Talkin' Testing

It's been a remarkable school year and our students and staff have shown great resilience. Thank you for your attention to others' needs while using every ounce of your energy to guide, support, and care.

Some standardized assessment windows have closed while we're also in our final stretch to demonstrate student growth since the fall. Here are our spring windows and deadlines:

• ISAT by Smarter-Balanced (ELA/Math; grades 03-08, 10): CLOSED
• ISAT Science (Science; grades 05/08/11): CLOSED
• Idaho Reading Indicator by IStation (Reading; grades KG-05): Open through May 31st at 4:00PM;
• Civics Assessment (Civics; grades 07-12): Open through May 31st (remote assessment available) at 4:00PM;
• i-Ready Mathematics (Math; grades KG-05): Open through May 31st (remote assessment available during school hours);
• Illuminate FastBridge (English language arts/mathematics for grades 06-12 excluding AP): Open through May 31st (remote assessment available).

Because of reporting requirements, we are unable to provide an extension to these windows.

You can track progress toward our 100% completion goal for spring assessments and how we ended for the ISAT in the links provided.

Kootenai County and the Coeur d'Alene region has numerous trails and paths for you to get out and enjoy during these early spring months. For a complete listing, visit the city's website or click on this interactive map. Also, consider taking your family for a ride on the Hiawatha Trail on the border between Idaho and Montana.

While our students in grades 05/08 and 11 took an ISAT Science assessment this year, we will not have scores for that exam until July as the State Board of Education has not yet set performance levels for the exam.

What does that mean? The content of the exam has been reviewed and vetted by our State Department of Education and our statewide review committee, but the determination of which score level lands in a particular level has not occurred (e.g. is a score of 2500/3000 at level 1, 2, 3, or 4)? Once this review occurs, we will report results to our school communities as well as parents/guardians.

We are required by state statute to provide assessment reports to students/parents/guardians within 30 days of receipt. However, with the quick turnaround time, the approaching end of the school year, and the closing of the district's Print Shop, we are attempting electronic score report delivery of ISAT scores for Saturday, June 4th. Reports for IStation, i-Ready, and Fastbridge will still be printed by office staff for distribution at the end of the calendar year.

Our district will also send emails to parents/guardians with interpretation guidance for i-Ready, IStation, and FastBridge a few days after the expected delivery.

A sample of the email score report is available below:

For every PSAT/SAT exam taken, the district is able to look at the percentage of students who are at/above the college and career-readiness benchmark, a level at which a student has a high probability of success of passing collegiate level coursework. The graphs below show results for the current Juniors who recently took the SAT in April:

As part of a district office reorganization, the Director of Assessment and System Performance will take on additional duties this coming school year. Mrs. Kate Keinert, the Director of Equity and Federal Programs is returning to her elementary roots as incoming assistant principal of Northwest Expedition Academy. Her current responsibilities around:

• federal funds, including Title resources that support reading intervention programs, homeless, Indian education, and district professional development;
• medical 504 plans; and
• intervention and the development of an MTSS framework.

will be merged into the current job responsibilities held by Mike Nelson.

For over 20 years, the requirement to provide an end-of-course assessment has lived in district administrative procedure 2620P. The current wording requires all secondary teachers to provide a singular exam worth 15% of a student's grade for each academic term.

However, our adopted Comprehensive Assessment Framework asks us to move away from this practice and, instead, institute common formative assessments. We intend this practice to start with our secondary mathematics courses for the 2022-2023 year, expanding to other content areas in subsequent years as part of the curriculum development process. This does not mean, however, that individual teachers would not be allowed to include a final summative assessment worth a percentage of the overall score calculation if clearly defined and communicated in the syllabus.

Director of Assessment and System Performance provided information to the trustees during a recent Board workshop (beginning at 1:47:30 on the recording) that provides the rationale for the decision. Their consideration is expected within a month.

Educators are notorious for using acronyms and jargon in their work. Just think about how many I-leading acronyms there are in the assessment world! To help, we've provided a list of vocabulary words and definitions on the district website under Departments > Assessments.

Our team is very willing to support you at any time. Reach out as you may need support.

Email: testing@cdaschools.org
Website: https://my.cdaschools.org
Location: 1400 North Northwood Center Court, Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA
Phone: 10006
Twitter: @cdaguyinbowtie