Dynamic Assessment

Dynamic assessments are embedded in ongoing
instruction in the classroom. Teachers assess individ-
ual students according to their instructional goals dur-
ing teaching and learning interactions. Teachers con-
duct these assessments frequently and keep a system-
atic record of how individual children perform. They
use this information to tailor and shape instruction to
the needs of children in the class, as well as to meas-
ure their progress against instructional goals.

Screening Assessment

Screening assessments are given to all children at
the beginning of the class or school year. The pur-
pose is to identify children who may have difficulties
in a subject area. These difficulties need to be
addressed if they are going to succeed. Screening
tests are short and involve questions that probe for
the presence of basic skills and abilities.

Classroom Example:

A fourth-grade teacher in Minnesota always begins the
year by meeting with each student individually and hav-
‘ing the student read aloud for a minute from the page of
a book they will read later in the year. She performs an
individual reading analysis, focusing on each student's
fluency and decoding abilities. She carefully notes how
many words each student reads per minute, his or her
accuracy and fluency, and whether or not he or she reads
with expression. She knows that those who struggle in
this exercise are likely to be struggling readers who are
not ready for the academic tasks of their peers. She
works with them over the first few weeks of class to
increase their skills.

Web Resources

www.ed.gov
The U.S. Department of Education Web site.

www.ed.gov/free
Teaching and learning resources for teachers.

www.nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard

The Nation's Report Card Web site provides
information about the National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP) test results across
the country.

www.nc4ea.org

The National Center for Educational
Accountability is a collaborative effort to
improve learning through the effective use of
school and student data and the identification
of best practices.

http://3d2know.cosn.org/publications
/index.html

The Consortium for School Networking’s publica-
tion on data driven decision-making: Vision to
Know and Do: The Power of Data as a Tool in
Educational Decision Making.

No Child

LEFT BEHIND

No Child

LEFT BEHIND

Using
Data to
Influence
Classroom
Decisions



Why Is Data Important?

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) holds
states, districts and schools accountable for student
achievement. NCLB requires regular assessments to
mark progress and highlight weaknesses in core aca-
demic subjects. These assessment results must be
reported in the aggregate as well as disaggregated
(separated) by individual subgroups of students (low-
income or disability status, race or ethnicity).

® Districts can use information provided from state
and local assessments to determine needs and tar-
get resources.

© Schools can use information from state and local
assessments to provide appropriate professional
development for teachers and help to meet the
needs of all subgroups of students.

© Teachers can use information from assessments
required under NCLB to inform classroom decisions
and provide the best possible instruction for stu-
dent learning so that all students succeed.

Parents have access to regular school, district and
State report cards, so they may monitor progress
and make informed decisions.

Effective teachers use data daily to inform their deci-
sions. One of the most important aspects of good
teaching, as many teachers know, is the ability to dis-
cern which students are learning and which are not,
and then to tailor instruction to meet individual learn-
ing needs.

Research shows that teachers who use student test per-
formance to guide and improve their teaching are more
effective than teachers who do not use such informa-
tion. For example, one study demonstrates that
achievement in mathematics for low-performing students
accelerated when teachers received weekly summaries
and performance graphs of their students’ performance
(Fuchs, L. S., Fuchs, D., Hamlett, C. L., Phillips, N. B.,
and Bentz, J., 1994. Classwide curriculum-based meas-
urement: Helping general educators meet the challenge
of student diversity. Exceptional Children, 60, 518-537.)

While testing is an important part of measuring progress,
how teachers use the resulting data from test results to
drive instruction is critical. Teachers have the opportuni-
ty to use data from assessments to make good decisions
when adapting instruction, evaluating progress, high-
lighting successes and improving weaknesses.

Standardized Assessment

Standardized assessments are professionally developed
tests administered under standard conditions, producing
scores that can be used to evaluate programs or chil-
dren. The type of standardized test required by NCLB is
designed to determine whether children within a state
are meeting the state standards of learning for their
grade and subject. These assessments start with deci-
sions at the state level about what a fourth-grader, for
example, should know and be able to do in mathematics

by the end of the fourth grade. Next, questions are
developed that are aligned with these standards.

After children take the test and it is scored, a report
is generated that indicates not only whether the child
scored well enough to pass the state standard but also
how well the child performed in each area of mathe-
matics tested. Score reports also indicate how chil-
dren within each tested grade in each school per-
formed, how districts performed, and how children
across the state performed. NCLB requires that scores
for schools and districts be disaggregated so that the
performance of children from different subgroups can
be examined. Standardized tests aligned with state
standards are essential for administrators to determine
whether schools are meeting their goals under NCLB.

Classroom Example:

An eighth-grade math teacher in Texas collects and
records the scores his entering students received at
the end of seventh grade on the math section of the
Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. By study-
ing these results, he is able to identify children who
may need extra help to succeed. He records the same
students’ scores at the end of the eighth-grade school
year. By comparing the two sets of scores, the teacher
can see with which students he had the most success.
He also compares the end-of-the-year average score for
his whole class with the scores for all the eighth-grade
students in his school, in his district, and across the
state.