Using Assessment Data: Learning from Tennessee’s Grade 2 Assessments
Tennessee has developed a standards-based summative assessment at grade 2; approximately 60 percent of their districts volunteer to administer the assessment. These assessments include items not typically found on statewide summative tests, including reading fluency and listening sentences and paragraphs. These measures help provide evidence of some pre-cursor skills necessary for later achievement. This roundtable focused on how the English language arts and mathematics assessments were designed to provide information to teachers and instructional leaders at the school, district, and state levels through sharing of the test blueprints and item types. Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) staff shared sample reports at the student, class, school, and district levels and explained how they are used to support instructional change. In addition, TDOE staff explained how they use their practice test and released test items to signal their expectations for student achievement.