School District 62 uses both summative and formative assessments to monitor students' academic progress.
Summative common assessments used include: ISAT, IAA, and ACCESS tests required by the Illinois State Board of Education.
District 62 also administers the MAP test three times a year to monitor students' progress in core academic areas. In addition teachers use classroom-based assessments to gauge students' progress on a daily basis. Assessment data is used to inform decisions about instruction, curriculum and program implementation.
ACCESS for ELLs:
ACCESS is a standards-based, criterion referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English language learners' social and academic proficiency in English. It assesses social and instructional English as well as language proficiency associated with language arts, mathematics, science and social studies used in schools. ACCESS results are used every year by the state to determine if a public school district makes its annual measurable achievement objective (AMAO).
AIMSweb:
AIMSweb is a progress monitoring system based on direct, frequent and continuous student assessment. The results are reported to students, parents, teachers and administrators via a web-based data management and reporting system. Teachers use AIMSweb as a tool to benchmark learning and monitor students’ progress in reading fluency and math.
CoGAT
A standardized, norm-referenced test used to identify potentially gifted students in School District 62. It is administered to third graders for identification purposes and to 5th graders for program monitoring purposes.
Curriculum-based Measurement (CBM):
CBM is an assessment approach where the student is given brief, timed exercises called “probes” to complete, using materials drawn directly from the child's academic program. Teachers using CBM have found it to be both a useful assessment tool for measuring mastery of basic skills and an efficient means of monitoring student progress in key academic areas.
Illinois Snapshots of Early Literacy (ISEL):
ISEL is designed as a classroom-based assessment for kindergarten, first and second grade students to identify students’ early reading skills. It is administered to students individually within the classroom setting. The ISEL provides norms for the beginning and the end of each grade. Teachers use these norms in order to monitor their students’ early literacy progress and provide appropriate interventions.
Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT):
This ISAT measures individual student achievement relative to the Illinois learning standards in core subjects. The results give parents, teachers and schools one measure of the student’s achievement performance. The law requires that all Illinois public school students in grades 3 to 12 take this annual test. The state assessment scores are used to measure adequate yearly progress (AYP) for all public schools. Scores are published on the school report card yearly.
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP):
MAP tests are computerized adaptive assessments that show the proficiency level of each student in language, reading and math, as compared to established grade level criteria. The MAP test is unique in that it adapts to the student's ability, accurately measuring what a child knows and needs to learn. In addition, MAP tests measure academic growth over time, independent of grade level or age. Teachers can use the students’ MAP scores to monitor progress and differentiate instruction for students.
Prompt-Based Writing Assessment
A district-based writing assessment using locally developed prompts and the ISBE writing rubric to informally assess student’s writing. Teachers collaboratively rate students’ samples and use this information to plan appropriate instruction to strengthen students’ writing.
SUPERA
Supera is the Spanish version of the Terra Nova achievement test. This test is administered to students in Grade 2 of the Spanish bilingual classroom in School District 62 in order to gauge the student academic achievement in their native language.
Test of Cognitive Skills
A standardized, norm-referenced test used to identify potentially gifted students in School District 62. It is administered to third graders for identification purposes and to 5th graders for program monitoring purposes.
Words Their Ways (WTW)
WTW is designed as a classroom based assessment that accompanies the WTW word study and spelling program used in School District 62. This assessment measures student word knowledge and spelling abilities. It is used as a diagnostic assessment of student’ spelling to determine the developmental stage of student’s spelling in the primary grades. Teachers use assessment results to monitor young students’ progress in early literacy.
