ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS OF SPL - Assessment

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A major feature of SPL is its use of data to drive the decision-making process at the individual student, classroom and school levels.  To support SPL’s fluid approach, reliable and ongoing information must be available to:

  • evaluate the effectiveness of instruction at different levels, of the system (e.g., classroom, school, district);
  • design and responsively redesign instruction to support learning for all students;
  • identify academic, social/emotional and/or behavioral needs of individual students;
  • inform the problem-solving process.

SPL acknowledges that an efficient assessment system is highly advantageous. Assessment must function in support of learning, not as a replacement for instruction.  Students’ time is at a premium. With these factors in mind, SPL is in support of using data from a multitude of sources. Using a system of assessments that increases in frequency and intensity as evidence of insufficient student growth progressively accumulates is also supported.

SPL recognizes five main objectives of an effective assessment plan:

        1. to identify, at the beginning of each year, whether a student’s instructional needs can be met through: only CORE instruction, enhanced CORE instruction or scaffolded CORE instruction;
        2. to monitor students’ performance during the year for the purpose of identifying students who may be falling behind or who may need additional challenges;
        3. to adjust instruction in ways that ensure continuous learning for all students;
        4. to evaluate whether support provided is powerful enough to help all students achieve grade-level standards by the end of each year; and
        5. to ensure instruction provided to students who are performing beyond State-approved grade-level standards is robust and rigorous enough to keep them learning.

SPL embraces five types of assessment that can contribute to productive decision making for student learning thereby maximizing accomplishment: (1) screening/interim; (2) formative/classroom assessment; (3) progress monitoring; (4) diagnostic assessment; and (5) summative assessment.

Assessment Resources

Webinars and Presentations

  • TBD

Websites

  • TBD

Articles/Documents

  • A Parent's Guide to Support for Personalized Learning (SPL)
    • April 2012 - Document

 

 

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