classroom diagnostic tools

Classroom Diagnostic Tools

Pre-Formative Assessment of Current CDT Knowledge

We Need to Use the Data

PVAAS Pilot

PVAAS Pilot

PA Assessments

About the CDT

Administered using a computer-adaptive approach What does this mean? The assessment will

adjust items based on student responses. Difficulty will either increase or decrease

depending on if the student answers items correctly.

This is designed to minimize frustration and help in determining a student’s strengths and areas of need in the diagnostic categories.

The CDT Cycle

Share

Reflect and Monitor

Instruct Interpret

Analyze

Assess

Impact on Instruction

Teachers will receive immediate and actionable data to be used for targeting instruction.

The CDT reports provide direct links to resources on the SAS site.

The reports also show the progress of students across test administrations.

Common Questions

How many times should the students sit for the assessments during a school year? 3 times at a minimum of 5-6 weeks between

administration How many questions are there?

Students will be presented with 45-60 items regardless of current level.

How much time is required to finish the assessments? Between 45 and 90 minutes.

Common Questions

Are the questions presented on grade level? No. The questions allow for more advanced

content or lower-level content depending on need.

Are there constructed response questions? No. All questions are multiple choice.

Is the CDT a timed assessment? No.

Scoring

• Students’ scores are converted into scale scores rather than points correct or raw scores

• Scale scores are transformed raw scores that allow for valid comparisons across students, grades, and administrations, but only within the same subject

• Scales scores take into consideration the fact that some questions on the test are more difficult than others

• CDT Minimum scale score of 400• CDT Maximum scale score of 2000

Note: Item Response Theory (IRT), specifically the Rasch model, is used to determine the student’s raw score.

Research

Information about students is crucial to a teacher’s ability to calibrate tasks and lessons to students’ current understandings and skills (Adding It UP, National Research Council, Kilpatrick, Swafford, 2001, 349).

Classroom Diagnostic Tools

https://pa.drcedirect.com/

Best Practices: English Department

Teachers individually reviewed their own class data for the assessment and shared the data with their students.

Teachers then discussed ways to address the areas of weakness with one another and then the data served as the springboard for instructional modifications.  

For instance, some courses are using more USATest Prep practice questions, more close reading lessons with think-alouds are being utilized, and vocabulary instruction is being geared to the Keystone glossary.  

Additionally, along with reviewing the data from the 1st 9 weeks common assessments with the Social Studies grade-level cohorts, the CDT data will be shared/reviewed with the Social Studies cohorts this coming Thursday.  Again, the goal is for Social Studies to help us reinforce these skills.

The Framework for Teaching

Domain 1: Planning and Preparation• Demonstrating Knowledge of Content

and Pedagogy• Demonstrating Knowledge of Students• Setting Instructional Outcomes• Demonstrating Knowledge of Resources• Designing Coherent Instruction• Designing Student Assessments

Domain 2: The Classroom Environment• Creating an Environment of Respect

and Rapport• Establishing a Culture for Learning• Managing Classroom Procedures• Managing Student Behavior• Organizing Physical Space

Domain 4: Professional Responsibilities• Reflecting on Teaching• Maintaining Accurate Records• Communicating with Families• Participating in a Professional

Community• Growing and Developing

Professionally• Demonstrating Professionalism

Domain 3: Instruction• Communicating with Students• Using Questioning and Discussion Techniques• Engaging Students in Learning• Using Assessment in Instruction• Demonstrating Flexibility and

Responsiveness

CDT Student Data Analysis

One‐to‐One Conferencing with Your Students

See BHS Weebly PD Site for resources Guide for 1-1 Conferencing with students Metacognition guide for students bhspd.weebly.com

Research

“As teachers derive feedback information from assessments that they give their students, there can, then, be important adjustments to how they teach, how they consider what success looks like, how they recognize students’ strengths and gaps and how they regard their own effects on students. The essence of such formative interpretations is providing teachers with feedback from assessments about how they need to modify their teaching, and providing students with feedback so they can learn how to self‐regulate and be motivated to engage in further learning” (Visible Learning for Teachers, Routledge, Hattie, 2012, 125‐126).

2013-2014 Testing Windows

CDT: September 9-20, 2013 Keystone Exams:

December 4 & 5, 2013 (Algebra I) December 10 & 11, 2013 (Literature) January 8 & 9, 2014 (Biology)

CDT: February 10-21, 2014 CDT: April 1-11, 2014 Keystone Exams

May 12-23, 2014 (Window)

CDT for Grades 3-5

2013-2014 CDT -BWSD is not field testing 2014-2015 CDT is operational

Reading, math, science, and writing Based on PA anchors and eligible content