The document discusses the philosophy and purposes of assessment in education. It notes that the primary goal of assessment should be to improve student learning. Formative assessments, in particular, help teachers evaluate what students are learning and modify their teaching accordingly. The document emphasizes that assessments need to be aligned to standards and provide useful feedback to teachers on what was taught effectively and what needs reteaching. It also stresses the importance of high-quality instruction following assessments to address any learning gaps identified. Overall, the document promotes using a variety of assessment data and collaborative practices to drive instructional improvements and ensure growth for all students.

1. Philosophy of
Assessment
By: Lauralee Chamberlain
Ed Psych 510
October 9, 2014

2. Points to remember about assessment:
• The main purpose of assessing students is to improve
student learning.
• The formative tests that you administer in your classroom
should be used to evaluate what the students are learning
• Formative assessments help you to know how to modify
your teaching .
• The data that we collect in this school needs to come from
multiple sources.

3. Classroom Assessments (from Leading with Data)
First:
Assessments need
to be aligned with
classroom
emphasis and state
and district
standards.
Second:
Assessments should
provide useful
information to
teachers that can
help them identify
what they taught well
and what needs to be
retaught.
Third:
Assessments “must
be followed by high
quality, corrective
instruction designed
to remedy whatever
learning errors the
assessment
identified.” (Guskey,
p. 7)

4. Formative Assessments (idea from Dr. Patrick Murphy)
Step 1 Ready
• Prepare an
assessment to
find out what
students
already know,
and what you
need to teach
them.
Step 2 Fire
• Give the
assessment
• Find out what
the students
already know.
Step 3 Aim
• Figure out
what they
need to know.
• Focus on that!
Teach that!
• Find out what
you need to
do to help
students
succeed.

5. The use of Data in our school
To have successful Data driven school we need to continue to have
successful:
• Effective professional development
• Supportive data climate
• Collaboration (grade level teams and vertical teaming)

6. Effective Professional
Development
• It is important that teachers have the chance to meet together and
talk about what you are doing and what is working in your
classrooms.
• As your principal I want to be sure this time is scheduled and becomes part of
our culture.
• We will have a template for note taking to keep track of what your grade level
data is and the interventions that you are making to have gains for all
students.
• From the book, Align the Design, “ Data becomes valuable when
the decisions made from them hit your targets for school
improvement.”

7. Supportive Data Climate:
• As your principal I want you to know I am here to support you,
however I am can. We are here to help our students and looking
at how they are doing (by looking at data) helps us to help them.
• I am here for you and to support you in all ways I am able to.
• I want to be sure your grade level teams have the time and space
to support each other, as we use data to make improvements in
student learning.
• I will visit your grade level teams, to find ways to support you in the work you are
doing.

8. Collaboration
• Opportunities to exchange ideas and practices and share
frustrations and difficulties
• Can be done during meetings and discussions
• I would love to help where I can, if it’s helping you to assess students or working
with a small group, I want to help you in your efforts.
• Visiting each other’s classrooms to see how each other
differentiate instruction.
• I will cover your class, so you can observe other teachers.

9. TPEP, CCSS and Student Growth
You will be following the TPEP process
as you are:
• Using multiple student data
elements to modify instruction and
improve student learning.
• Recognizing individual student
learning needs and developing
strategies to address those needs.
Looking at Student Growth Percentiles
(SGP’s)
• We will look at a students’ academic
growth from 2 different periods of
time.
• It is comparing a student’s
performance to their own previous
performance on an assessment.
• We want growth for all students, and
these frameworks help us to see how
to make that happen.