CC BY 4.0 Achieve 2014. Districts may use or adapt. If modified, please attribute Achieve and re-title.
TeachPlus. 2014. The Student and the Stopwatch: How Much Time do American Students Spend on Testing?
GUIDING QUESTIONS
The assessment inventory tool envisions a four-stage process
in districts: Reflect and Plan, Conduct the Inventory, Analyze
the Inventory and Make Recommendations. The guiding
questions below are designed to assist districts in going
through each of these stages.
School districts can carry out each of these stages in different
ways, using different individuals or groups based on the
specific district context. Some districts may conduct the
It is suggested, for example, that districts exclude teacher-created formative assessments that are used in
classrooms (e.g., quizzes, end-of-unit tests).
2
2. A
next level of analysis is to identify the assessments
that appear to be ones that the district will continue to
administer, and clarify if any of these assessments do
need any changes to ensure they are helpful for their
intended uses.
D. Make Recommendations
Based on the analysis above, what recommendations will the district make to streamline and/or strengthen its assessment program?
Number
Recommendation
Rationale
Authority
Timing of
Recommendation
Action Steps
Example
Discontinue use of
PLACE ELA beginning
in January 2015
Superintendent
Inventory Table
Cheri Marshall
Tracy McCarthy
ELA
ELA
ELA
Name of assessment
(Example)
PLACE ELA
DIBELS Next
Entity requiring
assessment
state SEA or other
agency; district; or school
District
School
School
School
Grade(s) tested
5-8
K-5
Course(s) or subjects
tested
ELA
ELA
ELA
ELA
All Students
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.
K.1.d
Recognize and name all
upper- and lowercase
letters of the alphabet.
Type of assessment
Benchmark
summative; interim/benchmark; formative; diagnostic
To which content
standards is the
assessment aligned?
(source of alignment
verification)
Intended purpose(s) of
the assessment
Intended use(s)1 of the
assessment
Users of the assessment
Do users of the
assessment use it for its
intended use(s)?
To what degree do users
of the assessment find it
useful or not useful?
1 not useful
2 somewhat useful
3 useful
4 very useful
Explain why.
11/13/15
Benchmark
ID
areas of the CCSS
comprehension.
District assessment staff
classroom
teachers and
for ELA to target
and teachers
reading
specialist
instructional support
Yes (district)
Yes
No (educators)
Academy of Dover
Formative
reading specialist
Yes
Inventory Table
Type of administration
Paper booklet/scantron
Item type(s)
Selected response
on grade
level
need
(1-5assessment
minute per
range
approxim
varies a bit based on gradevaries
level -based
1 minute
for each
subtest
1&
minute
of full
per
student
time
(range
is a
Testing window
ongoing
Test frequency
Three times/year
varies
basedare
on weekly,
student some
needsare
- som
varies based on student needs
- some
ev
Vendor
Tests4Schools
4/1/2015
ongoing
School
Annual cost
(total and per student)
$2,730 total
Funding source(s)
Local funds
Federal Funds
School
N/A
10