Purpose 

Assessment is a critical part of school improvement and student learning.  The Morgan County R-II Schools district assessment program allows the district to gather information for a variety of purposes. Well-designed and appropriately used assessments provide the following benefits:

• Teachers gain information about individual students’ strengths and growth opportunities.

• Teachers can evaluate the effectiveness of their classroom instruction.

• Students are made aware of their skills in a variety of areas.

• Teachers, parents, students, administration and policy makers make more informed decisions.

• Programs can be evaluated for their impact on learning.

Morgan County R-II Schools Assessment Program consists of a variety of assessment types and formats including norm-referenced tests, criterion-referenced tests, nationally developed tests, locally-developed assessments and classroom assessments in core content areas. The primary goal of the assessment program is to monitor and improve student performance and achievement and to provide the necessary information to improve curriculum and instructional practices. No single assessment or assessment type can serve all of the needs for information; therefore, the assessment program includes a wide range of instruments and procedures. Missouri school districts are required to develop a testing plan that meets the standards of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education [DESE]. Such a plan must include the Missouri Assessment Program tests [MAP] and assessment of the Missouri Learning Standards [MLS] that are not assessed through MAP. The district accomplishes this by designing curriculum and assessments that align with the Missouri Learning Standards.

Overview & MSIP Alignment

Overview: The Morgan County R-II School District’s Local Assessment Plan includes components as specified in the Missouri School Improvement Process (MSIP 6) listed along with their respective indicators: 

MSIP 6 Alignment:

*AS2- The school system implements a comprehensive assessment system including

state required and locally selected assessments.

1. Instructional staff administer assessments required by the Missouri Assessment

Program to measure academic performance for each student.

2. The school system has a local board-approved comprehensive written student

assessment plan that includes all assessments administered and the purposes for

which the assessments are used.

3. The school system regularly reviews performance data, for all students and disaggregated by student groups, to effectively monitor student academic achievement.

4. Instructional staff use disaggregated data to adjust instruction for identified student groups and has criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of these adjustments.

5. Adjustments to curriculum, instruction, and intervention strategies are made based on interim, formative, and summative assessment data and other student work.

6. Instructional staff ensure classroom assessments include the use of higher order thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as complex reasoning skills.

7. Building leaders and instructional staff provide timely, descriptive, and constructive feedback from assessments to students and parents/guardians.

8. The school system develops and conducts reliable local assessments for standards currently not assessed on the MAP.

Academic Achievement

**EA1- The school system administers assessments required by the Missouri

Assessment Program (MAP) to measure academic achievement and demonstrates

improvement in the performance of its students over time.

1. The performance of all students on each required assessment meets or exceeds the state standard and/or demonstrates the required growth or improvement.

2. The performance of each student on each assessment and students in identified student groups meets or exceeds the state standard and/or demonstrates the required growth or improvement.

3. The percentage of students and identified groups of students tested on each required MAP assessment meets or exceeds the state standard.

Continuous and Innovative Improvement

*DB2- School system and building leaders are intentional agents of continuous and

innovative improvement to provide relevant learning experiences that promote academic

success so each student can meet the changing demands of the world around them.

1. School system and building leaders use a variety of data (e.g., longitudinal, demographic, diagnostic, and perceptual) to support and inform system-wide decisions.

2. School system and building leaders establish a cycle of continuous improvement that includes reflection, data collection, analysis, planning, feedback, and evaluation.

3. School system and building leaders use an intentional feedback system to improve and refine performance.

4. School system and building leaders facilitate analysis of individual student data to improve the instructional process and student growth.

Climate and Culture Data

*DB3- The school system gathers school climate and culture data from

all stakeholder groups, analyzes and shares the results, and implements strategies for improvement.

1. The school system uses evidence based methods of collecting data (e.g., surveys,

observational methods, and behavior reports) that recognize the range of factors which shape school culture and climate.

2. The school system assures student voices are heard and respected.

3. The school system establishes procedures for using culture and climate findings to develop and revise systemwide improvement goals and implementation strategies.

4. The school system provides school culture and climate data and reports periodically to all stakeholders.

Collaborative Teams

*DB4 - School-based collaborative educator teams, inclusive of all educators, are operational and focus on effective practices.

1. Educator teams collaboratively develop common purposes and goals for improved student outcomes that embrace continuous school improvement.

2. Educator teams effectively implement group processes in collaborative meetings.

3. Educator teams collaboratively analyze student data to provide appropriate interventions for students’ instructional and behavioral needs.

