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Data is used by students (and teachers) to evaluate individual success and measure learning.

Occurs on an ongoing, continuous basis and is student driven and teacher facilitated.

Students are the important data source.

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Data from assessments that is used to measure if students learned and how effectively they learned the material.

Occurs at specific intervals and is used by teachers and admin to evaluate teaching effectiveness.

Administrators gain insight into school's position against standards-referenced data (Ratings).

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Example: iReady Diagnostics

The iReady Diagnostic is given at three intervals during the school year. The assessments are designed to track student progress and mastery of skills in reading and math over the course of year. At the end of the year, it determines if students were able to meet their growth goal in both reading and math, also indicates how they may perform for their grade level on standardized tests in those areas.

This information can then be used and evaluated by teachers and administrators to determine the succes of teaching and the effectivness of the resources that were implemented during the school year based on the results at the end of the year and the percentage of students who reached their growth goals.

It also helps teachers and administrators track how students are progressing from year to year, so we can not only evaluate if a student is making growth in a year but also determine how much growth and at what rate the student is growing in comparison to previous years.

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Example: WIDA

The WIDA test measures a students academic English ability based on a predetermined set of criteria.

This assessment is OF learning as teachers and facilitators typically receive WIDA scores at the end of the school year. The results can then be used to indicate how successful an ELL program or approach was during the year.

At my school, we look over the scores and the scores from the previous years to see what areas students improved in and if there were any areas that students deterioated in. This then tells us what was successful, if any areas need more focus during the next school year or if any instructional approaches were unsuccessful in improving scores.

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Example: MAP Growth Test

Since the MAP Growth test is given at intervals throughout the year, the scores from the beginning and the middle of year can be used to inform instruction for the rest of the year. However, at the end of the year, it can help administrators and teachers determine and evaluate the effectiveness of the teaching that school year. It can then be determined if any changes to curriculum need to made or if any gaps need to be filled in in the upcoming year.

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Example: Final Exams

Final exams are high-stakes tests becuase they ultimately affect the overall grade the student receives for a class/course. These types of high-stakes tests though are also OF learning as they demonstrate to the instructor what the student understood from the class at the end of the instructional period.

A good teacher would then look over the scores from their final exams and determine how effective their teaching was over the course of the year. For me, as a language teacher, I look over the scores and try to determine if there were any concepts that I need to reinforce more during the next school year or if there is any vocabulary that should have had more practice during the course of the year.

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Example: ACT

The ACT is a national test that compares students with other students across the nation and determines what percentile they are in.

This test is OF learning as it tells administrators where the majority of there students fall in relation to other students across the nation, so it allows them to determine if any changes to curriculum or instructional methods need to be made.

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Example: ACT

The ACT is a national test that compares students with other students across the nation and determines what percentile they are in.

This test is OF learning as it tells administrators where the majority of there students fall in relation to other students across the nation, so it allows them to determine if any changes to curriculum or instructional methods need to be made.

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Example: SBAC

The SBAC, although an adpative test, is given at the same time, in the same way, to all students and measures their abilities against standardized criteria and norms for their grade-level.

The results of these tests in the state of Nevada are then used as part of a school's Star Rating, and also informs admininstrators if their students are proficient in the areas of math, reading and writing (and science for 8th and 9th grade). These scores can then help administrators determine if more programs or new curriculum or approaches are needed in the teaching of these areas depending on how the majority of students scored.

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Example: Group Discussions

During a group discussion, whether it be small group or large group, it allows the teacher to give immediate and direct feedback to students while they are processing and examing whatever topic they have been studying without the stress of an actual test.

This type of assessment can be seen AS learning, since it allows students the opportunity to examine their own learning and understanding of concepts and gives them the opportunity to make connections between concepts on their own. Group discussions, ideally, should be student driven and teacher facilitated if need be.

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Generates data from assessments to help teachers structure curriculum and daily lesson plans.

Occurs at an ongoing, continuous basis between teachers and students and relies on student work in progress.

Teachers use data to inform their instructional decisions on a daily basis.

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Example: iReady Diagnostics

The iReady Diagnostic is given at three intervals during the school year. The assessments are designed to track student progress and mastery of skills in reading and math over the course of year. More specifically though, it tracks their progress to their individualized growth goal for the school year.

The test then determines the areas of strengths and weaknesses for the students and shows the teacher what gaps the students have. Students are then broken down into instructional groupings. This information is updated at intervals so that students are always receiving the best instruction for their needs.

This information is extremely helpful to teachers as it provides them the information they need in order to best structure lessons over the course of year. It also allows them to pull small groups to intensely target student needs from the beginning of the year which in turn allows them to close gaps much more quickly and measures how students are progressing towards their end of the year growth goals in both reading and math.

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Example: Exit Tickets

Exit Tickets are great FOR learning as they quickly show the teacher at the end of a class what the students understood about the lesson. Exit Tickets can then allow the teacher to quickly see what concepts or topics need to be revisited the following day in order to reinforce learning. They easily demonstrate to the teacher if the lesson's objectives were attained or not.

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Example: Vocabulary Tests

In many core classes, if there is more than one teacher of that content, those teachers usually get together and decide upon a set curriculum, which will include similar tests or possibly more specifically required vocabulary.

