Category: Assessment

  • SBAC–CCSS Questions

    Nevada is one of the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) states, and the SBAC has released some questions on their website in a way that shows us how the test will look and work when it is fully released. Guess what, I can’t get it to work at school. Why? The district is standardized on…

  • Exeter – Massive file uploads for your reading pleasure

    Okay, all along I was promising a massive file upload for all the readers who want the Exeter materials. I will explain what each group of files are for as I go. All files are in WORD or PDF format, and all are in a zipped folder. Downloading and unzipping the folders will speed up…

  • The Annual Exeter review of problems sets

    During the summer, the teachers of the math classes at Exeter get together and review the problem sets and compile a series of documents they call the Commentaries. These Commentaries are then used by the Writing Committee to review, edit, and modify the problem sets to make them better for the next year. First of…

  • Exeter and chapter assessments

    While we did many problems and activities at the Exeter training, we discussed how the Exeter instructor conducted his exams very little. We did have a short discussion one day on assessments, and he did give all of us some files with sample exams. He does not use these exams any more, so he felt…

  • Exeter and placing learners where they belong

    This is a post that can not be written without a better understanding of how Exeter structures its school year. First off, they are on a 3 term schedule; 3 ten week (approx) terms per year. This is a FABULOUS schedule, and I can speak from experience. It is a similar schedule to what Knox…

  • A potential way to make Skills Assessment work for Alg 3-4 [Alg 2]

    So one of the biggest problems with using skills based assessment, or standards based assessment, or any of the other names that can be given to the process that Dan Meyer has been educating us on is that Alg 2 is just way to darn big. I mean, really.  Rational functions?  Composition of functions?  If…

  • Alg 2 (or Alg 3-4 in my District) Skills Assessment

    Before I really get into this one, I must first say that I will use the terms Alg 3 to mean the first semester and Alg 4 to mean the second semester of my District’s second year algebra class.  I am specifying this because as I have talked to and grown in my understanding of…

  • The Gradebook

    First things first.  Everything I discuss here is specific to EasyGrade Pro 4.0.  Why?  That is what our district is standardized on.  I am sure that everything can be modified to any gradebook, however. First thing, set up the categories we will be using to grade with. Notice that only 15 percent of the grade…

  • Concept Map and Misc. Assessment Decisions

    Okay, so we have some philosophy down to guide our decision making. We have some rules and procedures, a way to communicate the test questions across multiple teachers, and some basic forms so our freshman will have a consistent set of handouts and standards.  Now all we need is some way for the teachers to…

  • Some Details on our Assessment Journey

    Okay, so we sat down (five of us) and hashed out some of the mechanisms and details we will use on our assessment journey. First, we all agreed on the principles that Dan documented. Yes, I said some bad words when I read his three principles, because he scooped me on something that he had…