Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts Training Guide

 Background and Context  Downloading the Assessment Inventory  Components of the Assessment Inventory  Reflect and Plan  Conduct the Inventory  Analyze the Inventory  Make Recommendations  Inventory Table  Next Steps Sections of the Training Guide 2

Background and Context

 Tests can play a critical role in improving teaching and learning by providing consistent measures to monitor progress, identify strengths and set learning goals for students.  However, in too many districts, there is simply too much testing.  Parents, educators, policymakers and students themselves have raised concerns about the volume of testing, but to date, there hasn’t been a clear process for looking at the array of assessments and considering their intended purpose, actual use as well as critical characteristics such as alignment and quality.  There are multiple layers of testing that go well beyond the “NCLB” tests required by states, with additional tests required by districts and some tests required by schools. The layers do not always add up to a cohesive and aligned set of tests during a school year. Current concerns about “testing burden” 4

It is a tool district leaders can use to take stock of their assessments and assessment strategy, and do so from a student perspective. It supports a process by which districts evaluate the assessments students are taking and determine the minimum testing necessary to serve essential diagnostic, instructional and accountability purposes.  Taking stock and then taking action requires significant district commitment.  The inventory tool is only one element of a thoughtful longer process that both engages productively with concerns about testing and leads to real changes in testing time.  The inventory tool is a suggested template, but districts are encouraged to modify the tool to better meet their needs.  The inventory is not a one-time event. Districts should regularly re-examine their assessments in light of changing district needs and improvements in available assessments. What is the Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts? 5

 Achieve has long recommended that districts take stock of the tests students are required to take.  Educators, parents, and students across the country have expressed concerns about the amount of time that testing is taking away from teaching and learning.  The assessment inventory is designed to spur action to address these valid concerns. Why is it needed and what is it designed to do? 6

How was the Assessment Inventory developed? 7 Achieve has developed the assessment inventory to support a voluntary, district-led process:  Achieve developed an initial draft of the inventory tool and shared with a broad network of state and district leaders and experts for feedback.  In partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education, Achieve piloted a revised version of the tool with a group of eight districts across Connecticut. Achieve finalized the tool based on feedback from these districts.  Based on district feedback, Achieve designed the inventory to be openly licensed and modifiable based on district needs. Users should feel free to modify any components of the tool to best suit their needs.  This resource was developed for Adobe Reader XI as a writable pdf. Adobe Reader is XI is free and can be downloaded here:

Downloading the Assessment Inventory

9 Step 1: Access the Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts

Step 2: Access the assessment inventory 10

Note: Achieve will keep all users’ information private. With permission, we may contact you to get feedback on the inventory’s utility and impact. Step 3: Complete the registration form 11

Step 4: Download the Student Assessment Inventory 12

Step 5: Open Writable PDF of Student Assessment Inventory 13 Note: Adobe Reader XI is required to use this resource as a “writable pdf.” Adobe Reader is XI is free and can be downloaded here:

Components of the Assessment Inventory

The process includes four major stages 15

Reflect and Plan: Building a strong team 16 District leaders should ensure that they have the necessary district and school staff involved in an inventory leadership team. These roles are highly recommended:  District Assessment Director/Coordinator  Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction  District financial staff  School board member  Data Coach or other role that works with school-based staff around data  School leaders including principals, instructional coaches, and lead teachers  Teachers  School counselors  Parents Given that assessment decisions have often been made in silos, it is particularly important that the team crosses offices and responsibilities to ensure a holistic approach

Reflect and Plan: Building a strong team 17 It is also critical that the team have the support they need to meet the goals of the inventory process.  Team members will need access to assessment information, including practice tests, sample items, specifications, test windows.  Team members will also need access to contract, vendor, budget information.  The team needs to have the authority to make recommendations to the right decision-makers.  District leaders, including the superintendent and school board, should communicate internal to the district and to the community about the purpose and importance of the inventory process.

Reflect and Plan: Guiding Questions 18 Districts use a set of guiding questions to initiate the planning process.  What is the district context in which the inventory is being considered?  What are the objectives of the student assessment inventory?  Who will collect the information needed for the inventory table? How will they access that information?  What is the scope of the inventory? Which assessments should be included and excluded from the inventory table?  What individual or entity has the authority to act on the results of the inventory? Who will be making the recommendations? Note: Answers to guiding questions can be typed directly in the document (writable pdf format requires Abode Reader XI).

