First of all, we became familiar with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Mathematics and Language Arts. Those Standards were written for grades 3, 5, 8, and 11. During the summer of 1999, volunteer teachers from the 22 school districts in IU 13 created a Benchmark Document. The teachers started with the Standards and then "backmapped" them, writing benchmarks for grades, K, 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, and 12.
During the 99-00 school year, assessments were written to address every Academic Standard/Benchmark in every grade level K-12 for Mathematics and Language Arts. Once written, teachers piloted the assessments with their students in their classrooms. The data they provided was used to revise and finalize these assessments. The results of that work is what you will find on this IU 13 web site.
After two years of work, what do we hope will happen now? The Chapter 4 regulations direct districts to develop a local assessment plan. Part of that local plan must be the development and implementation of district assessments. This website contains multiple assessment items to be used as a part of a district assessment plan. This website and its' collection of assessments can be used as a starting point in the development of a local assessment plan which will provide opportunities for all students to achieve proficiency of the standards.
For grades K-8 in Mathematics, an assessment was written for each standard statement listed under each PA Academic Standard Category. So for Standard 2.1, which is Number Concepts, there was an assessment written for every lettered statement listed within that Standards Category.
For grades 9-11 in Mathematics, the assessments were written to the Standards Category, but not to the individual standard statements. There are no assessments on the web site for grade 12. Individual districts should decide on how to proceed with assessments for grade 12.
Four types of assessments were written: selected response (multiple choice answer), constructed response (solve the problem), open-ended (show your work; explain how and why), and projects. For selected and constructed responses, answers are provided on the assessment. For open-ended problems and for projects, rubrics are provided in most cases to evaluate solutions to the problems. If a rubric is not provided, use the PSSA Mathematics rubric.
For grades K-12 in Language Arts, performance assessments were written for each PA Academic Standards Category, but not for each standard statement. At each grade level there is at least one assessment for each Academic Standards Category. For some grade levels, several different assessments are provided that address an individual Standards Category. There is one other feature unique to assessing Language Arts. Some assessments actually address more than one Standards Category at the same time. When you look at the actual assessments, you will be able to tell what Standards Category or Categories is being addressed. When appropriate, the PSSA Reading rubric is used as the evaluation tool.
When you access the individual assessments, you will see one of these terms. Assessment validation occurred during the winter and spring of 2000-2001. Volunteer teachers from some of the 22 IU 13 schools took assessments back to their classrooms and used them to assess their students. They and their students provided feedback about the tasks, directions, materials required, adaptations, scoring guides, and rubrics. Based on their data and feedback, the assessments were revised. So Assessment Validated means that it was examined by classroom teachers, used in real classroom situations, revised by the Assessment Teams, and deemed ready for classroom/district use.
Assessments labeled Not Piloted that no classroom teacher actually used this in a classroom situation. Assessments might not have been piloted because not enough time was available for teachers to pilot everything they selected, or because we did not have enough teachers volunteer to pilot the large number of assessments written. All assessments on the web site labeled Not Piloted were examined, revised, and rewritten by the Assessment Teams and editors. They are deemed worthy of examination and consideration as possible classroom/district assessments. Some of these assessments may still need to be fine tuned and individualized to your specific classroom/district needs. Feel free to do so and feel free to contact IU 13 with your data and findings.
There are several different ways to search for information. First of all, decide if you want Mathematics or Language Arts. If you know the PA Academic Standard and its number, you can search by Standard Category. If you want assessments for a specific grade, search by grade level. If you want to search by a grade range, choose K-3, 4-5, 6-8, 9-12. In Mathematics, you can also search by the type of response required: selected response, constructed response, open-ended, or project.
It is always a good idea to look at the assessments provided for the grade levels above and below your instructional level. They may provide some good background information or information about the direction instruction might take. This would especially be the case in grades 9-12 where high school students do not take classes in the same sequential order.
One last thought, if the content of the assessment does not work, keep the intent of the assessment (the Standard) and keep the process, but adapt the content to what suits your classroom/district.
Page Modified 11/15/02