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One major item that teachers nowadays struggle with but know inside and out is how to use data to inform their instruction.
It's not easily taught because you have to actually be involved in working with it.
Learn about various assessment tools, what they're used for, when do you use them.
Why do you use them. What do all these numbers mean.
When we get the test scores and interpret them we don't have to do a paragraph just about them. We can put that right into our assessment history.
Yes I would put it in the assessment history
There is a lot of information that cannot be taught in isolation. It has to be taught while practicing.
So for the kids who have NECAPs and MAPs you'll look at the two of them. The NECAPs and the MAPs testing suggest the following.
I think the more exposure to data and assessments they get the more they will be able to utilize it in the classroom.
There are teachers who just don't know what to do with data and that's natural because we haven't always had to use it.
But now so much of teaching relies on testing and data and what to do with it.
It's one of the most powerful things that they can take a take with them and the fact that we're exposing to them all this data and how we use it early they're getting a real advantage with it.
If our student doesn't have an IEP what are we looking up for them?
What you may be looking up is for struggling readers, struggling writers, struggling mathematicians.
So using the word struggling. So having the label should not matter.
What it means is that you're looking at a kid who's having difficulty with the reading or writing or math.
We've done some other discussions about MAPs testing and NECAP testing. Did that help you face the beast or
tame the beast or help you understand a little bit more assessment and how teachers use assessment?
The MAPs testing has helped because then you can… Miss Fairfield gets to use and see where her kids are.
It's been easier because if you see that stuff then you know what stuff you need to teach,
what you need to focus on. Maybe there are certain questions that the entire class got wrong. So she can see it and gear her teaching towards where her students need help.
When we met with Maureen Watson to talk about the scores we had already looked at our class scores with Miss Fairfield.
So it was good to have that refresher. There is a lot of information on that sheet.
We were able to see for each section of the test what kids needed what.
What's really important to be included is to say if you're a first through fourth-grade teacher you're going to print all of these. You're basically printing these for your advisees.
So the other area I was able to speak with the apprentice teaches about was
looking at some of the reading and math data that we've collected.
And I just wanted them to get an overview of how to
decipher an NWEA MAP report, how to look at the standard deviation, how they might group students based on need.
I also wanted to impress upon them that data isn't always a formal test.
They are constantly collecting data in the classroom.
There are there so many ways to break it down and data helps you do that. It helps you drill down or pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses
of the individual child for everyone. And that helps us individualize the teaching at home and at school
and helps enrich every child as much as we can.
This year my view has really really changed. Because I always felt that teachers would teach to the test if there were too many tests.
And I think that can happen sometimes but I also feel like if you have a good knowledge of the test and how it works
and how it can help your students you can use them as a tool.
--Mass --It is measuring the mass and when you specify how much
mass there is, what unit in the metric system measures mass?
--Go for a second one. --Grams. --Yeah.