Assessment
Philosophy of Assessment:
The Batavia Public School District 101 utilizes assessment as a means to monitor proficiency, growth, and educational experiences. Data provided through assessment provide valuable information that educators use to design educational opportunities that promote student growth and address the needs of all learners. (BPS101 Board Policy 6:340 Student Testing and Assessment Program)
Purpose of Assessments
Assessment provides a quantitative measure that makes the process of learning visible. We use assessment to support an understanding of what students have learned (“assessment of learning”) and how we can accelerate that growth (“assessment for learning”). Assessments are one data facet that supports BPS 101’s ability to examine students’ experiences from a whole-child perspective.
For Students and Families
Assessments help gauge individual progress to help build on strengths and address weaknesses.
For Teachers
Assessments provide information for instructional grouping, identification of instructional needs, determination of mastery, and evaluation of the effectiveness of units/strategies.
For School Improvement Teams and Building Administrators
Assessments provide information about the impact of the School Improvement initiative, areas of curricular strength and weakness, inform resource and staff development needs, and support the identification of targets for improvement.
For Building Level Intervention Teams….
Assessments provide information that allows for early intervention of students who are struggling to obtain skills in academic, social-emotional, and behavioral domains. They also allow for monitoring of the effectiveness of interventions.
For District Administrators…
Assessments provide information about district-level program effectiveness, support our ability to explore educational experiences across a variety of demographic groups to monitor equity of experience, identify areas for celebration and targeted growth, support resource mapping, and staff development targets. (could link to strategic plan dashboard)
For All…
Assessments help answer three questions: How am I (are we) doing? What should I (we) focus on? How can I (we) do differently?
Effective instruction depends on high-quality assessments; the District expects all assessments to provide accurate information about student achievement. Each district-level assessment must meet five standards of quality. Each one must arise from a clearly articulated set of learner outcomes, serve an instructionally relevant purpose, rely on a proper method, sample student achievement in an appropriate manner, and control for all relevant sources of bias and distortion that can lead to inaccurate assessment
With respect to the use of assessment in promoting high student achievement, the District acknowledges that assessment and evaluation can serve as a powerful teaching tool. By involving students in the assessment and evaluation of their own achievement, teachers can use assessment to help students understand the meaning of academic success and meet the highest achievement expectations. (BPS101 Board Policy 6:340 Student Testing and Assessment Program)
Assessment Plans
- Assessment Plan Kindergarten
- Assessment Plan Grade 1
- Assessment Plan Grade 2
- Assessment Plan Grades 3-5
- Assessment Plan Grades 6-8
Parent Resources
ISBE Kindergarten Individual Development Survey
Parents’ Guide to MAP (English) (Spanish)