Point #5b. Continuing our understanding of the new assessment system in Colorado. We are hopeful that this new assessment system will be successful. We would appreciate hearing from teachers who would be willing to share their thoughts on the new assessment standards in Colorado. You are in the trenches every day and know what works and what doesn’t. What challenges, if any, have you faced? From the CDE website: “The Colorado assessment system represents a shift in thinking about assessment away from the concept of tests being only one time high stakes events for some grades and seemingly separate from instruction.” We remember a comment made last August by Leonard Sherman, former principal at Berthoud High School (30+ years) and a former member of the TSD BOE. (RH article of Aug. 14, 2013 “Thompson Schools Show Flat Scores on State Tests”) “All of this state testing is very high-stakes for teachers and administrators, but not for kids.” We need to remember that, even though we have a new assessment system in process, we cannot forget the influences from outside of the classroom that affect learning. The increased emphasis on “Early Childhood Education” will play a very important role here. A school can have the best teachers in the world, but if students and families don’t take education seriously, it can hamper even the best teacher’s efforts. Research also shows that student apathy exists and some students just don’t see the value of testing. With parents and students opting out of testing, it presents an added force that indicates to other students that testing doesn’t matter. As our state and district grows and demographics keep changing, this will be more important than ever. Poverty and job stability will continue to be issues. Colorado’s New Assessment System (from the CDE website) What is important to know about Colorado’s Academic Standards (CAS)? The CAS… are designed with the end in mind, postsecondary and workforce readiness, articulated through prepared graduates competencies. include 21st century skills: critical thinking, invention, information literacy, collaboration and self direction. are based on powerful connections within and across content areas. define mastery by grade level, requiring application and transfer of concepts and skills. focus on students acquiring concepts and skills through content for higher order thinking are presented within the innovative CAS template, deceptively simple and requiring new ways of thinking What are the important features of the new assessment system? The Colorado assessment system represents a shift in thinking about assessment away from the concept of tests being only one time high stakes events for some grades and seemingly separate from instruction. Rather, the P-20 system recognizes that good assessment and good instruction cannot occur in isolation of one another. Under the new system, educators and students will receive ongoing feedback on student performance that will inform instruction in meaningful and more immediate ways. Colorado’s new assessment system will signal daily progress toward mastery, intermittent demonstrations and a culminating application of knowledge and skills expected by the college and career ready Colorado Academic Standards at each grade level. It will be designed to produce meaningful and timely results which will be both easy to understand and applicable to students, parents and educators. The results in some subject areas will represent eligibility thresholds for college and workforce readiness. Some of the proposed assessment results, such as those from the summative state assessments, will have high stakes accountability decisions attached to them. Others, the much more frequent and voluntary formative and interim results, may be used to provide monitoring of student learning of the standards and guidance for instruction.
Posted on: Fri, 25 Jul 2014 12:12:58 +0000