Salem City Schools Alternate Assessments

Salem City Schools has the opportunity to engage in a collaborative project to create local assessments.

Assessments will be:

1. Age-appropriate

2. Authentic/performance based

3. Designed to ensure adequate academic progress in subject

4. Aligned to each strand or reporting category

*Not all content standards within a strand or reporting category must be assessed

*Multiple Assessments are allowed

5. May integrate multiple subjects

6. Typically include rubrics (or other appropriate scoring criteria)

Performance assessment measures subject-matter proficiency, requires students to apply the content and skills they have learned, and should present opportunities for students to demonstrate acquisition of the “Five C’s” – critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and citizenship – described in the Board of Education’s Profile of a Virginia Graduate. Performance assessment can be summative or formative in nature. A summative performance assessment evaluates student learning and skill acquisition at the conclusion of a unit, course, etc. A formative performance assessment determines student mastery of content and skills during instruction. As students learn new skills and content, they should be given multiple opportunities to demonstrate mastery through the use of performance tasks. Both summative and formative performance assessments allow teachers and students alike to identify content that has been mastered, misconceptions, and gaps in learning. The evidence gained through performance assessment may be used to guide future classroom instruction.