4. Educator teams engage in data-informed decision-making.

5. Educator teams act reflectively.

6. Educator teams design lessons collaboratively.

7. Educator teams examine student work and assessments.

8. Educator teams develop curriculum collaboratively.

9. Educator teams address positive classroom learning environments.

Assessment 

Assessment Management Principles 

Effective disaggregation and use of student achievement data are critical to assessing student mastery of  the learning objectives. Data driven instruction occurs when assessment data are used to guide instructional decisions at the student, classroom, grade, campus, and district levels. 

The assessed curriculum should: 

• Measure student progress; 

• Guide teachers’ instruction at appropriate levels of depth and complexity; 

• Pre-assess students’ learning levels for diagnostic purposes; 

• Focus/narrow instruction by teaching to objectives not mastered; 

• Vary the instructional time, setting, and/or presentation for reteach and enrichment opportunities  based on student achievement data; 

• Guide placement in tutoring/special help programs based on assessment data; 

• Allow opportunities for students to accelerate through the curriculum requirements; 

• Guide district/campus improvement of curriculum alignment and programmatic decisions; 

• Identify general achievement trends of various student groups; and 

• Communicate progress to parents. 

Assessment Components 

The assessed curriculum should include the following components: 

• On-going classroom level assessment of student learning in a variety of formats 

• A variety of tools to assess students, resources, and curriculum 

• Adequate practice and assessment in the testing format (context) of required state assessments 

• A district-wide criterion-referenced information management system that provides timely, efficient  assessment feedback to students, teachers, and administrators 

• An assessment process that allows students to demonstrate and receive credit with no prior  instruction in a particular course 

A program evaluation component that guides curriculum redesign, instructional planning, and  programmatic decisions based on student achievement within each program area 

  Testing Student Achievement 

District-wide Testing Program

Rationale:   In the case of individual students, standardized tests, in combination with other criteria, can provide an indication of student achievement.  The purposes of the district-wide assessment program are to facilitate and provide information for the following:

1.   Student Achievement: To produce information about relative student achievement so that parents/guardians, students, and teachers can monitor academic progress of the general population as well as subpopulations.

2.   Student Counseling: To provide data as a tool in the counseling and guidance of students for further direction and for specific academic placement and remediation.

3.   Instructional and Curriculum Change: To provide data which will assist in the preparation of recommendations for instructional and curriculum changes to:

• help teachers with instructional decisions, plans, and changes in classroom objectives and programs;

• help the district make needed changes in curriculum;

• help the professional staff formulate and recommend instructional policy;

• help the Board of Education adopt instructional policies.

4.  School and District Evaluation: To provide indicators of progress of the district towards the goals and objectives of the CSIP Plan, Building School Improvement Plans (BSIP) and Goals for Graduation.

In the continual effort to improve instruction and programs, the district-wide assessment program will implement the components of the Missouri Assessment Program to monitor the progress of all students in meeting all Missouri Learning Standards (Show-Me Standards, Frameworks, GLEs/CLEs,  and Common Core State Standards (CCSS)) Other assessments included in the district-wide assessment program are described in this plan.

The district-wide assessment program is used as a vehicle for furnishing needed information to decision makers, including the Board, administrators, teachers, parents/guardians, and students. 

The Board, in cooperation with the administrative and instructional staff, will annually review disaggregated and aggregated student performance data. The board will annually review performance data disaggregated based on race/ethnicity, gender, identified disability, migrant, and/or LEP (Limited English Proficiency) students in order to effectively monitor student academic achievement, dropout and graduation rates. If the district or a school within the district has an enrollment of five or more students in any of the above student populations at a grade level, then data for the group will be disaggregated for board review. The district will use a variety of assessment data (longitudinal, demographic, disaggregated, and diagnostic) and surveys to guide district-wide decisions.

There shall be involvement in the development of the district-wide assessment program and its implementation. Instructional staff will be given training and responsibilities in coordinating the program.

The tests included in the district-wide assessment program include the following:

• tests mandated by state and federal programs;

• tests mandated by state and federal law;

• test mandated district-wide.

The district operates from the premise that effective testing will increase achievement for all students, create data-driven decision making, and create learning cultures within each building.

The Morgan County R-II School District Assessment Plan is in compliance with Morgan County R-II School District board policies: IK, IL-1, IL-AP(1),ILA,

  Assessment Calendar 

In compliance with the Sixth Cycle MSIP Standard 1-3, please click the link at the top of the page to view the table that indicates the following:

• Tests/assessments that are included in the district-wide assessments program;

• Grade level where each test;

•  Name of each test;

• Purpose of each test;

• Description of how the results are used and how; information of the results are disseminated to parents/guardians.