Assessments

Formative assessments of student academic performance are used to evaluate the needs and progress of students, analyze programming effectiveness, and ensure data-driven decision-making throughout the organization. Formative assessment is used to:

• Determine what students already know and need to learn.
• Measure growth in individual student achievement/progress.
• Inform instruction to address identified student needs.
• Assign appropriate intervention and enrichment opportunities, providing descriptive, diagnostic feedback that enhances student learning.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum, instruction, and programming at the classroom, grade level, school, and district levels.

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against a standard or benchmark. Examples of summative assessments might include end of module assessments or projects.

Student knowledge, skills, and abilities are measured through a variety of methods in classrooms in order to develop an understanding of each student’s unique strengths and opportunities for growth. As an additional assessment tool, Wisconsin public school students participate in state standardized assessments of student performance in the core subject areas of English, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Learn more about standardized assessment on the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction website.

Benefits of Annual State Assessments Include:

• Each student’s state assessment performance provides parents and students with a profile of the student’s strengths and weaknesses in each subject area tested.
• Parents and students can see student growth from year to year.
• Educators use assessment data to observe student performance in the core subject areas, as well as observe any performance gaps among demographic groups, and use this information toward continual improvement.
• Assessment results allow us to benchmark and analyze student achievement in our district as compared to the achievement of students in other district schools, across the state, and across the nation.