Assessments
What are assessments? To know if students are meeting the standards, their progress must be measured over time. Most of this measuring will occur in the classroom where teachers see students on a daily basis. There, teachers can check progress in many ways—by observing, questioning, reviewing work assignments, testing or judging projects and performances. Some of these measures will occur on a larger scale through district and state assessments designed specifically to check students’ performance against the standards across the state. Each level of measurement in and of itself cannot provide a complete picture of student achievement. Taken together, however, a learning profile can emerge, allowing students, parents and educators to know how well students are doing and where improvements are needed. By extension, progress data can inform teachers and administrators about where to make changes and improvements in programs, resources and support. |
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- Star Parent Report Score Definitions
- Accessing Assessment Scores
- Assessment Terms
- Reporting Student Progress
- District Wide Assessments
- State Wide Assessments
Star Parent Report Score Definitions
Accessing Assessment Scores
STAR Scores:
Parent Access for STAR Student Assessments for first grade through eighth grade are accessible through PowerSchool.
1. Log into PowerSchool: - https://d70schools.powerschool.com/public/home.html
2. Scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the link that says “View Star Test Results”.
Want to know more about the STAR assessment and scores?
Please note: the only email addresses that will have access to this data are email addresses that were input during the registration process in PowerSchool. If you are a parent/guardian and want to use a different email address, please e-mail Dina Lepczynski (dlepczynski@d70schools.org) so a different process can be updated for you.
STAR assessments are short tests taken in the fall, winter and spring and provide teachers with learning data. Star tests are computer-adaptive, which means they adjust to each answer your child provides. This helps teachers get the best data to help your child in the shortest amount of testing time.
IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness) Results:
Each spring students in grades 3-8 take the Illinois Assessment of Readiness and those results are available in PowerSchool. Please log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal to review your child’s results. After logging in, look to the left hand side of the page under “Navigation” and click on “PLS Vault Documents”. Once in the vault, the drop down will default to “Assessment”. In this folder, you will see any available IAR ELA (English and Language Arts) and IAR Math results. These results typically become available in the fall after spring they are taken. You can download the report from the Illinois State Board of Education by clicking on the links in this folder.
AIMSweb Screener Information - Kindergarten Only
Students in kindergarten are screened using the AIMSwebPlus assessment tool and will be screened in the fall, winter and spring to assess the growth of students in kindergarten throughout the school year. Prior to viewing your child’s scores, we recommend reading this informative letter explaining AIMSwebPlus and how it is used. To view your child’s scores, please log into your PowerSchool Parent Portal. If this is your first time in the Parent Portal, please visit: D70 PowerSchool Parent Portal.
For more information about PowerSchool, visit the PowerSchool page.
Assessment Terms
Achievement Test
A test that measures a student's acquisition of skill or knowledge gained typically through classroom instruction.
Benchmark
A defined point on a continuum of student performance standards which measure progress toward achievement.
Curriculum Alignment
The coordination of all educational components such as student performance standards, curriculum and materials, instruction and assessment. Maximum effectiveness is achieved when all of these components have been developed in alignment by teachers and administrators.
Cognitive Test
A standardized, norm referenced test that measures innate ability, commonly referred to as IQ. In the past IQ was considered to be static past a certain age, however recent research suggests that intelligence may be a changing process throughout life.
Formative Assessment
Observations and/or formal assessments such as quizzes or tests that indicate the extent to which a student may or may not complete a given task. Formative assessments assist teachers in making sound instructional decisions to move forward with content, reteach or modify.
Learning Objective
An established set of statements that reflect what a student should be able to do to demonstrate achievement. Often referred to as "I can" statements in Libertyville District 70 classrooms.
Learning Standards
Established values utilized to measure student performance, instruction and curriculum. Instruction and curriculum in Libertyville District 70 is aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards.
Norm
A distribution of scores obtained from a random group of students by the text developer. Fifty percent of the students will score above the "norm" and fifty percent will score below the "norm" . Norms are used in establishing scoring standards.
Norm Group
A random group of students chosen by a test developer to take a test and produce a range of scores to be used for establishing scoring standards.
Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE)
A score that ranges from 1-99 and is utilized by testing stastiticians to manipulate data and effectively make comparisons of students who take the same test. An NCE test score of a 50 is "average".
Norm Reference Test
A test in which a student's performance or a group of student's performance is compared to a norm group. They are valuable in comparing students, schools, district, and states.
Percentile
A ranking scale from 1-99 with 50 as a median or average. A percentile rank is indicative of a student's performance relative to the norm. Example a percentile rank of 76 indicates that student performed better than 76 of the normed group utilized when developing the test.
Quartile
The breakdown on percentile rankings into 4 categories. In Libertyville District 70, those students who rank in the lowest quartile on the AIMSWeb (0-25th percentile) may receive RtI assistance.
