Barrow County Assessment Inventory Project

Findings & Recommendations

In the Fall of 2016, the Barrow County School System joined forces with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education to conduct an Assessment Inventory. The intent was to take stock of what assessments are required, what those assessments are designed to do, and identify any redundancies and/or gaps in the assessment program.

Timeline

October 2015- US Department of Education encouraged states to examine how the amount of time students spend testing impacts the instructional school year and learning.

October 2015- GaDOE began a project with the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE) to conduct an inventory of local district assessment requirements and practices.

September 2016- Five districts, including the Barrow County School System (BCSS), began Phase 2 of the project with a facilitator from GPEE. The purpose of this phase is to examine the package of assessments given to students over the course of a school year to help clarify purposes, identify potential redundancies, and evaluate the district’s testing program.

September 2016- District Assessment Team met to set the context for the work.

October 2016- School representatives began conducting the inventory.

November 2016- Facilitator met with five focus groups: district leaders, school leaders, ES students, MS/HS students, parents.

January 2017- Assessment Team reconvened to analyze all collected data and draft recommendations.

Future- Team will create a comprehensive communication plan and a professional development plan based on the recommendations.

Definitions

Assessment- Tasks designed to measure what students know and are able to do. Assessments are not necessarily tests and are part of the best practice of instructional strategies. Good teachers use assessments in their classroom every day, be they formal or informal, individual or group, to better target and hone their instruction.

Test- A formal or standardized instrument designed to assess a student skill or mastery of standards. Tests are typically, though not always, given in a group setting.

BCSS made several changes to our assessment program as a result of the inventory process including the elimination of several assessments and the addition of a screener, MAP Growth.