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User's Guide Home 
Field 1:
Assessment Elements
What You
Are Looking At
You are looking at a
graphic representation of the assessment scores on the state tests. The 100 point scale
indicates 100% of the children who were assessed at this grade level. The dark band at the
top of the bar represents the percentage of the highest scoring students. The black at the
bottom represents the percentage of the lowest scorers. The grey and the black bands above
the white are the percentage of students who have achieved the Regents standard. (The MATs
have no set standards.) Since the different tests are scored differently, see below for
more explanation about the different descriptors beside the assessment bars.
What
You Are Looking For
You are hoping to see that all children have
achieved the standard and are represented only above the white band.
The
Advent of Performance Assessments
Nationally, state testing is undergoing
significant transformation. With the new emphasis on assessing applied knowledge, i.e.,
testing what a child knows and is able to do, states have developed a new breed of tests
called performance assessments. The RI testing program has been a program in
transition, increasing the use of performance assessments, but keeping some of the more
traditional, fill-in-the-bubble multiple choice tests, like the Metropolitan Achievement
Test (MAT).
This year the MAT reading test will substitute for a
performance assessment in reading. The MAT is an example of an exclusively
fill-in-the-bubble, norm-referenced test. Fill-in-the-bubble is useful for testing what a
child knows, not how well a student applies knowledge to solve a problem.
"Norm-referenced" means that the test has no absolute standards of proficiency,
but ranks students against one another with reference to a national sample group of
students, or "the norm."
Next year, in the core skills of mathematics and
English language arts, RI will assess student performance using New Standards tests which
are primarily performance assessments, but have short fill-in-the-bubble sections to cross
check certain skill competencies (like reading comprehension). One of the appeals of the
New Standards tests is that its high standards for proficiency are comparable to the
standards that the Regents have set for the RI performance assessments, which were
developed "in-house" by teams of stakeholders, principally teachers, here in the
state. Also, the New Standards tests will offer comparisons between RI students and
students in other cities and states nationally.
Why does Rhode Island
state law require the Health Education Performance Assessment?
Research shows that children who
are healthy learn more effectively, and that good health is a necessary precondition for
optimal academic success. High quality health education increases the likelihood that
young people will develop healthier lifestyle practices and resist engaging in risky
health behaviors. RI’s Health Assessment tells us if our health education initiative
is giving our students the knowledge and skills
necessary to improve and maintain their own well-being. Rhode Island is in the vanguard of
assessing state health initiatives.
Information Works reports only the 4th grade Health
Assessment results this year because the Regents hadn’t yet set standards for the
grade 8 assessment. By the 1999 report, standards for both health assessments will be set.
Some tests are
moving
To reduce the number of tests given at
grades 4, 8 and 10, two writing assessments and the health assessments will move to other
grades in 1998. Writing will be tested at 3 (instead of 4), 7 (instead of 8) and 10.
Health will move to grades 5 and 9, from 4 and 8, respectively.
The Grade 4 Math
Assessment will change
The 1997 grade 4 math performance
assessment was developed here in the state by groups of teachers working with RIDE staff
and consultants. The 1998 grade 4 math will be assessed with the New Standards math
assessment, already used in grades 8 and 10.
The Regents' Standards
The Regents’ standards apply to
those tests which were developed in Rhode Island. Those tests include the writing and
health assessments, and this year’s Grade 4 math assessment.
The Regents describe the
performance levels as follows:
Exemplary
Performance
At this level, students consistently
demonstrate exceptional ability to apply, analyze and interpret concepts and processes.
Students communicate concrete and abstract ideas in highly organized, thoughtful and
responsive ways
Proficient Performance
At this level, students demonstrate the
ability to apply concepts and processes effectively and accurately. Students communicate
ideas in clear and effective ways.
Below Proficient Performance
At this level, students demonstrate some
skills in applying concepts and processes. Students communicate some ideas effectively.
Considerably Below Proficient
Performance
At this level, students are not able to
demonstrate skills in applying concepts and processes. Students have difficulty
communicating ideas.
The "New
Standards" Standards
New Standards considers its descriptors for
the various performance levels to be sufficient unto themselves. Written on the report
sheets of each subject area test, each level has detailed descriptions of what a child
needs to reach that level.
The MAT Percentiles
Unlike the New Standards tests, the MATs set no standards
of
their own, nor have the Regents imposed any. Years ago, for the
purposes of publically reporting MAT scores, RIDE set an "at risk"
benchmark at 40th percentile or below. Here we define high as
the 77th-99th percentile, middle as 40th-76th percentile and
low as the 39th percentile.
The
Scholastic Aptitude Test
The SAT is not part of the RI assessment
program. Students who so choose pay to take the tests to fulfill college admissions
requirements.
Percent of test-takers in
college-bound programs
To be considered to be
in a college-bound program, students must report on their SAT test forms that they took
both chemistry and geometry. These two courses were selected by RIDE because they reflect
what most colleges consider to be representative college-bound courses. The SAT does,
however, include mathematics up through calculus, so a student who has not progressed
beyond geometry will find portions of the qualitative section of the SAT impossible to
complete.
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