Common Formative Assessments & PSLPs

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lisa Litz-Neavear on January 18, 2010 at 5:15pm

As one of the creators of two different benchmarks, most helpful to me has been the feedback from the colleagues who have actually administered them to the students. I believe we are still in the fine-tuning stage of some these instruments. Therefore, constructive feedback concerning the level of difficulty, method of presentation, material covered, etc. must be incorporated into any revision needed to make the results effectively inform instruction.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Baltz on January 19, 2010 at 6:52pm

I spoke with many teachers after the first benchmarks were given and while the tests need revisions, the teachers did say, "It is really in our faces now- who knows and doesn't know what." I know that is depressing to see when you feel like you have been doing everything possible to teach the students and it can be overwhelming to deal with, but I think it will help us catch more kids who have previously slipped through the cracks. We have many new assessments (DRA, benchmark tests, PAST, Fundations Progress Monitoring and DSA) in the district and they have helped me identify students for interventions, plan interventions, and group students for in-class differentiation as well.

Permalink Reply by Leslie Madison on January 21, 2010 at 7:50am

I will be using a new benchmark test this year focusing on the NJCCS for Chemistry, I am keeping the test short and simple, but the questions are more inquiry based and applying knowledge (12 questions as opposed to a 40 multiple choice with 15 open answered). By using this approaching I am hoping to see what students mastered each area. I will compare these results to last years multiple choice unit test and see which fared better. This will also help me with determining which 8th graders are better suited for Chemistry next year as opposed to physical science. Will have some results next week. Has anyone else changed their method of testing? Which results are better? Did changing the test help you actually address the objectives? Thanks for any input!

Permalink Reply by Robin Wolf-Smith on January 26, 2010 at 4:47pm

The results from the benchmarks are not only helpful for me to work with students, but it gives me another piece of information to share with parents. I am able to point out strengths and weaknesses and give parents specific examples of skills that need to be improved upon.

Permalink Reply by Nicole Medvedik on January 27, 2010 at 4:25pm

Giving the benchmark tests were very helpful for me in addressing the areas in which certain students were struggling. For example, I have a student who was having difficulty mastering high freqency words. On this area of the benchmark test, this student really struggled. I realized that the flashcard technique was just not working, so I looked for other resources to help and I discussed with this student that our goal was to work on recognizing high frequency words. Each day before we begin guided reading, I pull this student aside and we practice. Although the progress is slow, having a goal to work toward motivates both me and the student.
I do agree that although the tests were helpful, there are still areas that need to be fine-tuned before we administer them again.

Permalink Reply by Michelle Baltz on January 27, 2010 at 7:11pm

That is great!