved out of intervention quickly. They find the gap, they close the gap, and then they move on.”
New Haven: Nicole Brown, Principal
Assessment practices must be evidence-based; they also must be sensible. They must offer enough insight into students’ literacy development to inform instructional decisions without overwhelming test-takers, administrators, or scorers.
To maximize assessment practices, the following action steps are recommended:
Implement an effective, scientifically based, evidence-based literacy assessment system for universal screening and progress monitoring students
- Assessments inform core classroom instructional priorities
- Administer Connecticut-approved universal reading assessments to assist in the identification of students at risk for dyslexia or other reading-related learning disabilities
- Incorporate progress monitoring tools that are administered frequently (bi-weekly, monthly) to monitor student response to intervention over time
Incorporate formative and summative assessment practices
- Formative Assessments are embedded by teachers within learning activities as a quick check up to gauge student learning and understanding
- Formative Assessments provide immediate information on important skills and concepts that the student learned and those concepts in which extra teaching is needed
- Summative Assessments evaluate overall academic achievement at the end of the year and are designed to inform accountability, evaluation, and support
- Both assessment types capture the extent of growth and performance on grade-level standards
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