Anticipating that AOS will use a combination of on-campus instruction and distance learning for the 2020-2021 school year, assessments may look different than when in a typical school year. During Dolphins at a Distance, teachers will place emphasis on administering formative - rather than summative - assessments that gauge what a student understands and evidence of knowledge. Understanding of concepts may be demonstrated through performance tasks designed to engage students versus a quiz or test. Feedback is key for improvement and given in narratives to explain what a grade measures. For example, the Summer Math Skills Sharpener workbook that we sent home last spring is a formative assessment. When students returned their workbooks, their teacher reviewed what was completed to gather a better idea of a student’s strengths and weaknesses. This information assisted the teacher in planning instruction for students.
To measure student growth, we administered content specific assessments such as the DRA 3 (Developmental Reading Assessment, 3rd edition) in Kindergarten through 4th grade a couple of weeks after students returned to campus. We updated to the online version so students can be assessed even if utilizing Hearts & Minds at Home. This assessment is administered two to three times per year as needed. In cumulative content areas where knowledge is sequential and builds from one year to the next such as Spanish and math, teachers also utilized self-created assessments or curriculum-based assessments to gain additional knowledge about their students.
AOS also administered the new Milestones assessment from ERB in 3rd through 8th grade in late September. This assessment consists of forty-minute tests in both reading and math. AOS students will also take the ERB CTP online assessment in the spring. Test results for the Milestones assessment are relayed using the same familiar score interpretation found on the ERB CTP.
All of these assessments aid us in understanding our students’ current knowledge and skills - as well as any potential learning loss that occurred as a result of distance learning in the spring or summer vacation. We are confident that these assessments will provide us with the knowledge we need to effectively plan additional review on missed concepts and aid our students in their continued academic growth.