Universal Screener – All students, District-wide
Used to identify or predict students who may be at risk for poor learning outcomes. Universal screening assessments are typically brief, conducted with the students at a grade level, and followed by additional testing or short=-term progress monitoring. Teachers respond to theses results by following next steps as outlines in the district MTSS Assessment Pathway.
Benchmark -Student who take SBA/NGSS, District-wide
Used to evaluate students against specific grade-level standards. Unlike summative assessments, the purpose of benchmark assessments is not to determine content mastery. Instead the goal of benchmark assessments is to identify students’ academic strengths and weaknesses and use that information to guide further instruction to gauge student readiness to successfully perform on summative and high stakes tests. Teachers are able to act in response to these results by spiraling in repeated, differentiated instruction in upcoming units.
Pre-Assessment – All students in particular grade level/course, Classroom teacher or school- wide
Assess a student’s’ strengths, weaknesses, knowledge, skills prior to instruction in order to identify what a student already knows about a topic. Teachers proceed by designing specific teaching and learning experiences in response to pre-assessment results.
Progress Monitor -All students, Classroom teacher or school-wide
Progress monitoring is used to assess students’ academic performance to quantify a student rate of improvement or responsiveness to instruction and to evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Teachers are able to act in response to these results by spiraling in repeated, differentiated instruction into the current or upcoming unit.
Formative- All students in a particular class, Classroom teacher
Quickly assess a student’s performance during instruction and should occur regularly throughout the instruction. Teachers are able to act in response to these results daily.
Summative- All students in particular grade level/course, School or District-wide
Measures a student’s achievement at the end of instruction in order to assess student mastery of a topic. Teachers are able to act in response to these results by spiraling in repeated, differentiated instruction into the net unit.
Organization or State Required Assessments- All students in particular grade level/courses, District-wide
SBA, NGSS, IB, etc. Teachers are not able to act in response to these results as students have moved to a different grade/course.
Placement (Achievement)- Some students in particular grade level/courses, District-wide
The purpose of placement testing is to determine a student’s current level of skills and knowledge in a particular content area and if they are more advanced than their grade level peers. These assessments do not have a ceiling, so students are able to show all of what they know. The results determine the most appropriate course/s for a student.