by: Dana Bockman, DCSD Facilitator of Data and Assessment With the goal of making instructional decisions, a teacher’s focus should be on the data provided through classroom work, observations, unit assessments, performance tasks, and formative assessment. Why, then, do we need standardized test data? What’s the purpose if it does not inform day-to-day decisions in the classroom? The Usefulness of the Standardized Test (“Big Picture Data,” as I like to call it)
For instance, if a student scores below benchmark on the FAST reading screener, we cannot jump to the conclusion that the student is a poor reader and needs interventions or placement in Title I or special education. We should compare that score with the student’s MAP data, literacy unit scores, Iowa Assessment scores, and so forth to either confirm that the student does struggle or to identify the FAST test score as an anomaly. When a deviation from the norm for a student arises, we have to ask ourselves why. We must determine the real reason for that score before changing instruction. “The problem with data is that it says a lot, but it also says nothing. ‘Big data’ is terrific, but it’s usually thin….”- Sendhil Mullainathan. Standardized testing has a place and purpose in education, but it is not a daily focus for our instructional decisions.
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October 2018
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