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We have created alternative assessments for both K-6 science and at grades 4,8 and 10 for mathematics. The K-6 science assessment, called the Science Embedded Assessment System (SEAS) is curricular-referenced. Each teacher submits the assessment pages from one FOSS unit during the year. All assessments are scored by calibrated teachers, and the results returned to the classroom teacher. These results present an effective picture of student proficiency in the district, but do not allow the charting of student growth over time, because there is no link between the assessment for a given unit and the previous year's assessment. For mathematics, we have created the Performance-based Assessment of Mathematics (PBAM) for grades 4, 8 and 10. Samples of students take the assessment each year from these grade levels. Again the results paint a picture of student achievement district wide, but individual student growth cannot be measured. Our best assessment at measuring student growth will be a standards/curricular referenced multiple choice test, the Assessment of Baseline Curriculum (ABC) in mathematics for grades K-10, which is being piloted this spring. This assessment uses a continuous growth scale, so progress from year to year can be measured.
Dave Calhoun,
1/19/1999
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