Assessment - Columbia Heights Educational Campus
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ASSESSMENT AT CHEC
Assessment provides students, parents and teachers with important information on where a student is progressing, and where he or she needs to focus more. At CHEC we use different kinds of assessments, formal and informal, to help guide students learning. We expect students to become familiar with the different assessments, and to keep an updated assessment passport order to track their progress and improve upon it.
RUBRICS - are designed by teachers and provide a clear, objective understanding of what is required to meet any given standard. Rubrics are descriptions of what is required to meet the standard when completing an assignment. Students must use rubrics to help them improve their work. At CHEC we have a culture of revision, so that all students get used to reviewing and revising their work. Work not meeting or exceeding the standards is returned to the student with commentary so that the student can revise the work to meet the standards.
PORTFOLIOS - another way in which the Columbia Heights Educational Campus measures student progress is through the use of portfolios in each class. A portfolio is a collection of students' work which demonstrates that they have met the Standards in that class. This collection includes the students' comments and analysis of why they feel this work demonstrates that they know the subject matter. The benefits of using portfolios for students include the opportunity for revision- whereby the students correct their work and deepen their understanding of the content. Students also benefit from the experience they gain in organizing and presenting their work and the pride they take in reviewing their own growth and accomplishments from each course.
All CHEC students are required to complete and present their portfolios at the end of the semester/year in all grades and all subject areas. This is a promotion requirement in grades 6 through 11, and a graduation requirement in grade 12. Each advisory the student is required to complete authentic portfolio products and to demonstrate how the projects obtain the rating of meets or exceeds standards through an oral presentation of his or her portfolio before a panel of parents, teachers, community advocates or students. The student earns 40% of their grade through successful completion and defense of their portfolio. The portfolio is a requirement for all CHEC students including those who transfer in after the beginning of the year.
| Standards Based Procedure for Portfolio Presentation Completion | Date Range | Date of Completion |
1. Provide Students with Syllabus, and Portfolio Checklist (what will be in Portfolio, and dates of portfolio presentations) 2. Provide Students with Portfolio Folders, dividers for sections, and have Portfolio Checklist stapled to the folder. 3.Teach students how to place and remove work from portfolio, where, when (during the class period) and how to access 4.Teach students the Sourcebook model and procedures you use, with focus on writing prompts and journal prompts, begin list of sourcebook entries on board or flip chart 5.Provide students with Annotated Bibliography for 25 Books 6. Provide students with GRASPS, Essential Questions, Rubric, Exemplar and due date for First Portfolio Project. 7. Teacher unwraps the standards for the project with the students. 8. Teach students how to assess the exemplar with the rubric, marking each section of the exemplar where the standard is met. Students become familiar with benchmark/exemplar portfolio products that meet the standards and discuss why they think they meet the standards. 9. The GRASP has been broken down into component parts to teach. Teacher identifies standard for first component part and teaches the standard, models first part of the GRASPS. | ||
10. Students complete a draft in class of first part of GRASPS during workshop period, including revising and editing. Students peer edit, teacher moves around the class and assesses at the elbow. Students revise to standard. | ||
| 11. This process is repeated for each component part of the GRASPS. | ||
| 12. Students submit final completed GRASPS, with each component part or draft, which have already been reviewed and revised. | ||
13. Teacher scores the project using the rubric and providing commentary, preferably on sticky notes. (some of the feedback has already been provided during the completion of each part of the GRASPS, so there should not be a need to correct as much in this review) | ||
| 14.Students are taught to prepare entry slip, entry slip is prepared in class for the first portfolio project | ||
15. On standard work is placed in the portfolio and on the bulletin board, work not on standard is revised to standard as homework, tutoring, or during differentiated workshop time. | ||
| 16. New Unit Begins, begin with Step 6, and follow steps 7 - 15 again. | ||
| 17.New Unit begins, begin with Step 6 through 15 again | ||
18. All students have completed at least three authorized portfolio product with entry slips to present, and have selected one to present. | ||
| 19.Students are taught how to complete note cards, and use sticky notes to highlight where/how they the standards. | ||
20. All students have been taught to use the presentation rubric to prepare for presentations. | ||
21. All students have been provided with higher order questions that will be asked in the panels. | ||
22. Charts with panel name assignments have been posted. | ||
23. Students have been taught their role on the panels. | ||
| 24. Students have had a portfolio presentation modeled for them in your class (fishbowl, using Portfolio Rubric). | ||
25.The language scaffold and other organizational aids have been used ONLY with Level 1 and SPED students. | ||
| Ask for adult /teacher/administrator/outside panelists. | ||
| PORTFOLIO PRESENTATIONS |
STANDARDIZED TESTING
All students (grades 6-10) in the District of Columbia Public Schools must take a standardized test every spring. This test measures basic skills in reading and math. While it is not the only way to tell how well a student is doing in school, it is an important measure of progress. The PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment has five performance levels: Level 1 indicates an area of greatest need and Level 5 indicates the strongest performance. This information is used to personalize instruction for students.
All CHEC classes teach the skills necessary to do well on the standardized test. The school requires attendance at after school and Saturday tutoring for those who have not yet reached the proficiency level for their grade. It is each student’s responsibility to take this test seriously, and to take advantage of the extra help available so they can improve their scores every year.
ASSESSMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
In order to assess how well English Language Learners are progressing, all students with a language other than English in the home, who have not yet achieved English language proficiency, must take the ACCESS for ELLs test every spring. This test is used to determine if students are ready to exit the ESL program.
PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIST APTITUDE TEST (PSAT)
This is a standardized test that provides feedback on how ready a student is for college level work. It prepares students to take the SAT. The PSAT is taken in October, and all 9th, 10th, and 11th graders must take the test. Selected 8th grade students also take the test. Students who score high on the PSAT are eligible for the National Merit Scholarship Program.
SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (SAT)
The SAT is required by most colleges and universities, and is used as criteria to determine both admission and merit scholarships. Students must take the SAT in the spring of their Junior Year, and the fall of their Senior Year. It is important for students to prepare for the SAT both in school, as well as outside of school. Students should purchase their own SAT preparation book, in order to improve their scores by studying and preparing outside of school hours.
ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP)
The Advanced Placement (AP) program is a curriculum sponsored by the College Board which offers standardized courses to high school students that are generally recognized to be equivalent to undergraduate courses in college. Participating colleges grant credit to students who obtained high enough scores on the exams to qualify.
