Assessment is a key component impacting instructional practices within classrooms. At St. Anthony of Padua, we incorporate data-driven decision-making with the use of formal and informal assessments. The assessments used by teachers help determine what students are ready to learn, so instructional strategies can be catered to meet the needs of students. In addition, information gained from assessments help determine gaps in student understanding that may require additional levels of intervention and support.
From a classroom and school perspective, the value of testing serves a distinct purpose impacting classroom instruction, student intervention, and school strategic planning. The reason for multiple tests and different testing modules is to ensure our data is accurate and supported across multiple components. We fully believe that testing is not the only way to identify student performance as there are many other factors impacting students; rather, testing serves as a piece to the puzzle.
NWEA MAP Testing
Students in kindergarten through grade 8 participate in NWEA MAP testing three times a year. We use MAP testing to analyze student growth over time in the domains of reading, math, language, and science. Unlike traditional standardized testing, MAP testing uses a dynamic questioning module that changes the next question based on the response of the previous question. Through dynamic questioning, MAP can identify individual ranges of topics students are ready to learn. After a student has taken MAP once, future tests begin where the student left off on the previous tests. Since MAP testing is catered to the individual ability level of students, it is possible for students in the same class to experience different tests during the same testing window.
The benefit of using MAP testing is the tracking of student growth in subject domains over the course of time. The data obtained from MAP helps us to identify student strengths and weakness, while also allowing us to compare student scores with their peers from a school and national scale. The MAP database is so large that we can project future test scores on the ACT, SAT, and state of Ohio tests. In addition, MAP uses goal setting to assist students in meeting their target scores. As a school, we have implemented test talks in which teachers meet with each student to discuss goals throughout the year.
STAR Reading Assessment
The STAR Reading Assessment is a test given to students three times a year for students in kindergarten through grade 5. Students in grades 6 through 8 take the test once during the winter quarter. The STAR Reading Assessment differs from MAP because it operates like a traditional standardized test, meaning every student is taking the same test regardless of skill or ability level. The data gained from this test also differs from MAP because we can identify student performance based on the current grade level and national norms. The data obtained from STAR allows us to monitor our performance as a school and identify students performing below grade level.
Report Cards
Instruction at St. Anthony of Padua is driven by the standards of the state of Ohio and the Diocese of Cleveland. These standards contain guidelines for each curricular subject, including topics of study, skills, and other learning opportunities. The teachers at St. Anthony of Padua use a variety of assessment tools to identify what students are ready to learn and how they can best guide students’ progress. These assessments may include tests, quizzes, written work, projects, reading inventories, observations, etc.
Each student in grades 1 through 8 receives a report card at the end of each quarter. Kindergarten uses a standards-based report card beginning after the second quarter. Parents and students in grades 1 through 8 can view grades online using GradeLock, our online portal for grades. Grades are uploaded online on the first and fifteenth of the month.