Data Driven Instruction: Assessment Do your measures measure up?


By Tim Clarke, CA BOCES


In October we provided an overview of data- driven instruction (DDI) as outlined in Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s book, Driven by Data (2010). We explained that the author’s framework is based on four key principles: assessment, analysis, action, and culture. This month, our focus will be on Bambrick- Santoyo’s principles of interim assessments.


In the book, there is a case study of a struggling school. The administration and faculty put into place the practice of assessing students throughout the year using a purchased, third-party, standardized assessment. The results from these standardized measures are impressive, and the administration and faculty are confident they will see success on the state assessments at the end of the year. Much to their dismay, the results on the state assessments are below standard and everyone is left scratching their heads.


Does the school use interim assessments to test students 4-6 times during the year? Yes. Does the school align those assessments to the instructional sequence of what is being taught? Yes. Are they re-assessing previously taught standards to see if students have lost anything during the year? Yes. Do the assessments the school is using align to the rigor of the state assessment? No.


One of the key factors in designing and implementing interim assessments is that they are not only aligned in content and format to the state summative assessment, but that the rigor of the items on the interim assessments are on par with what is expected on the state assessment. Bambrick-Santoyo asserts that assessments need to be the starting point for instruction, not the end point. He likens assessments to roadmaps for teaching that help to define the level of mastery to which students should be taught.


It is quite possible that interim assessments within a school might do an admirable job of


aligning to state (and soon Common Core) standards, but the manner in which those standards are assessed don’t reflect the depth and rigor of items on the end-goal assessment. When this is the case, interim assessments fall short of providing adequate or useful data to improve learning.


When selecting or designing interim assessments schools should be cautious about their choices. Always ask to review third-party assessments and compare them to the end- goal assessment. When a school chooses to design its own interim assessments, it’s important that items parallel the tasks on the state assessment.


Standards are meaningless until you define how to assess them.


--Paul Bambrick-Santoyo


www.caboces.org/iss


SUCCESSSTORIES December 2011


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