For example, many ELA classes, will select certain vocabulary words from books or for lessons that students across all classrooms in that grade level should know at that school. Those teachers will then provide vocabulary tests on those same words.

In the case of vocabulary tests, they can be used FOR learning as they indicate to the teachers how well students have learned the words, and can indicate to teachers if any words need to be revisited or reinforced during future lessons.

In the case of the language classroom, vocabulary tests/quizzes can also reveal any pacing issues. If the majority of students struggle to pass, then that inidicates that more time is needed with those words; if they all pass with 100%'s then that indicates less time is needed in the future.

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Example: WIDA

The WIDA test measures a students academic English ability based on a predetermined set of criteria.

These assessments can be used FOR learning in the instances of developing ELL programs in order to improve the abilities of ELL students. These assessments show the areas of strengths and weaknesses of students, which can then be used by future teachers to dictate their instructional approaches.

In my case, I look at the previous years WIDA scores for the students of my ELL class so that I know what areas need to be focused on. We might need to build in more reading practice or some years, we need more speaking practice. It all depends on the areas in which students need more attention.

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Example: Research Paper

Depending on it is assigned, a research paper can be a type of Informal assessment that can be used AS learning.

For example, if students are assigned a research paper, then the student is responsible for findng and learning the necessary information for the paper. They are responsible for developing the concepts and connecting them in a concise and intelligible way that demonstrates a deep (or hopefully so) understanding of the topic.

A research paper is student led and driven, as most research paper topics, are chosen by the student, researched by the student, compiled by the student, and, of course, written and edited by the student.

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Example: iReady Diagnostic

The iReady Diagnostic is given at three intervals during the school year. The first assessment is the true diagnostic as it examines the students' current abilities at the beginning of the school in both reading and math.

The test then determines the areas of strengths and weaknesses for the students and shows the teacher what gaps the students have. Students are then broken down into instructional groupings.

This information is extremely helpful to teachers as it provides them the information they need in order to best structure lessons over the course of year. It also allows them to pull small groups to intensely target student needs from the beginning of the year which in turn allows them to close gaps much more quickly.

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Example: Unit Test

A Unit test measures how well students learned a series of related concepts and their ability to explain or manipulate those concepts.

It is OF learning as it demonstrates to the teacher the effectiveness and the success of the instructional periods up until that point. The results can then be evaluated or reflected upon by the teacher to determine if the teaching of the unit should be altered in anyway for the future.

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Example: MAP Growth Test

Since the MAP Growth test is given at intervals throughout the year, the scores from the beginning and the middle of year can be used to inform instruction for the rest of the year.

It can show if teachers need to refocus on certain skills or concepts before the end of the year.

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Example: Presentations

Presentations, depending on how they are assigned, can be used AS learning. For example, in some classes, teachers have a period of time where they have a "reversed classroom." In this instance, the students are the teachers to their peers.

I have seen this done in some classes where there might be a myriad of different topics under the same concept, such as religions in a history class or cultural foods in a language class. For this type of learning, students are learning about the topics and concepts on their own (with some teacher facilitation). They learn the concept on their own and are then responsible for adequately sharing or presenting that topic to their peers.

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Example: Homework

Homework is an excellent example of Formative Assessment FOR learning, especially if the teacher checks it regularly. It allows the teacher to see how students are understanding concepts on their own, since homework is often done at home without the help of the teacher. It fits in FOR learning because based on a teacher's observations of the accuracy of homework, it can give the teacher the necessary information to guide future lessons.

As a teacher myself, there have been plenty of times where I have seen students struggling with a concept on homework and realized that they needed extra time and practice or a re-explaining of a grammar concept. On the other hand, it has also shown me that there are times where I don't need to spend as much time on a concept as I normally would have.

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Example: Essay

An essay can be used FOR learning as it allows the teacher to examine not only student understanding of concepts and how they connect to previous concepts, but it also allows teachers to monitor the writing ability and critical thinking skills.

As a teacher of ELL students, I use essays to monitor what my students are able to do in regards to writing structures, grammar, spelling, and syntax. For example, I will go over the basic structure of a paragraph and then assign numerous paragraphs over the course of the year. Each time, I look over their writing, I check for the concepts that we have learned and to monitor how theire writing skills have progressed.

Based on that information, I may re-teach a concept or I may pull the student aside individually to remind them. Either way, I use this information to guide my teaching and lessons.

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Example: iReady Diagnostics

The iReady Diagnostic is given at three intervals during the school year. The assessments are designed to track student progress and mastery of skills in reading and math over the course of year. More specifically though, it tracks their progress to their individualized growth goal for the school year.

The test then determines the areas of strengths and weaknesses for the students and shows the teacher what gaps the students have. Students are then broken down into instructional groupings. This information is updated at intervals so that students are always receiving the best instruction for their needs.

This information is extremely helpful to teachers as it provides them the information they need in order to best structure lessons over the course of year. It also allows them to pull small groups to intensely target student needs from the beginning of the year which in turn allows them to close gaps much more quickly and measures how students are progressing towards their end of the year growth goals in both reading and math.