Choose a end-of-course assessment that measures mastery of course content and is meaningful

1)  Determine what assessment you will use

2)  Determine whether it measures mastery of the major components of your course

3)  Ensure that it is meaningful

Read one teacher’s account of choosing an assessment to measure achievement of the big goal.

Determine what assessment you will use

Type / Growth Assessments are often the best tool to use because they allow you to set a goal that would move each of your students significantly forward, even if they’re starting from different places. They allow us to determine whether students have mastered the sequenced learning goals that lead to growth. / Mastery Assessments are the best option if a good growth assessment is not available for your course. They allow us to determine whether students have mastered the learning goals of the course curriculum, and set gap-reduction or mastery goals.
Best for which content areas? / ·  Growth assessments are most common to assess grade-level reading growth for elementary and lower middle school, although there are assessments – such as NWEA – that will allow you to measure growth in other subjects.
·  They are widely used to assess grade level reading growth for elementary and lower middle school / ·  Mastery assessments are used as the measure for almost all content-area subjects.
·  We can see why growth is not an appropriate measure for content area subjects by considering an example like Algebra I. In this subject, students are not expected to have had Algebra before; all of the skills they are learning are new skills for that specific content area. Because of this, a growth measure does not make sense since students don’t have an algebra base on which to demonstrate growth.
Recommended
Assessments / ·  DRA
·  NWEA
Learn about qualities of excellent assessments. / ·  State assessments from your state
·  Nationally-recognized assessments
·  Regionally-recognized assessments from another state
Learn about qualities of excellent assessments
Assessments to Avoid / ·  Accelerated Reader
·  Running Records
·  San Diego Quick
·  Six Minute Solution
·  Woodcock-Johnson (for math growth)
The above assessments, while potentially useful for instructional activities like creating reading groups, are too superficial or inaccurate to reliably determine student gains at the end of your course / ·  Teacher-created assessments
Developing a high-quality assessment is extremely difficult and time consuming to do. You are strongly encouraged to use an assessment that has been externally-validated. That means it contains items vetted by experts in assessment creation and has national benchmarks for the assessment. Externally validated assessments provide a destination that is not only the measuring stick used to evaluate students beyond the walls of your own classroom, but it is an assessment that students (and your school community) will already see as important.

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Determine whether your assessment measures mastery of the major components of the course by asking the following questions. (top of page)

·  Does it cover the major components of the course (e.g. Cells, Heredity, Evolution and Diversity of Life, Interdependence of Life, Human Physiology, and Science Process for a high school biology course)?

o  Learn what the major components of your course are by prioritizing and internalizing learning goals and reading your state’s Department of Education website and available teacher’s or curriculum guides.

·  Is it assessing students at a range of cognitive levels (e.g. application and analysis questions)?

If the answer to either of the above questions is “no,” then you will want to supplement your exam with additional assessments that do measure mastery of missing components.

Below is a table listing possible solutions to a couple of common challenges:

Problem / Solution
You have one strong assessment that measures all but one or two key components of your course (e.g. a great geometry assessment that assesses most key components but does not require students to write a proof) / Add assessment items that cover those components. Consult with colleagues—veteran teachers, your PD and other professional resources—to find additional assessment items
Often state assessments omit items related to open-ended mathematical problem-solving, science that requires lab work, historical research or literary analysis.
You teach multiple subjects and have an assessment that does not measure all subjects (e.g. you teach reading, math and writing and have a great reading assessment). / Add one or more assessments to ensure you are assessing each learning goal adequately. Consult with colleagues—veteran teachers, your PD and other professional resources—to find additional assessments.
For example, if you are an elementary ELA teacher, you will probably need to have a growth assessment to measure your students’ reading. You will probably also need mastery assessments to measure students’ writing and math skills.

Ensure that your assessment is meaningful to students’ lives (top of page)

Assessments that are meaningful to students’ lives open academic doors, are well-respected and represent a high barof rigor, validity and reliability (see P-1 page for more on these criteria).

·  Growth assessments (and their analogous growth goals) are meaningful because ambitious and feasible achievement on them will represent years of growth of your students’ academic skills.

·  Mastery assessments may not be inherently meaningful. If your mastery assessment does not open academic doors, you can add some other measurable achievement to your big goal, such as rigorous assessment items from a college assessment, or placement in a state science fair, to make it more meaningful. The table below outlines types of assessments that teachers often use to measure the achievement of a mastery or gap-reduction big goal, from most to least likely to open academic doors for students.

Most Meaningful
Mastery Assessments

Least Meaningful Mastery Assessments / A regionally recognized, rigorous exam from your state. (e.g. New York State Regents exam, North Carolina End-of-Course, California Standards Test)
o  Such assessments are well-respected and represent a high bar of rigor, validity and reliability.
o  Achievement on such an assessment will require students to master knowledge and skills that will prepare them for the next level of coursework
o  Achievement on such an assessment will be recognized in your state, thereby opening academic doors for students, e.g., increasing the chance of admission into good high schools.
A widely recognized assessment with national benchmark scores (e.g. AP exam, SAT II exam)
o  Such assessments are well-respected and represent a high bar of rigor, validity and reliability.
o  Achievement on such an assessment will require students to master knowledge and skills that will prepare them for the next level of coursework
o  However, an ambitious and feasible target on such an exam may not be high enough to open academic doors for students (e.g., increase their chances of admission into colleges) , and therefore may not be meaningful.
A regionally recognized, rigorous state exam from another state (e.g. New York State Regents exam, etc.)
o  Such assessments are well-respected and represent a high bar of rigor, validity and reliability.
o  Achievement on such an exam will require students to master knowledge and skills that will prepare them for the next level of coursework
o  However, achievement on such an assessment may not be recognized by your state, and therefore may not open academic doors for students.
A teacher-created assessment (e.g. an assessment from an excellent school in your district, an assessment you create)
o  Such an assessment may not be well-respected or represent a high bar of rigor, validity and reliability.
o  Achievement on such an assessment may not open academic doors for students

Example: North Carolina Chemistry (top of page)

This teacher describes why he chose to use the North Carolina End-of-Course exam, rather than the SAT II, to measure achievement of the big goal.

”In planning for assessment, I have to figure out what I will use to measure whether my students mastered the content and achieved the big goals.

First, I had to determine what assessment to use. I knew that it would not make sense to measure their mastery of course content with a growth assessment since the students would not be coming into this course with any previous chemistry knowledge, so I decided on a mastery assessment. I quickly learned that I had two excellent choices: the SAT II Chemistry exam and the North Carolina End-of-Course exam.

I learned that both of them measure mastery of the major components of my course, namely changes in scientific understanding and theories, naming and numbering systems, periodic trends, stoichiometry and equilibrium and thermodynamics. The North Carolina EOC exam is designed by the state and is comprehensive and naturally aligned to my learning goals since they’re based on state standards. There was a great deal of overlap between the state learning goals I would be teaching and the content assessed on the SAT II as well. In fact, the SAT II seemed to more closely match the cognitive level s my learning goals call for.

Now it was time to figure out which assessment was more meaningful. I was starting to become very compelled by the SAT II, since by succeeding on the SAT II Chemistry exam, my students would be able to apply to a wider variety of colleges and universities and have a better shot at admission. However, I spoke with a few veteran teachers and mentors,, who based on the past experiences of excellent teachers, told me that my students may not be able to achieve the score on the SAT II that would be needed to increase their chances of admission into college. After careful consideration of that advice, I decided to use the NC EOC because achievement on that exam would represent achievement against an absolute bar that is recognized by the state as a whole, and may increase my students’ chances of succeeding in honors-level science courses next year.