Assessment
Assessment
Assessment plays a crucial role in the realm of education, serving as an indispensable component of both teaching and learning. Deliberate assessment methods enable educators to gain insight into students' acquired knowledge, their skill levels, and pinpoint the areas that require further instruction. At Sandridge Elementary, we acknowledge that a single assessment alone cannot furnish teachers with adequate information for instructional planning. Consequently, we employ various assessment types within our teaching practices, resulting in valuable insights into students' comprehension and developmental progress.
As part of our commitment to enhancing student learning outcomes through collaborative efforts within our Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), we pose four fundamental questions:
1. What are the fundamental learning goals we anticipate students to achieve?
2. How can we gauge their progress and determine if they are indeed learning?
3. What strategies should we employ when students have already demonstrated proficiency?
4. How should we respond and adapt our approach when students encounter challenges in their learning process?
Assessment enable us to gauge the progress of students and the effectiveness of teaching and learning across the school district. At Sandridge School District, we employ a diverse array of assessments, including authentic, formative, summative, and standardized methods, to continuously track student growth. Both administrators and educators within our schools draw upon a wide range of data sources to enhance educational programs and instruction. For students in grades 3rd through 8th, they participate in state assessments such as IAR, DLM, ACCESS, and ISA.
These assessments evaluate the individual academic progress of students in math, science, and English language arts, benchmarking their achievements against the Illinois Common Core State Standards. The results serve as a single metric for parents, teachers, and administrators to assess both student learning and school performance.
IAR tests are administered via computer. In the previous state testing cycle, our school building received commendable status regarding student growth outcomes. Scores for IAR, DLM, and ISA assessments are annually made available on the School Report Cards. Stakeholders can access the official state website linked below to access information about public schools throughout Illinois. This platform allows them to access school-related data, including academic performance, the school's environment, demographics of both students and educators, as well as highlights provided by the schools.
Frequent Assessments within the district play a pivotal role in directing academic support, improving classroom teaching approaches, and gauging student progress. In addition to in-class assessments, we employ NWEA-MAP to evaluate student development at Sandridge Elementary throughout the academic year. NWEA-MAP assessments are conducted three times annually, encompassing all students from kindergarten to 8th grade. Furthermore, we utilize IXL and IStation to continuously monitor progress between these assessment periods.