High test scores, as compiled on state report cards Education and Care, the Massachusetts and lists of “the best” schools or districts, are frequently held up as markers of a Department of Elementary and Secondary quality system, with the power to drive demand in schools and neighborhoods Education, the Massachusetts Department perceived as the most likely to offer students a top-notch education. [...] These Assessments of student progress have been a feature of education for hundreds measures are often difficult to identify and of years, but the purposes of assessment have undergone a number of shifts over implement, particularly at a large scale, time: leading to limited sources of meaningful data collection in many areas that matter to ■ Mastery-based assessment: The earliest form of assessme. [...] in the state’s accountability system in response to Race to the Top, including by requiring districts with schools designated as underperforming to begin a process of school turnaround and by 2014 allowing for the state takeover of schools and districts deemed 11 The Safe & Supportive Schools Act offers a framework to assist “chronically underperforming.” schools in creating welcoming learning env. [...] Of course, universal screening is not the ultimate result of a high- functioning system of support: once student needs are identified, the system should offer an integrated set of core, supplemental, and intensive interventions that can meet students where they are, and it should allow educators to track and analyze the impact of interventions in order to continuously improve the support they offe. [...] Among other things, districts help identify tools and strategies for assessing a broad range of skills and competencies; support educators in understanding and using assessment methods (both new and existing); and engage families and communities to determine what is of value and communicate information in a useful and accessible manner.
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- 28
- Published in
- United States of America
