The Assessment Hierarchy, a Miller Guidance tool, helps schools to organize their assessments by grade level, type and targeted student group. This activity eliminates costly gaps and overlaps in the data that is collected and minimizes the impact on instruction.

1. The Assessment Hierarchy
How to choose effective and efficient assessments.
A New Methodology for Public Education
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

2. 1. Introduction
 The Assessment Hierarchy (page 9) is a tool that is used to
structure school district discussions regarding the
assessments that are given to their student population.
 The Hierarchy can be used for all age groups and skills. It is
important to specify what each Hierarchy represents. For
example, Kindergarten through 5th grade reading or middle
school social emotional development may be a focus.
 Begin by taking an inventory of the assessments that are
currently in use in the district. List all tests including those
used with subgroups such as students requiring special
education and English language learners. Also, don’t forget to
ask classroom teachers if they use any formal or informal
assessments.
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

3. 2. Introduction
 As you complete this list be sure to record
what grades and groups of students each
assessment measures. For example, the list
may include assessments given to 2nd grade
students referred for speech articulation errors
or all H.S. juniors.
 It is also important to record the assessments
that are required by the district and/or
state.
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

4. 3. Directions
 Begin by separating assessments into grade
and skill clusters. (K-5 reading, K-5 math, K-5
social emotional development, K-5 other, 6-8
language arts etc.)
 Decide which cluster will be your first focus.
 For this cluster, separate assessments into two
piles. The assessments given to all students in
one pile and assessments given to a subgroup
of the total cluster in another pile.
 Next, each assessment is classified by
function. (See #5, 6, 7)
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

5. 4. Directions
 If there is not a universal screener among the assessments for this
cluster, then the next task is to choose a valid and reliable
universal screening tool that has been constructed for this
purpose.
 If there is a universal screener among the assessments for this
cluster, then the next task is to decide how you will use the
universal screening data to define “risk”. For example, “intensive
risk” could be defined as the students whose scores are in lowest
10%, “strategic risk” as the students whose scores fall between 11%
and 25% and “benchmark” as the students whose scores fall above
25%.
 Look at the remaining tools and place them on the hierarchy in the
appropriate boxes.
 Be attentive to areas where assessments overlap (i.e. two or more
assessments are used with the same group of students for the same
function) or where there are gaps (i.e. there are no assessments for a
group or particular function).
 If needed, create lists of assessments that will be suggested for
abandonment or that are needed to fill in gaps.
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

6. 5. Functions and Definitions
The four functions of school assessments
 Universal screening; screening Who are the “at risk”
students?
 Global view (General outcome measure)
 Diagnostic What skill development or instruction is
needed to close the gap?
 Formative
 Common Formative
 Mastery Measurement
 Diagnosis
 Progress monitoring Is the program that we are using
working to close the gap?
 Program evaluation As a result of our instructional
programs, have students made the expected growth?
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

7. 6. Functions and Definitions
 Universal Screening assessments are conducted regularly (a
benchmark program) on all students to monitor progress and
identify those students who are at risk. This data provides a
standard of performance for comparison purposes. Because
they are conducted regularly on all students they are best if
brief and inexpensive.
 General Outcome Measurements are designed to serve as
indicators of general achievement in a skill area and are the most
effective universal screening tools. General Outcome Measures
(i.e. CBM) are not tied to a specific curriculum and measure
progress on long term goals.
 They don’t measure everything, but measure important things.
 They are standardized assessments and are sensitive to
improvement in short periods of time.
 Screenings are brief assessments conducted on a subgroup
of all students, generally following a referral, to identify those
students who are at risk in a specific area (i.e. speech
articulation screenings).
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

8. 7. Functions and Definitions
 Diagnostic assessments give information on specific skills that need to be taught and
take longer to administer and score. They are best when tied to the curriculum and
include a variety of item types. Standardized diagnostic tests are often used for
determining eligibility for programming. Because they take longer to administer and
score they are generally not used for universal screening.
 Formative assessments often look more like instruction in that they include tasks typically
used during the instructional process. As such, formative assessment is often referred to as
curriculum based assessment. Formative assessment serves to further define the specific
focus for instruction.
 Common Formative assessments are formative assessments that are administered to all
students in a grade, department or course.
 Mastery Measurement is summative assessment (occurs after instruction has occurred) of
a child’s mastery of a concept or curriculum presented.
 Progress monitoring is a scientifically based assessment practice that is used to assess
students’ academic performance and evaluate the effectiveness of instruction. Progress
monitoring can be implemented with individual students, an entire class or an entire
school. Because it is not for the purpose of designing instruction, it is efficient to use a
general outcome measure (brief and inexpensive)for progress monitoring.
 Program evaluation assessments are summative assessments that provide
programmatic information for large groups of students. Summative assessment usually
leads to summative evaluation, which represents a final judgment about a program’s
strengths and weaknesses.
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009

9. Copyright Miller Guidance 2009
Program evaluation Universal screening
Intensive risk
Diagnostic
Progress monitoring
Strategic risk
Diagnostic
Progress monitoring
Benchmark
Common Formative
Some students
All students

10. 10. Sample
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009
List of K-5 Reading Assessments
All students Some students
State accountability test
Progress monitoring (R-CBM
and TEL) – at risk K-5
NWEA Measures of Academic
Performance
Story Town Weekly Tests – all
students in select classrooms
Reading Curriculum Based
Measurement (R-CBM and TEL)
Diagnostic Reading Assessment
– 2 – at risk K-5
Story Town Theme Tests
Phonics survey – select students
in select classrooms
Leveled Literacy Assessment –
all students in select classrooms
Reading Mastery placement test
- at risk K-2
Corrective Reading placement
test – at risk 3-5
Wilson placement test – at risk
K-5

11. Copyright Miller Guidance 2009
Program evaluation
State accountability test
NWEA MAP
Universal screening
Reading Curriculum
Based Measurement
R-CBM and TEL
Intensive risk
Diagnostic
Reading Mastery, Wilson,
Corrective Reading
DRA-2
Progress monitoring
Reading Curriculum
Based Measurement
R-CBM, TEL
Strategic risk
Diagnostic
Phonics Survey
Story Town Weekly
Leveled Literacy
Progress monitoring
Reading Curriculum
Based Measurement
R-CBM, TEL
Benchmark
Common Formative
Story Town Theme Tests
NWEA MAP
Some students
All students
For the purpose
of planning
instruction
Frequency of
progress
monitoring is
greater with
greater risk

12. 12. Conclusion
 Tests on the inventory that are not given to all
students and/or are not deemed appropriate for use
with all “at risk” students can be used by
classroom teachers as formative assessments.
 Like the assessments on the Hierarchy, these
assessments need to have a function that is clearly
defined by the teacher using them. It is helpful to
state in question form what the assessment is
seeking to answer.
 The process (pages 3-7) is repeated with each
cluster.
Copyright Miller Guidance 2009