Rubric
A scoring guide used in subjective assessments. Rubrics often times contain explicit outcome expectations and have been shown to increase student engagement.
Standardized Test
An objective test that is administered and scored in a uniform manner.
Summative Assessment
Assessment that occurs at the conclusion of a unit of study to measure students' acquisition of skills and knowledge.
Reporting Student Progress
Libertyville School District 70 teachers of students in kindergarten through fifth grade utilize a standards-based report card. Standards describe what a student should know and be able to do at each grade level in all subjects, and in behavioral characteristics and work habits that support learning. We refer to those as “Characteristics of Successful Learning.” The report card is designed to give you more information with regard to how your child is progressing in meeting those standards. Identifying standards allow teachers and students to set learning goals and measure progress from the beginning of the school year to the end. The report card was also designed to provide consistency from grade to grade and across teachers within a grade.
Kindergarten Student Progress Report
1st Grade Progress Report
2nd Grade Progress Report
3rd Grade Progress Report
4th Grade Progress Report
5th Grade Progress Report
Viewing these progress reports can be done through PowerSchool.
Students in sixth grade through eighth grade are assessed based on a traditional grade reporting for report cards.
District Wide Assessments
District Assessments
Star Assessment
Kindergarten through eighth grade students will be assessed online with 30-minute STAR assessments for reading and math this fall, winter and spring. With computer-adaptive technology, students complete STAR Enterprise assessments quickly while teachers and administrators receive the results immediately. Moreover, STAR tests can assist students in need because they are accurate, reliable, valid, and are highly rated for screening and progress-monitoring by the National Center on Response to Intervention.
What are STAR assessments?
STAR Enterprise measures student skills in reading and/or math to keep teachers informed about student growth and achievement. Renaissance Learning created STAR (once known as Standardized Test for the Assessment of Reading, but now only referred to as STAR) assessments in 1996 as a computer-adaptive classroom test. Students take the assessment on computers and the software scores it automatically. Teachers are immediately able to review a variety of reports at the individual, classroom, and grade level to monitor progression. The results help teachers to customize their instruction to individual students.
STAR Early Literacy Enterprise is a computer-based diagnostic assessment of early literacy skills developed for Pre-K–3 students. STAR Early Literacy Enterprise tracks development in three domains and 10 sub-domains:
1) Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning (Sentence-Level Comprehension and Paragraph-Level Comprehension)
2) Numbers and Operations (Early Numeracy)
3) Word Facility and Skills (Alphabetic Principle, Concept of Word, Visual Discrimination, Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Structural Analysis and Vocabulary.
STAR Reading Enterprise is an assessment of reading comprehension and skills for independent readers through grade 12. STAR Reading Enterprise tracks development in five domains:
1) Word Knowledge and Skills,
2) Comprehension Strategies and Constructing Meaning,
3) Analyzing Literary Text,
4) Understanding Author’s Craft and
5) Analyzing Argument and Evaluating Text.
STAR Math Enterprise is an assessment of math achievement for students in grades 1–12. STAR Math Enterprise tracks development in four domains:
1) Numbers and Operations,
2) Algebra,
3) Geometry and Measurement and
4) Data Analysis, Statistics, and Probability.
What are computer-adaptive tests? All STAR assessments are computer-adaptive tests (CATs). Computer-adaptive tests continually adjust the difficulty of each child’s test by choosing each test question based on the child’s previous response. If the child answers a question correctly, the difficulty level of the next item is increased. If the child misses a question, the difficulty level is decreased.
How long does it take to complete a STAR assessment? STAR tests are designed to be efficient. On average, students will complete the STAR Math Enterprise test in about 20 minutes, the STAR Reading Enterprise test in about 15 minutes and the STAR Early Literacy Enterprise test in 15–20 minutes. However, some students may require more time.
What are STAR assessments used for? The STAR assessments are often used to screen students for their reading and math achievement levels. STAR Enterprise assessments help determine reading and math achievement levels, monitor student growth throughout the year, estimate students’ understanding of state standards, and predict students’ performance on the state test. In addition, STAR can help teachers determine appropriate instructional levels and skills that students are ready to learn.
What kind of score does my child get? For every STAR assessment, your child receives a scaled score (SS), which is based on the difficulty of the questions and the number of correct answers. Scaled scores are useful for comparing your child’s performance over time and across grades. STAR Reading and STAR Math scaled scores range from 0–1400. STAR Early Literacy Enterprise scaled scores range from 300–900. STAR offers educators a variety of scores and reports. Some STAR scores compare your child’s performance to a specific criteria or to a standard (criterion-referenced scores). STAR Enterprise reports also include scores which compare your child’s performance to other students who have taken the same test (norm-referenced scores). The criterion- and norm-referenced scores are based on the scaled score.
