What in the world are these interim assessments at Haleyville High School? That is the question that I have been asked several times this week by students and parents. This is a good question and one that I hope to answer in this blog post.

Interim Assessments are assessments or tests that are given periodically much like a 9 weeks exam. Most of these assessments are given at shorter intervals than 9 weeks (6-8 weeks) to assess if students are mastering the standards that are mandated by the AL State Course of Study. For example, in a given time (6 weeks) there might be several standards covered. In the past we have tested these standards and students have been very successful in the classroom, but then did not show mastery of these standards on the ASPIRE, SAT or ACT. We are unsure if this is because the types of questions we asked in the classroom assessments or tests were easier than the standardized tests, if students were intimidated by the standardized tests or if the vocabulary on the test was unfamiliar. Due to the nature of the standardized test only being given at the end of each year, it was too late by that time to make changes in the classroom to impact student achievement.

Interim assessments help us to determine several things: 1) are students successful and have they mastered the standards taught in a period of time 2) are students able to be successful when tested at higher levels 3) are we teaching in ways that help students achieve maximum success. Interim assessments allow us to determine when students are not successful and reteach standards. Teachers reflect on how the standards were taught and make adjustments to help students reach their maximum potential. A good diagram of assessments given in the classroom is below.

Our goal with interim assessments will be to address these areas that could be potential issues for our students during the year so that they perform to their ability on the standardized tests. Some would say this is teaching to the test, but in our view- leveling the playing field and preparing our students for the way they will be tested as we teach the standards required is just helping them to reach their potential on the assessments and show their true academic level. How do we address the rigor (level of difficulty and challenge), the vocabulary exposure and the test format familiarity? We give interim assessments that mimic the standardized test, review the data to see where we are academically, review and reteach and them move to the next standard.

HCS Increases Rigor

Rigor is a word that is thrown around in the educational world a lot these days. The Glossary of Educational Reform defines Rigor as the following: 

While dictionaries define the term as rigid, inflexible, or unyielding, educators frequently apply rigor or rigorous to assignments that encourage students to think critically, creatively, and more flexibly. Likewise, they may use the term rigorous to describe learning environments that are not intended to be harsh, rigid, or overly prescriptive, but that are stimulating, engaging, and supportive.

At HCS, we want to create learning environments that challenge students. This is not an easy task, it requires a ton of planning and preparation. It also requires a mindset shift. We have programmed students to want everything to be quick and easy, multiple choice and matching- don't you dare make us think and write out an answer. Increasing rigor does, as the definition explains, encourage students to think critically, creatively and more flexibly. It requires them to think, to problem solve and to take an active role in their education. Bottom line is this- colleges are not lowering their standards yearly and the work force is not lowering their requirements and expectations. As the population grows, more students are going to be competing for less scholarships and more students are going to be competing for the same jobs. We want our HCS students to be as prepared as possible and as college or career ready as possible so that they can achieve their goals and dreams. 

HCS Works with Vocabulary Exposure and Deeper Understanding of Standards

Vocabulary exposure and digging deeper into learning are other areas we are looking to improve on. Most have heard of Blooms Taxonomy or seen it at some time in your life. Below you will see a common diagram of Blooms. 

At HCS, we want our students to go much deeper than the basic recall of facts (multiple choice) with our educational standards. We want student who can understand, apply, analyze, evaluate and create. If students can apply knowledge, analyze, evaluate, etc... they truly understand what they are learning and hopefully can retain this information at much higher levels. If we only test students with the recall of facts on classroom assessments and then the ACT asks them to differentiate, argue, formulate, interpret information- our students are at a disadvantage. Commonly it is not that they do not have a basic understanding of the content, they just cannot apply or use the information at higher levels. We want to reduce the disconnect between what they know and how they can use the information that they know. Often the test question causes them to guess due to the vocabulary the question uses. Students give up due to lack of exposure the vocabulary or not understanding what the question is asking. Haleyville Middle School is also working on developing their interim assessments. They are having great conversations on how to integrate Webb's Depth of Knowledge (Pic From: TreeTopSecret.com) with Blooms Taxonomy. The chart below gives a great example of this:

HCS Exposes Students to Standardized Testing Formats

There is a lot of talk these days about schools who just "teach the test". These schools are often criticized. At HCS, we do not want to be a school who "teaches the test" but also see the benefits of preparing students for standardized tests. After all, college scholarships, our state report card, student entrance exams, workforce skills exams, etc... are all riding on how well our students are able to perform on standardized tests. If the standardized tests are assessing a student's understanding and application of the standards that we are required to teach, then these 2 should go hand-in-hand. At the high school, teachers are using ACT type questions to develop interim assessments. Not all students will make an "A" on these assessments. This is expected, just like not all students make a 30 on the ACT. Teachers will work with students to ensure that these assessments are an equitable part of their grades. When the interim assessments are introduced at HMS, the teachers will mostly use the Scantron to develop these assessments. This is the same format that was tested statewide in the fall and spring as the adopted standard achievement test. This should also greatly increase our students exposure to questions being asked in similar formats to the state standardized test. 

At the end of the day, we want our students to be the best they can be and we want to know that we have prepared them in every way we could. We want them to be successful! Please feel free to contact your student's teacher or the administration at any of our school if you would like more information about interim assessments and how we are using them to increase student achievement in HCS. All schools will be using interim assessments this year. HHS is a little ahead of HMS and HES, but they are going to be implemented at each school. Our administrative team is reading and participating in a book study on the book "Driven by Data" and attended professional development together this summer. This is a district focus and we know that we will not do everything right the first time. We will grow through this process, but we are certain that your students will benefit from our focus on learning!

#ServeLeadInspire

Dr. Sutherland