The Inventory Table is designed to capture information the district collects about the assessments. It is openly licensed, which allows for modifications as needed to suit the district’s goals and context. Conduct the Inventory 19

In analyzing the inventory, it is critical to do several levels of analysis.  Developing a student-level perspective by looking across all assessments students take at a particular grade level or grade band, and then by particular student needs and characteristics.  Identifying assessments that district will continue to administer, and clarify if any need changes to ensure they are helpful for intended uses.  Identifying the assessments that seem to be on the table for elimination or significant changes.  Helping districts build toward recommendations while reengaging with key stakeholders to review potential options and decision points. Analyze the Inventory 20

Based on the inventory analysis, what recommendations will the district make to streamline and/or strengthen its assessment program? Note: This table can also be filled out using the document’s writable.pdf format. Make Recommendations 21

Inventory Table

Inventory Table Overview 23  The inventory table is a chart that guides districts in compiling information about assessments.  Like the guiding questions and “make recommendations” table, the inventory table is in a ‘writable PDF’ format, meaning that users can type directly onto the table and save changes (note: Adobe Acrobat Reader XI is required to save changes).  The inventory table (as well as the entire assessment inventory tool) is openly licensed, allowing for modifications to be made as needed to suit the district’s goals and context. Districts are free to modify the tool to better meet their needs. Districts can translate the table into different electronic formats, including online survey tools. Users can transpose columns and rows, or create additional “snapshots” of the information – such as a calendar view.

 There are three types of questions being asked in the table:  Basic information questions  Use/purpose questions  Operational questions  Some information to complete the table will not be directly available from test specifications and will require communicating with users of the assessment, especially with respect to issues of assessment use. A short survey or set of focus groups is strongly recommended to better understand how assessments are being used by multiple audiences. Inventory Table Overview 24

 Initially focus on summative, interim, and benchmark assessments given across multiple classrooms or schools rather than individual classroom-based formative assessments (e.g., quizzes)  It is more important to provide key details of each assessment than to spend significant time classifying an assessment as, for example, “benchmark” or “interim.” For more discussion on the research base on such assessments, please see this framework by the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment.this framework  Several inventory use questions are addressed in the FAQ on p. 10 of the assessment inventory tool. General guidelines 25

Inventory Table: Basic information questions 26

 Information on most basic information questions should be available from test specification booklets and other information provided by vendors, or from state and district policy documents (e.g., contracts and/or budgets).  For the question, “To which content standards is the assessment aligned?,” basic information may be available from the vendor or state (if commonly used across districts), or districts may undertake an independent alignment process.  Your district might also want to consider taking a deeper dive on alignment, to better understand how multiple related assessments can build (or hinder) understanding of student achievement and needs, or how assessments can better support alignment to instruction. Resources such as the Student Achievement Partners Assessment Evaluation Tool may be helpful for this task.Assessment Evaluation Tool Inventory Table: Basic Information Questions 27

Inventory Table: Use/purpose questions 28

 What is the difference between the assessment’s intended purposes and uses? The purpose of the assessment is what it was designed to measure, while the intended use of the assessment reflects the kinds of decisions that the assessment is designed to inform. For example, the purpose of an assessment may be to measure students’ reading comprehension while the intended use is to identify students in need of extra support/intervention.  In understanding whether users find assessment results useful or not, we strongly encourage districts to ask teachers, parents, students, and community members through a short survey or set of focus groups. This information will provide critical support for any recommendations that emerge from the process. Inventory use/purpose questions 29

 Closely examining assessment use will help districts better understand why particular assessments are seen as useful or not by stakeholders (parents, teachers, principals, central office staff, school board members, etc). Questions about assessment use districts can ask of stakeholders might include:  How well are assessment purpose and assessment use aligned?  How are assessment results used to inform instruction (or not)?  How timely are assessment results?  Are assessment results reported transparently so that stakeholders find them useful? Inventory use/purpose questions 30

Inventory Table: Operational questions 31

 Information to address operational questions will typically be found in vendor’s assessment descriptions and technical guides, as well as in the contract between district and vendor.  Test administration frequency and time are critical questions to address through the inventory table. Aggregating that information across grades and subjects will help give districts a better sense of the overall ‘testing burden’ faced by administrators, teachers, and students. Inventory Table: Operational questions 32

Next Steps

 Your district may want to partner with other similar districts (e.g., demographics, location, size, instructional focus) to share outcomes of the inventory and strategies for streamlining the number of assessments. In collaboration with other districts, your district might also want to consider taking a deeper dive on alignment, to better understand how multiple related assessments can build (or hinder) understanding of student achievement and needs, or how assessments can better support alignment to instruction.  Note: If the district is interested in evaluating alignment and quality of assessments, they can use resources such as the Student Achievement Partners Assessment Evaluation Tool individually or in partnership with other districts. If these are “off-the-shelf” assessments, districts may wish to work with other districts that use the same assessments to determine if alignment and quality evaluations have already been conducted, and to work with vendors in concert to demand improvements.Assessment Evaluation Tool Next steps and potential extensions of the tool 34

For more information:  Alissa Peltzman, Vice President, State Policy and Implementation Support  Cory Curl, Senior Fellow, Assessment and Accountability  Jacob Mishook, Associate Director, Assessment and Accountability We are very interested in continuing to hear your feedback on the assessment inventory. If you represent a district or state and would like an individualized training, please contact any of us. Thank you! 35