St. Croix River Education District

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🎥 What does it mean? Assessment is the process of gathering evidence aligned to a specific purpose to be used in making educational decisions that improve the learning conditions for all students.

A variety of assessment tools are used. Assessments must be designed and validated for specific purposes, and the results should be used according to the intended purpose and the level of specificity of the information produced.

Types of Assessment

Here are the main types of assessments that school districts use:

• Formative assessments 📊: Low-stakes assessments used during instruction to monitor student learning and provide feedback. Examples include exit tickets and classroom discussions.
• Summative assessments 📊: Evaluations at the end of a unit, term, or school year to measure achievement against standards. Examples include end-of-unit tests/projects and final exams.
• Universal screening 📊: Using valid and reliable assessments (e.g., FastBridge benchmark assessments) and data sources (e.g., discipline referrals, attendance), multiple times per year, to measure outcomes for all students. Purposes include identifying students who need intervention, monitoring overall system performance, and predicting performance on high-stakes tests.
• Diagnostic assessments 📊: Used to gauge the level of a student’s skills in a specific area and to reveal learning gaps in order to help a teacher/interventionist know where to target instruction.
• Progress monitoring 📈: For students receiving interventions, short assessments administered on a schedule (e.g., weekly) in order to track improvement and adjust instruction as needed.
• Standardized assessments (e.g., MCA, ACT) 📊: Large-scale tests administered under standardized conditions to compare student performance across classes, schools, or districts.

Below, check out key documents that are used in our districts to support universal screening / benchmark assessment and progress monitoring:

Universal Screening Packet: This document communicates the screening plan that all of our member districts follow.

What universal screening measures are used in our member districts, during which testing windows (i.e., fall, winter, spring), and in which grade levels? This includes informal on how Early Warning Systems (EWS) are used.

Target and Rate of Improvement (ROI) Packet: Provides norm data that interventionists and special educators need in order to set appropriate progress monitoring goals for students receiving interventions in all learning areas (e.g., academics, behavior, daily living skills).

Educators reviewing universal screening data also reference this packet to verify the cutoffs for different performance ranges.

Assessment Platforms

We use FastBridge to administer academic and behavior assessments in K-12. Follow that link to access login and training resources on our website. You can use the links below to learn more about the assessments we use in FastBridge:

• Reading Assessment Tools
• Math Assessment Tools
  • CBMmath Process: When to Use It and How to Score It (🎥 Video Tutorial, 13:58)
• Behavior Assessment Tools

Learn about available accommodations for FastBridge and for GOM Testing.

We use TS GOLD to assess developmental progress for 3-5 year old students enrolled in preschool. GOLD is an authentic observation-based tool that assesses whole child development across 10 domains. Follow the link to access login info. and learn more about TS GOLD. 

Measurement Committee

This is a cross-district group of stakeholders who gather to provide input re: what assessments are being administered, when, and to whom. These meetings are also an opportunity to ask and answer assessment-related questions.

There are three meetings throughout the school year, about a week prior to the fall, winter, and spring testing windows, respectively. Principals, curriculum directors, and other key stakeholders (e.g., assessment coordinators) are invited to these meetings. Here is the group's running agenda.

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