Teaching is the Core: District Assessment Review
Cortland School District’s Assessment Project worked to streamline the number of assessments students take and to ensure that assessments provide feedback about achievement of specific standards-based learning goals. The Assessment Project occurred in two phases.
Phase I: District Assessment Review – Provided the district with information that was used as baseline information in making sure district assessments provided data needed to improve student achievement.
Phase II: Assessment Design Project – Identified areas of professional development to create common understanding on the purpose and uses of assessment.
This report summarizes the district’s efforts in these two phases.
This report is an excellent example of a district’s vision and work in auditing assessments. It is well-written – succinct yet comprehensive. The report includes a rationale, review of the methodology the district used, results from the survey of assessment practices, and the how the district followed up with the results. The detailed methodology can help other districts that are interested in conducting an assessment audit replicate the methods Cortland used. In addition, the follow-up questions raised by the survey results are important considerations that all districts should think about with regard to teachers’ assessment literacy.