Lesson 3: Standards-Based Assessment

TVAAS and the standardized tests TVAAS is based upon is a reality of teaching in TN. The objective of this lesson is to provide an overview of standards based assessment, which is an effective teaching practice that promotes student learning at the same time as preparing students for standardized tests.

What are Standards-Based Assessments?

Standards-based assessments (SBAs) evaluate and organize student progress with respect to academic standards, which are based on a common set of expectations of concepts and skills that students should develop in a specific grade level and subject area. Mastery toward identified skills and concepts are organized by standard to display how students perform on each standard included in an assessment. This approach to assessments focuses on assessment for learning and what students understand and master rather than on an overall score or performance on a quiz or test in general.

Characteristics of Standards-Based Assessments

Focuses on student learning; thus, provides students, teachers, and parents more specific information about student progress toward mastery of standards
Communicates to students and parents what concepts and skills students need to know at their grade level
Helps teachers plan classroom activities and assignments that are closely connected to learning objectives and allows students to see these connections
Provides more effective feedback to teachers to be able to reflect and adjust instruction based on the learning needs of their students.
Helps identify areas of reinforcement for students and enrichment opportunities
Helps identify areas of refinement for student and opportunities learn form mistakes and seek additional help
Opportunities for students to re-assess and revise work leads to more learning
Creates more consistency among teachers at the same grade level
Other factors that support learning such as effort, behavior, and following directions are reported separately from progress on academic concepts and skills

Standards-Based Assessments vs. Traditional Assessments

SBA differs from traditional assessing by changing focus from "assessment of learning" to "assessment for learning." In addition, SBA systems focus on development of mastery instead of a focus on scores and grades. Below are commonly used indicators reported for standards on SBA:

Exceeds Standard or Advanced
Meets Standard or Proficient
Developing Mastery or Basic
Insufficient Evidence or Below Basic

The traditional report card above gives one general overall performance score, which shows there is room for improvement, but it does not provide specific skills or concepts that should be a focus for improvement. On the other hand, the Standard-Based Assessment (SBA) Snapshot on the right provides more detailed information about the strengths and areas of improvement based on the student's performance.

Imagine you are a student receiving the Traditional Report Card. You know you need to improve your chemistry grade in order to receive an "A" for the class. But, that's all you can tell from that report card. The Standards-Based snapshot tells you exactly what you need to practice in order to learn what you need to know about chemistry for your grade level. You can tell that you need to study Reaction Classes in order to improve your learning in Chemistry. Time to learn more about things like synthesis, decomposition, and combustion!

Now think like a teacher (because that's what you are): From the standards-based snapshot, you know you need to provide this student with more opportunities to learn about Reaction Classes before the standardized test, or this student will probably struggle with that section of the test. Providing students opportunities to learn the material that will be on a test is NOT "teaching to the test."

Also from the teacher perspective: You see from the standards-based assessment snapshot that this student is exceeding their goal for Chemical Equations and Stiochiometry. These are hard concepts that many of your students struggle with. You decide to pair this student with another student that is struggling in this area.

Benefits of Standards-Based Assessment:

Focuses on student acquisition of academic skills and concepts rather than student completion of a series of events.
Grades reflect student knowledge and skills and not a student's ability to follow directions.
Allows students who learn at a different pace the opportunity to master academic skills and concepts.
Can create a more equitable classroom (Let's face it - basing grades on homework or other projects completed outside of the classroom automatically gives privilege to students with who have more resources outside of the classroom).
Provides teachers with the information they need to differentiate instruction and meet the individual learning needs of students.
Recognizes learning as both formative and ongoing, rather than penalizing students for not mastering a concept in a set amount of time.
Can help students succeed on end-of-year tests by making sure students acquire the academic skills and concepts that will be on those end-of-year tests.

Common Criticisms of Standards-Based Assessment:

"If I don't grade homework and out-of-class projects, how will students be motivated to complete these assignments?"
"If I allow students to re-take tests or re-do assignments to improve their grades, students won't study or try hard the first time."

#MOTIVATE's response: Motivating students through punishing them with a "bad grade" is not generally accepted as a good teaching practice. Making sure that all students acquire academic skills and concepts is a good teaching practice. Standards-Based assessment might require a mindset shift, but is worth your consideration for applicability to your classroom.

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