Subscribers of From
the Board Room:
The following item,
which appeared in the April From the Board Room newsletter, included an
incorrect figure describing the Check-In Assessments. This version shows the correction in italics.
NC Check-Ins
Assessment Model Receives High Marks from Local Educators
For the past two school years, elementary and middle schools
in North Carolina have been studying NC Check-ins, a new approach to assess
student learning in mathematics and English language arts. In 2016-17, 165
schools were selected to use the Mathematics Check-Ins and 110 used the English
language arts version. There also were an additional 156 schools volunteering
to use the math Check-Ins and 76 volunteered to use the English language arts
Check-Ins.
This
new approach provides three shorter assessments spread across the school year
and an end-of-grade assessment at the end of the year. For many districts, the
shorter assessments are replacing local benchmark assessments that districts have been giving for a number of years. By taking this
approach, teachers receive consistent feedback on student progress across the
year so they can make adjustments that may be helpful to student learning.
In a survey of school district staff, slightly more than 68
percent of respondents said that participation in NC Check-Ins should be a
local option (not state required). Slightly fewer than 63 percent of
respondents said that the Check-Ins should be available for online
administration. More than 70 percent of participating schools said that their
district did not use other benchmark testing alongside the NC Check-ins, but
nearly 30 percent did both.
Ryan McCreary, principal at Jenkins Elementary School in
Hickory, told the State Board of Education that the NC Check-Ins helped ensure
appropriate pacing, provided support for proper rigor and format for
assessment, and provided access to disaggregated data to support
decision-making. McCreary praised NCDPI’s support materials in the model. He
noted that the Check-Ins provided a good opportunity to address equity for
students and tools to close achievement gaps.
NCDPI Accountability staff recommended that NC Check-Ins be
expanded in school years 2017-18 (add grades 5 and 7 in English language arts
and grades 4 and 6 in mathematics) and in 2018-19 (add grades 4 and 8 in
English language arts and grades 3 and 7 in mathematics). Also, staff
recommended that the NC Check-Ins be available online and in paper-and-pencil
formats, and that schools be discouraged from administering additional benchmark
assessments alongside the NC Check-Ins to trim time spent on testing.
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