How To Use Standard-Based Assessment Data

This is the second blog post in a series about standards-based assessment. On the previous blog, we discussed that standards-based assessments (SBA) are a way to evaluate students’ learning based on one single standard or indicator. We also talked about five reasons why you should use SBA in your classroom. Before you read this blog post, I highly recommend reading the previous blog.

In this blog, we will be discussing how standards-based assessment data can be used in your classroom. Because of the clarity and simplicity that SBA brings to your assessments, you will find that your data will be more useful for you as a teacher. There are two distinct ways SBA data will help you as an educator: it sets your students up for success, and it will encourage student buy-in. Let’s take a closer look at these two items.

How does SBA data set my students up for success?

#1: Skill Groups and Guided Reading

When you assess students using an SBA, you will be looking at a clear picture of students’ achievement. Based on the scale you or your school has chosen to use for students’ progress towards a standard, you can easily divide students into groups. For instance, if you are using a scale of 1-3, your students may fall from not mastered, progressing, to mastered. You would then use these scales to create your groups.

As a teacher, you can then cater your instruction to the groups you have created. This can take place in a small skill group or in a guided reading group. Students who have not mastered would need a reteach of the material, while a mastered student would need to be challenged in their skills.

#2: RTI

Before SBA, I was the teacher who struggled to identify RTI students. I was able to see students were struggling, but I couldn’t label the specific areas they needed help with – let alone what could be provided to help them. SBA makes identifying struggling students easier because you can see the specific skills students are not grasping, and you can show a track record of underperformance.

SBA also helps you identify targeted interventions for students in RTI. If you see a skill a student is struggling with and they are not showing growth, you can try an intervention. As you continue monitoring data, you can see if a student showed stronger proficiency of the concept with the intervention. If growth is taking place, you know the intervention if working. If not, then you can try a different intervention.

#3: Enrichment

SBA doesn’t just help you identify your struggling students. It also helps you challenge and enrich the learning of your advanced students. If you have students who are showing mastery of skills, especially if the majority of the class is still progressing, then you can offer opportunities for students to grow and challenge their knowledge. 

#4: Parent Communication

If you have ever had a parent ask, “Why did my child get XYZ grade?” then you will understand how SBA opens a new door for parent communication. A lot of times, parents don’t understand what the letter grade or score on a report card truly means for their child. It’s not because parents don’t care – it’s because they aren’t in the classroom every day with their child.

SBA is like opening a window into the classroom. Parents are able to see exactly what skills their child is learning and how they are performing on those skills. Instead, you may hear more questions like, “How can I help my child with summarization?”

How does SBA foster student buy-in?

#1: Tracking Growth 

With traditional assessments, students are more concerned with earning a passing grade than they are with achieving proficiency in skills. For this reason, a student may be completely unaware of the strengths and weaknesses they have in a subject area.

SBA fosters student buy-in by giving students a picture of the skills they have mastered and need to continue fostering. Students can also track their progress of different skills with a tracking folder. This keeps students accountable for their own learning and growth, and lets them celebrate their successes.

#2: Built-in Goals 

SBA has naturally built in goals. Because it does not go by the standard pass / fail method that traditional assessments use, and instead utilizes a scale of proficiency, students can easily set goals for their learning.

For instance, a student may know that sentence structure is a struggle for them. In their school, they have a scale of 1-4 (1= basic, 2 = progressing, 3 = proficient, 4 = advanced). The student may aim to achieve a skill level 2 for their first SBA on sentence structure. For a future SBA, the student can adjust their goal to achieve a 3. The student is buying into the learning process by creating goals for their learning.

#3: Consistent Measurement

In a traditional assessment, the scale students are measured on can change drastically from one assessment to the next. This scale can fluctuate based on how many questions are on the exam or if the exam utilizes a rubric. Unlike traditional assessments, SBA have a consistent measurement.

We can frequently lose student buy-in with traditional assessments when students feel they have been unfairly scored, or if they feel the expectations of how they were to be graded were not met. With an SBA, students always know how they will be assessed and the expectations remain the same. This increases student buy-in.

More Information About Standards Based Assessments

Want to know more about standards based assessments and how they can help you? Check out the rest of the posts in this series.

• What Are Standards Based Assessments?
• 5 Ways to Assess Students’ Learning
• Why You Should Track Data in Middle School ELA
• How to Use Standards Based Assessment Data