Weathering the “Perfect Storm” of Curriculum and Testing

In this article in Principal Magazine, Long Island, New York principal Lucille McAssey offers advice on how to deal with the triple threat of demanding Common Core State Standards (CSSS), high-stakes student tests, and new teacher and principal evaluation policies in her state. “The teachers and administrators in our district understand that CCSS and assessments are necessary to prepare our children for college- and career-readiness in a global market,” says McAssey. But she is concerned about the “rushed” implementation of the initiatives, the length of time students have to sit for state tests (longer than most professional licensing and certification exams, she says), the shortage of well-aligned curriculum materials, and the use of student test scores as part of teachers’ and principals’ evaluations. 

“In this high-stress educational climate, separating the fixed mindset of high-stakes assessments as a vehicle to rate and demoralize teachers from the growth mindset of using assessments for learning may seem like an arduous task,” she says. Here’s her advice on how to proceed:

• Understand assessments. It’s essential to use formative assessments to help students and teachers know how things are going during the school year and improve performance. Even better is getting students to understand their assessment data and develop more and more self-confidence and motivation to learn. And parents need to learn about the new standards and the tests that will be used to assess their children.

• Use multiple data sources. These include individual reading assessments, writing samples, classroom assessments, portfolios, and teacher observation data. A key step is giving teacher teams “time to meet regularly to carefully examine assessment data, set goals, share and create lessons, develop common formative assessments, and review student work…” says McAssey. Her school discovered a provision in the teacher contract that allowed after-school meetings the second Monday of every month. “Teachers welcomed this additional meeting time as another opportunity to work collaboratively toward our goal to continuously improve student learning,” she says. 

• Make good use of technology. McAssey’s staff have access to “on demand” staff development modules, computer-adaptive reading and math programs, Moodle for collaborative book clubs and virtual field trips, classroom clickers for immediate feedback from students, and document cameras.

• Provide tiered levels of student support. McAssey advocates using Response to Intervention to provide intensive help for students who don’t achieve mastery after initial instruction. “Four to six weeks of progress monitoring provides additional data to determine what programs and methodologies are working and what needs to be changed,” she says. 

“Common Core Assessments: A Principal’s View” by Lucille McAssey in Principal Magazine, January/February 2014 (Vol. 93, #3, p. 14-18), http://bit.ly/1aXBxEi 

From the Marshall Memo #522