June 11, 2014 Achieve Webinar: Student Assessment Inventory Tool for School Districts On a webinar, Achieve provided an overview of the newly released Student Assessment Inventory Tool for School Districts, designed to guide district administrators and instructional leaders through a process to ensure that students are only taking the minimum number of tests necessary to serve essential instructional, diagnostic and accountability purposes. Beyond teacher-developed classroom assessments that are core to the learning process, it is clear that many students are required to take a host of additional assessments that have too little value. This tool is designed to provide an opportunity for district leaders to take stock and take action. Achieve was joined by state leaders who have been sharing the inventory tool with districts as a framework to guide reflection and decision-making, including Abe Krisst, Technology Readiness Coordinator, Connecticut State Department of Education and Nancy DePalma, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment, West Hartford Public Schools. The Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts can be access on the Achieve website at http://www.achieve.org/meetings-webinars

1. Student Assessment
Inventory for School
Districts
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
3:00-4:00pm ET

2. Background and Context

3. What is the Student Assessment Inventory for
School Districts?
It is a tool district leaders can use to take stock of their assessments and
assessment strategy, and do so from a student perspective. It supports a
process by which districts evaluate the assessments students are taking
and determine the minimum testing necessary to serve essential
diagnostic, instructional and accountability purposes.
 Taking stock and then taking action requires significant district commitment.
 The inventory tool is only one element of a thoughtful longer process that
both engages productively with concerns about testing and leads to real changes
in testing time.
 The inventory tool is a suggested template, but districts are free to modify the
tool to better meet their needs.
 The inventory is not a one-time event. Districts should regularly re-examine their
assessments in light of changing district needs and improvements in available
assessments.
3

4. Why is it needed and what is it designed to do?
 Achieve has long recommended that
districts take stock of the tests
students are required to take.
 Now, educators, parents, and
students across the country have
expressed concerns about the
amount of time that testing is taking
away from teaching and learning.
 The assessment inventory is
designed to spur action.
4

5. How was the Assessment Inventory developed?
5
Achieve has developed the assessment inventory to support a
voluntary, district-led process:
 Achieve developed an initial draft of the inventory tool and shared with a
broad network of state and district leaders and experts for feedback.
 In partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education, Achieve
piloted a revised version of the tool with a group of eight districts across
Connecticut. Achieve finalized the tool based on feedback from these
districts.

6. Components of the Assessment
Inventory

7. Reflect and plan
Conduct the
inventory
Analyze the
inventory
Make
recommendations
The process includes four major stages
7

8. Reflect and Plan
8
A set of guiding questions that districts use to initiate the planning
process.
 What is the district context in which the inventory is being considered?
 What are the objectives of the student assessment inventory?
 Who will collect the information needed for the inventory table? How will
they access that information?
 What is the scope of the inventory? Which assessments should be included
and excluded from the inventory table?
 What individual or entity has the authority to act on the results of the
inventory? Who will be making the recommendations?

9. Conduct the Inventory
The Inventory Table is designed to capture information the district
collects about the assessments. It is openly licensed, which allows for
modifications as needed to suit the district’s goals and context.
9

10. Analyze the Inventory
In analyzing the inventory, it is critical to do several levels of analysis.
 Developing a student-level perspective by looking across all
assessments students take at a particular grade level or grade band, and
then by particular student needs and characteristics.
 Identifying assessments that district will continue to administer, and clarify
if any need changes to ensure they are helpful for intended uses.
 Identifying the assessments that seem to be on the table for elimination
or significant changes.
 Helping districts build toward recommendations while reengaging with
key stakeholders to review potential options and decision points.
10

11. Make Recommendations
Based on the inventory analysis, what recommendations will the district
make to streamline and/or strengthen its assessment program?
11

12. Inventory Table

13. Overview
13
 The inventory table is a chart that guides districts in compiling
information about assessments.
 There are three types of questions being asked in the table:
 Basic information questions
 Use/purpose questions
 Operational questions
 Some information to complete the table will not be directly available
from test specifications and may require communicating with users of
the assessment, especially with respect to issues of assessment use.
A short survey or set of focus groups may be appropriate in such
circumstances.

14. General guidelines
 Focus on summative, interim, and benchmark assessments given across
multiple classrooms or schools rather than individual classroom-based
formative (quizzes) or summative (individual end-of-course) assessments
developed by teachers.
 It is more important to provide key details of each assessment than to spend
significant time classifying an assessment as, for example, “benchmark” or
“interim.” For more discussion on the research base on such assessments,
please see this framework by the National Center for the Improvement of
Educational Assessment.
14

15. Inventory Table: Basic information questions
15

16. Inventory Table: Use/purpose questions
16

17. Inventory Table: Operational questions
17

18. 18
Student Assessment Inventory for School Districts:
www.achieve.org/assessmentinventory

19. Connecticut SDE
Achieve Student Assessment
Inventory
June 11, 2014
Abe Krisst, Academic Office, CSDE

20. Connecticut SDE
Connecticut Context
• Thank you to Achieve for inviting Connecticut to
pilot the Student Assessment Inventory.
• Connecticut jumped at this opportunity to take a
leadership role in this project and partner with
districts to streamline the amount of testing.
• As CT transitions to the Smarter Balanced
Assessment System, there is a critical window of
opportunity for districts to take stock of and make
choices about the assessments students are
required to take.

21. ConnectGiceunt eSrDaEl District Feedback
• “The tool release comes at a perfect time as a result
of the transition in state assessments as well as
continued implementation of the CCSS.”
• “The tool will be used in summer planning.”
• “It is great that the tool is ‘open source’ so it can be
modified.”
• “It is great that the audit can be approached many
times as it is designed to be an iterative process.”
• “We appreciate the clarification of purpose versus
use of assessments that the tool stressed.”

22.  Nancy M. DePalma, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and
Assessment, West Hartford Public Schools
Email: nancy_depalma@whps.org
District Perspective
22

23. Q & A
23

24. For more information: www.achieve.org/assessmentinventory
 Alissa Peltzman, Vice President, State Policy and Implementation Support
apeltzman@achieve.org
 Cory Curl, Senior Fellow, Assessment and Accountability
ccurl@achieve.org
 Jacob Mishook, Associate Director, Assessment and Accountability
jmishook@achieve.org
We are very interested in continuing to hear your feedback
on the assessment inventory.
Thank you!
24