Testing & Assessment

Assessments play a crucial part in a successful school system.  Knowing which students have mastered concepts, which ones still need additional help and which ones should be pushed even further is essential to a high-performing school.   Scores from standardized tests, as well as results from other assessments, allow us to build a picture that shows us where we are by class and by individual student.  Armed with this information our teachers can adapt their lesson plans and provide individualized help to each child.  The Department of Assessment and Evaluation provides teachers with the data and works with them to use it most effectively. CAPCS is well on its way to establishing a computerized data warehouse, where information from past years is stored and can be compared to current data.  This shows how a student at CAPCS has progressed over time and enables us to predict which way a student is going. This data also tells us if the interventions we are using actually work.  If they’re not, we try something else.  The data picture also indicates the progress CAPCS as a whole is making in fulfilling its mission.

No one test or assessment can provide all the data we need and different tests are used for different purposes in decision-making. For example, Norm-Referenced Measures (NRM) are designed to compare students. Scores are portrayed on a bell curve with some students performing very well, most performing average and a few performing poorly. Criterion-Referenced Measures (CRM) are most appropriate for quickly assessing what concepts and skills students have learned from a segment of instruction. Comparisons are made based on mastery of a learning standard rather than another student. A bell curve representation should be skewed heavily to the right since all students are expected to succeed.
To provide as full a picture as possible through the year so that adjustments can be made on an ongoing basis, CAPCS administers a number of different assessments during our school year.  For the 2011-2012 school year, CAPCS will be using the following assessments:

1. DC CAS (grades 3-8):  The DC CAS is probably the best known of the assessments. This is the annual standardized test administered to all DC public school students near the end of the school year. The DC-CAS is a Criterion-Referenced test and is used to hold teachers and principals accountable for what students have learned during the year. Results from this test are used to determine whether a school has made adequate yearly progress under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.
2. DC BAS (3-8):  The DC BAS, which is similar to the DC-CAS, is a benchmark/interim assessment which is administered 3 to 4 times a year. It provides data on student mastery of the curriculum as outlined in pacing guides. The data make it possible to identify unsuccessful instructional strategies while there is time to fix them.
3. Core Knowledge Pre-Assessment Tool (Pre-K3 and Pre-K4): Preschool and Pre-kindergarten grades are administered the CK-PAT to see how they are progressing in Reading and Mathematics from year to year. One of the principles of the Core Knowledge is that knowledge and language should build collectively from year to year.
4. Dibels (K-2): The Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) are administered to kindergarten students three times a year. These short fluency measures are used to assess and monitor the acquisition of early literacy skills and early reading skills.
5. TerraNova (K-8):  TerraNova is a widely used norm-referenced assessment which measures both Literacy and Numeracy skills.  It measures students against all other students in the same grade.  Therefore, a score of 95% indicates that the student performed better than 95% of all similarly-aged students taking the test throughout the country. 
6. ThinkLink (K-8):  ThinkLink Learning’s Predictive Assessment Series assesses student progress toward meeting state standards for Literacy, Numeracy, science and social studies.  The benchmark tests are administered in the fall, winter and spring.  Each test is carefully constructed to mirror and match the state test.  Test results allow teachers to predict on an ongoing basis students’ mastery of the state standards, proficiency levels and adequate yearly progress (AYP). 

Data from these standardized tests will be woven into a student profile that includes information from a variety of more informal assessments such as classroom tests and project-based assignments and activities to give a more rounded picture.  Our aim is to create a well integrated academic program that combines gifted teaching, best practices, assessment data and support from our literacy and numeracy coaches.  In this way, we can promote individual and systemic achievement.