ATLAS_Cambium Notes

As of June 1, 2023

o   Formative assessment is conducted during the course of instruction for the purposes of fine-tuning to move students forward in their learning. It is assessment for learning. (Shepard, L., 2000)

o   Summative assessment is administered at the end of a unit or the year to determine what students ultimately learned and to assign them grades. It is assessment of learning. (Furtak, E., et al., 2016)

Science Standards & Assessment 

• All standards in grades 3-8 and the biology integrated course will be assessed. 

• Students on accelerated pathways will take grade-level tests. 

• Students will take the biology test when they take the biology credit course.

• Reporting categories will be :

  • • • • • • Life Science 

            • Physical Science, Earth

            •  Space Science 

• Engineering and Technology standards will be embedded. 

• Questions are in a cluster and stand-alone format and are 3D. 

ATLAS

Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System

• Science: Grades 3-8 & Biology EOC

• All standards will be assessed in each grade level/course

• Reporting categories: LS, PS & ESS in grades 3-8

• Reporting categories: LS & ESS in Biology

• Engineering (ETS) will be embedded in (*) standards

• Computer Adaptive Test (CAT) 

ATLAS Tools

• Cambium is the vendor, but the name of our assessment system will be ATLAS. 

• Classroom assessment (teachers can pull items and build their own assessments) and Interim Assessment tools will be available. 

• The Classroom Tool can be a game changer: ex. Will get item-by-item student data. However, only stand-alone items will be available. 

• Interim Assessment Tool will be like a “mini summative”. There will be content on there that the students haven’t seen yet. Data will be at the classroom level, not the student level. Stand-alone and cluster items will be available. 

• The first Science Interim Assessment will be available from Oct. 23-Dec. 8, 2023. 

Adaptive Assessment vs. Fixed Form

Item Difficulty in Adaptive Testing 

• If the student continues answering questions correctly, questions covering the blueprint will continue to get more challenging, but still assessing on grade-level content. 

• If the student starts missing the answers to questions, the algorithm will start to select questions that are easier, but still assessing on grade-level content. 

• The student who answered more challenging questions correctly will receive a higher score. 

• A student’s score is based on the difficulty of the items that were right or wrong, not the total number of correct items. 

Advantages of Adaptive Testing

• Better use of the entire item pool providing a unique form for each student

• Better coverage of standards across students

• More fine-grained reporting at aggregate levels is possible

• Enhanced test security 

• Every test is assembled to provide maximal information of a student’s ability

• Better testing experience, avoiding items that are either too easy or too hard

What can we do now?

• Be intentional every day: start with our standards, teach 3-dimensionally, and assess 3-dimensionally

• Adjust our assessment system: informal classroom assessments, formal formative assessments, common formative assessments, summative assessments, etc. should be phenomena driven, multidimensional, aligned to the standards, and mimic the ATLAS format when appropriate

• Provide numerous opportunities for students to engage with the ATLAS Classroom Assessments, Interim Assessments, and released practice items on the website