Vanessa M. Johnson
Quantitative Data
Standardized assessments demonstrate students growth throughout the course of a year. By Using this type of assessment, I get an immediate picture of my students needs. I am able to use these assessments to evaluate student progress and determine how to support my students. I think these assessments are beneficial because they are directly aligned to the standards across the board, they provide teacher and students with immediate scoring and feedback, and provide intervention support for all learners. In this section, I have included data from the BOY and MOY Universal Screener Assessments. Alongside that, I included sample questions and individual student data to demonstrate dramatic academic growth.
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Table of Contents:
The Assessments
The Renaissance Star Reading Assessment also known as the Universal Screener, is an assessment that all of the students are required to take at the beginning (BOY), middle (MOY), and end of the year (EOY). The Universal Screener is a computer based test that requires students to demonstrate mastery of skills. These assessments help teachers to guide students to great reading growth. The tests also measure students’ reading comprehension, monitor achievement and growth, and track understanding of the Texas Essential Knowledge learning standards for English. This test also provide teachers with the ability to analyze specific data through progress monitoring. Once students have completed the assessments, teachers am able to immediately see student progress, address any misunderstanding, and use it to guide instruction. The document (pictured right) provides a detailed the description of the assessments.
Sample Questions
To prepare the students for these assessments, I have included sample questions. The slideshow (pictured right) includes sample questions from the 5 domains that are assessed. These domains are aligned to the state standards and include:
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Word Knowledge and Skills
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Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning
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Analyzing Literary Text
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Analyzing Argument and Evaluating Text
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Understanding Author’s Craft
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Benchmark Chart Analysis
Before analyzing the data, the teacher is provided with a chart that helps to tailor student learning needs.To interpret the Universal Screener results, our school district offers the use of benchmarks and cut scores as shown in the chart below. These scores help educators identify which students require some form of intervention to accelerate growth and move toward proficiency. The students are divided in categories/levels based on their scores. For every student, each category/level has suggested targeted intervention skills that are provided to the teacher to enhance instruction. The students are given a percentile rank that is defined as:
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At/Above Benchmark = At/above 40th percentile: represents the minimum performance level students are expected to reach by the end of the year.
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On Watch = 25th to 39th percentile: represent students who are below the benchmark but above the intervention threshold.
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Intervention = 10th to 24th percentile: represents the students who may need assistance to move toward the end-of-year benchmark and the intensity of the assistance they may require.
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Urgent Intervention = Below 10th percentile: represents students who need urgent assistance to move toward the end-of-year benchmark, but may not meet it.
BOY Universal Screener Report
At the start of the 2017-2018 school year, the students took the Beginning of Year Assessment (BOY). In the data included below, 66% of my students demonstrated that they need urgent intervention in the lowest category. In the report, it shows the student name, scale score, and percentile rank. Students that require urgent intervention means that they may not reach master of the state standards by the end of the year. To me, I wanted to focus in on the students who are in urgent intervention level because over 50% of my students are in the category. At the beginning of the year, my goal was to get at least half of those students out of that category, so that they have a chance to meet mastery. Students in the urgent intervention category needed intervention on the following:
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Vocabulary Word Knowledge and Skills
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Basic Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning
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MOY Universal Screener Report
In the middle of the 2017-2018 school year, the students took the Middle of Year Assessment (MOY). In the data included below, it shows the student name, scale score, and percentile rank. As stated earlier, 66% of my students demonstrated that they need urgent intervention in the lowest category at the beginning of the year. The students then took the MOY assessment, where 40% of the students need urgent intervention. According to the report, a significant amount of growth happened between the BOY and the MOY. I am proud of the 26% of growth of the students in the lowest category because they have demonstrated growth by the middle of the year, moving them into the On watch category. With the primary focus on reading comprehension and vocabulary, the data shows that there was a positive shift in the data for the majority of my students. By the end of the year, I calculate that there will be an additional 20% growth of the students remaining in the urgent intervention category with rigorous intervention.
Student Growth Examples
Below I have included the Student Growth Report data for three students. The data in the report demonstrates growth from the BOY assessment to the MOY assessment. All three of the students show significant academic growth. Below are the Student Growth Reports for 3 students that represent high, middle, and low levels of growth based on scale score.
Involving Parents with Data
Not only does the Universal Screener provide data for teachers and students, but parents also receive assessment results. To provide students with a 21st century learning experience, it is important to involve parents in student performance data. For every Universal Screener Assessment, the child receives a scaled score, which is based on the difficulty of the questions and the number of correct answers. Scaled scores are provided to students and their parents through a specialized report just for them. This report is useful for comparing student performance over time and across grades, and it also helps to hold student accountable for growth efforts. Below is a detailed Parent Report of the assessment.
Teacher Reflection
I have used the Universal Screeners to drive academic growth for my students. The data categorizes the students in targeted groups, so that I can provide the students with individualized interventions. Even though we have not taken the EOY assessment, the students in the lowest tier went from 66% to 40% which a huge amount of student growth. At the start of the year only 1% of the students were in the highest tier, and we are now at 16% which I am proud of. By differentiating instruction and raising expectations for students, I think that when I used the data to drive instruction, dramatic student growth occurred. To ensure that students are college and career ready, it is important to utilize the data of standardized assessments to drive instruction supported by teachers and parents.