Highland Park Elementary

Highland Park Assessment Policy

Assessment Philosophy: Assessment is vital to the teaching and learning of our students. At Highland Park, data-informed instruction is the focus of our teamwork and collaboration. Through authentic assessment we identify what students understand, know, and are able to do. This understanding enables us to adjust our instruction to help students and teachers accomplish their goals. Assessment is central to giving learners the skills they need to take ownership of their learning through responsibility and self-respect. By actively engaging in integrated ongoing assessment, they become effective, self-regulated learners who can act on constructive feedback.  Assessment not only guides instruction but provides valuable feedback for all members of our school community. 

Purpose:

• To promote student learning
• To drive instruction of students’ knowledge, skills, and conceptual understanding
• To facilitate students’ own understanding of their growth and progress
• To identify need for remediation or enrichment
• To recognize learning styles
• To communicate student progress with students, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members
• To determine eligibility for Special Education, ELL (English Language Learners), and ALPS (Advanced Learning Placement Services)
• To evaluate and strengthen the learning process and practices of our teachers
• To celebrate learning

Effective Assessment should:

• Be consistent with the school’s philosophy
• Be diverse and varied in method to address different learning styles
• Provide required accommodations for students with differing needs, in accordance with their respective Individual Education Plans, Individual Language Plans, and/or 504 plans
• Be continuous and frequent throughout the learning process
• Be clear and concise
• Identify areas that require further instruction, practice, intervention or enrichment
• Be supportive of concept development
• Be meaningful and relevant to the student
• Drive the instruction
• Make connections to the IB learner profile
• Observe and monitor student growth
• Allow parents to understand student’s learning/progress

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT:

Diagnostic assessment is used prior to instruction in order to determine the student’s strengths, areas for growth, knowledge, skills, and learning styles. The information obtained is used to adjust instruction to meet specific student needs and are administered as needed. Examples of these might be, but are not limited to:

• PAST assessment (Phonological Awareness Skills Test) grade K-2 or Heggerty Benchmark
• Core Phonics Inventory
• District reading fluency assessment (Rasinski)
• Classroom observations
• Teacher made pre-tests
• Orton-Gillingham
• UFLI Foundations
• WIDA Access Placement Test for English Language Learners
• Standardized tests and observations by school Psychological Services, Speech/Hearing Pathologist, Occupational and Physical Therapists)

Formative assessment is used frequently throughout the learning process to find gaps in learning, identify specific struggles and to determine next steps. They are administered before, during or after lessons. These structured and unstructured assessments provide continuous feedback on the learning process and to plan the next stage in learning. Examples of these might be, but are not limited to:

• Classroom observations
• Student reflection and goal setting: notebooks, logs, exit slips
• Anecdotal records
• Student/teacher conferences
• Peer conferencing
• Constructed response
• Rubrics (student and teacher created)
• Informal quizzes/tests
• Progress monitoring
• Visible thinking strategies
• Dialogue
• Student work
• Checklists
• Running records

Summative assessment is used to measure the acquisition of information and basic skills as well as the transfer of what is learned to new situations. Through these assessments, students are given varied opportunities to demonstrate their learning. These take place at the end of the teaching and learning process and measure understanding of the Central Idea and prompt students toward action. Examples of these might be, but are not limited to:

• Presentations
• Projects
• Rubric/Exemplars
• Student Reflections (notebooks, logs, journals, narratives)
• Tests/Quizzes
• Essays
• Individual and group tasks
• Open-ended tasks
• Performance assessments
• Process-focused assessments

ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED BY SCHOOL DISTRICT/STATE:

• ILEARN Category and Performance Task (Indiana Statewide Tests for Educational Progress grades 3-6
• IREAD (Indiana Reading Evaluation and determination) grades 2, 3
• Indiana Dyslexia screener grades K-2
• IAM (Indiana’s Alternate Measure) grades 3-6
• DIBELS reading assessment grades K-2
• CoGAT cognitive assessment Kindergarten, grade 2, grade 5
• Orton-Gillingham quick phonics screener grades K-2
• NWEA grades 2-6
• DESSA Student Strengths Assessment
• TOPS (Teacher’s Observation of Potential in Students) grades K-6
• Standardized tests and observations by school Psychological Services, Speech/Hearing Pathologist, Occupational and Physical Therapist to determine placement for Special Education services

EVIDENCE OF ASSESSMENT:

• Standards based report card with district-identified essential learnings quarterly
• Student self-reflection using the learner profile
• Parent/Teacher/Student conferences
• Student work on display
• School/home communication
• Professional learning communities
• Individual Education Program reports (IEPs)
• WIDA Individual Learning Plans for English Language Learners
• Individualized Speech/Hearing reports
• Individualized Psychological Educational Reports

POLICY REVIEW AND ACCESS: 

These policies will be reviewed by the Principal, Assistant Principal, and IB Leadership Team. Prior to this meeting, teachers will have an opportunity to review the policy and their input will be shared with the IB Leadership Team. It is understood that these policies may need to be adjusted based on the requirements of the IB PYP, our school district mandates and the State of Indiana Department of Education requirements. These policies will be accessible to all stakeholders through the Highland Park website.