How can I help my child prepare for a STAR assessment? There is little assessment preparation other than to encourage your child to be well-rested, eat a good meal before school and to try their best. The teacher who gives the test uses pre-test instructions to explain the test to your child. It is important for you to encourage your child to try to do his or her best on the assessment as STAR is a general measure of student ability. How will I know how my child is doing? STAR assessment results will be shared with parents each trimester. Additional information will be shared once testing begins.
Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment
This assessment evaluates reading and comprehension ability with reliable and robust universal screening. It is an individual assessment administered by the teacher. From this assessment, instructional and independent reading levels are acquired to guide students to be successful with their reading.
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR)
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. IAR assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
CogAT Overview
CogAT appraises the cognitive development of students. The test measures students' learned reasoning abilities. Although grounded in biological processes, these abilities are developed through in-school and out-of-school experiences. The questions on CogAT require students to demonstrate their reasoning abilities in each of the three systems most closely related to success in school: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and nonverbal reasoning. The Verbal Battery assesses students' abilities to use search, retrieval, and comparison processes that are essential for verbal reasoning. The Quantitative Battery assesses students' abilities to reason about patterns and relations using concepts that are essential in quantitative thinking. The Nonverbal Battery assesses students' abilities to reason with somewhat more novel questions that use spatial and figural content.
State Wide Assessments
STATE ASSESSMENTS
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR)
The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. IAR assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English Language Arts and Mathematics.
Additional information can be found on the ISBE IAR website.
ACCESS for ELs (ACCESS)
The ACCESS for ELLs is an English language proficiency test that measures English language learners' social and academic proficiency in English. It assesses social and instructional English as well as the language associated with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school context across the four language domains. It is administered annually to all English language learners and within the first 4 weeks of a student's enrollment within a district.
Dynamic Learning Maps
The Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) project offers an innovative way for all students with significant cognitive disabilities to demonstrate their learning throughout the school year via the DLM Alternate Assessment System. DLMs are administered to students in grades 3-8 and 11-12 for whom participation in the PARCC would not be appropriate due to significant cognitive disabilities. Coordination and administration of the DLM is facilitated by our Special Services Department.
Illinois Science Assessment
The Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) is required to be administered online during the to 5th and 8th grade students. The test lasts less than one hour. Each test will begin with reading passages, called scenarios, and will be followed by a series of test items. Some items will be open-ended, some will be multiple-choice and some will be multiple-select (more than one correct response). Other items will involve dropdown selections. Each test will also include stand-alone, multiple-choice items that do not follow a scenario. ISA is based on the Illinois Learning Standards in science incorporating the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).
Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS)
The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) is an observation tool; it is not a “test.” Teachers use it to look at children and write notes about their learning. Teachers will look at children alone and in groups. They will watch kids in lots of different places and at different times of the day. The purpose of KIDS is to:
- Help teachers get a clear picture of what children can do.
- Make learning goals clear between preschool and elementary school.
- Identify children’s needs.
Teachers learn the most about children by watching them when they are working and playing so they can:
- Learn what children are good at, what they like and how they learn best.
- See the big picture of the child.
- Watch children doing school work; playing together or alone; eating; and following classroom routines (washing hands, cleaning up, lining up, moving from center to center).
Fitnessgram Assessments
Schools must test students fitness in an effort to meet State Goal 20, where students achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of physical fitness. Based upon continual self-assessment, fitness testing can help students identify their fitness levels and set goals for improvement. Gathering this data also enables parents and schools to better understand the health trends within their region and encourage enhancements in a school’s physical education program. School districts must:
- Ensure district maintains evidence of individual school personnel’s successful completion of the training and make it available to the ISBE upon request.
- Establish procedures and protocols to ensure the confidentiality of individual student assessment results consistent with the requirements of the Illinois School Records Act and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
Begin administering the following four portions of FitnessGram protocols in the second semester (first and second semesters preferred for pre and post results) and annually thereafter:
- Aerobic Capacity - the PACER test (recommended) or Mile Run Test (alternate) or Brockport test (any of the adapted tests for aerobic functioning for students with disabilities) for students in grades 4-12;
- Flexibility - the Back-Saver Sit and Reach test (recommended) or Trunk Lift test (alternate), or Brockport test (any of the adapted tests for flexibility or range of motion for students with disabilities) for students in grades 3-12;
- Muscular Endurance - the Curl-Up test or Brockport test (any of the adapted tests for strength and endurance for students with disabilities) for students in grades 3-12;
- Muscular Strength – the Push-Up test or Brockport test (any of the adapted tests for strength and endurance for students with disabilities) for students in grades 3-12.