Old Forge High School Assessment and Accountability
4 months ago
Classroom Diagnostic Tool (CDT)
The Pennsylvania Classroom Diagnostic Tools (CDT) is a set of online assessments, divided by content areas (Literacy, Mathematics, and Science), and is designed to provide diagnostic information to guide instruction in order to support intervention and enrichment. The CDT reporting system is fully integrated in the Standards Aligned System (SAS). It assists educators in identifying student academic strengths and areas in need of improvement, and provides links to classroom resources. The CDT is a computer adaptive test (CAT) and depending upon how the student responds to the first few items; the next set of items will adjust to the student’s instructional level. The diagnostic reports feature easy-to-follow links to targeted curricular resources and materials, including units and lesson plans found within the SAS system. Students receive approximately 48–60 items per test depending upon their response pattern. The CDT is an un-timed test and it can be scheduled over multiple days. The CDT is available to districts at no cost.
Students in Grades 7 - 8 take the CDT three times a year in Math, ELA and Science.
Students enrolled in a Keystone course will take the CDT three times a year in Algebra I, Literature, and Biology.
Curriculum Program Assessments
Program assessments are formative and summative assessments that are created by the curriculum companies to use with their program.
Keystone Exams
The Keystone exams meet the federal accountability criteria of ESSA for the high school level. Students must take the Keystone Exams for purposes of federal accountability. Failure to do so will affect a Local Education Agency (LEA) and school's participation rate.
The Keystone exams were created to replace the Grade 11 PSSA and serve as one component of Pennsylvania's statewide high school graduation requirement. Keystone Exams will help school districts guide students toward meeting state standards. The exams are end-of-course assessments designed to assess proficiency in the subject areas of Algebra I, Literature, and Biology.
Locally Designed Assessments
Teachers and the curriculum director have started to create locally designed assessments in Math for grades 3 - 6 using items that are released from the PSSAs to better prepare our students for the rigor of the PSSAs.
These assessments will be more challenging than previous years, as textbook companies are not properly aligned to the rigor and standards expected in Pennsylvania.
Teachers and the curriculum director have also created beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year short answer and text-dependent analysis questions to help your child better prepare for these portions of the ELA PSSA.
PSSA
The annual Pennsylvania System School Assessment is a standards-based, criterion-referenced assessment which provides students, parents, educators and citizens with an understanding of student and school performance related to the attainment of proficiency of the academic standards. These standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science and Technology identify what a student should know and be able to do at varying grade levels. School districts possess the freedom to design curriculum and instruction to ensure that students meet or exceed the standards' expectations.
Every Pennsylvania student in grades 3 through 8 is assessed in English Language Arts and Math. Every Pennsylvania student in grades 5 and 8 is assessed in science.
Individual student scores, provided only to their respective schools, can be used to assist teachers in identifying students who may be in need of additional educational opportunities, and school scores provide information to schools and districts for curriculum and instruction improvement discussions and planning.
In compliance with §4.51(a)(4) of the PA School Code the State Board of Education approved, "specific criteria for advanced, proficient, basic and below basic levels of performance."