Overview of Assessment Types

Norm-Referenced Assessment

• A norm-referenced assessment allows a view to compare a student’s performance against the performance of other students on a state or national level. To complete this task, the assessment will assess students on a skill level above and below grade level. A norm-referenced assessment allows the view to compare a student to another student of the same age and to another student in a different city, state, and/or country.  

  • Types of Lyon County School District norm-referenced assessments 

    • Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)

Criterion Referenced Assessment

•  A criterion referenced assessment compares a student's knowledge and skill to identified criteria. The predetermined criteria could be based on required grade-level skills. The student performance is not compared to students in other cities, states, and/or countries. A criterion referenced assessment allows the view to see what skills a student has developed and where they have grown over time. 

  • Types of Lyon County School District criterion referenced assessments 

    • Smarter Balanced Assessment Criterion (SBAC) 

    • American College Testing (ACT) 

    • Career and Technical Education (CTE) 

    • World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)

• The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) is a public agency that provides standardized testing for students in the United States. These tests are designed to measure student progress in key areas like mathematics and English language arts/literacy, aligning with the Common Core State Standards. The goal of the SBAC is to provide teachers, schools, and parents with a clear understanding of student performance, helping to guide instruction and improve learning outcomes.
   

• Sure, the ELA SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) Claims are:

• ELA Claims 

  • Reading: Students can comprehend a range of complex texts independently.

  • Writing: Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.

  • Speaking and Listening: Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences.

  • Research/Inquiry: Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.

  • Claim Descriptors
     

• Math Claims 

  • Concepts & Procedures: Students can explain and apply mathematical concepts and carry out mathematical procedures with precision and fluency.

  • Problem Solving: Students can solve a range of complex, well-posed problems in pure and applied mathematics, making productive use of knowledge and problem-solving strategies.

  • Communicating Reasoning: Students can clearly and precisely construct viable arguments to support their own reasoning and to critique the reasoning of others.

  • Modeling & Data Analysis: Students can analyze complex, real-world scenarios and can construct and use mathematical models to interpret and solve problems.
     

• Summative Family Report

American College Testing (ACT)

• The ACT, which stands for American College Testing, is a standardized test used for college admissions in the United States. It's designed to measure high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.

• The test consists of four sections: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. There's also an optional Writing section. Each section is scored individually on a scale from 1 to 36, and those scores are then averaged to get a composite score. The test is known for its tight time constraints, which can make it a bit challenging.

• The state of Nevada sets a proficiency score of 22 on the ACT exam. A score of 22 on the ACT places a student approximately in the 63rd percentile of all test takers. This means a student with a score of 22 has performed better than about 63% of all students who took the ACT.

• Practice ACT 

• Example of individual student profile report

Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)

• MAP is an adaptive, computerized assessment system used to monitor student progress in key academic areas, such as reading, math, and science. It adjusts the difficulty of questions based on a student's response to previous questions. The results from MAP tests provide educators with valuable data about a student's knowledge, skills, and areas for improvement. This information can help teachers personalize learning, set goals, and track student growth over time. 

• MAP assessments are unique in that they adapt to your student's level of learning. If a student answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. This type of assessment challenges top performers, without overwhelming students whose skills are below grade level. The MAP tests are aligned with Common Core standards, which makes it a helpful tool in preparing students for state level tests. They are also used to measure growth over time, providing detailed insight into where students are excelling and where they may need extra help. MAP tests are typically administered three times per school year: fall, winter, and spring. This allows teachers to monitor progress and make data-informed decisions to improve teaching and learning. Lastly, MAP results are norm-referenced, which means they compare a student's scores with other students across the nation.

• Practice Assessment

• Example of individual student profile report with longitudinal data graph

Nevada Alternative Assessment (NAA) 

The NAA is the state assessment of alternate achievement standards. The assessment is administered to less than 1% of all students in Nevada who meet the strict criteria required in order to be assessed with the NAA. The NAA assesses student academic performance on Nevada Content Standards through direct observation of specific tasks. Each task is an indication of a specific academic skill that has been linked to grade level content. Student responses are entered manually into the online assessment system by the classroom teacher, and video recordings of each response are utilized for second-score validation.

Additional Information

All About NAA (PDF)

NAA Sample Student Report – Math & ELA (PDF)

NAA Sample Student Report – Math, ELA, & Science (PDF)

Nevada Academic Content Standards Connectors

Nevada Report Card (external link)

Office of Inclusive Education

World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA)

• The WIDA, or World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment, is a series of English language proficiency assessments. It's designed to measure the progress of students who are learning English as a second language (ESL students).

• The WIDA test suite includes several assessments, but the most commonly used ones are the ACCESS for ELLs (English Language Learners) and the W-APT (WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test). Lyon County School District currently uses the ACCESS for ELL assessment 

• ACCESS for ELLs is an annual summative assessment that measures students' English language proficiency in four domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.

• Scores range from 1.0-6.0. A score below 5.0 generally indicates the student is in need of English language support, while a score of 5.0 or above signifies the student is English proficient. In the State of Nevada, a student must score a 4.5 to be considered language proficient. 

• Practice Assessment

Career and Technical Education (CTE)

• Career and Technical Education (CTE) certifications are vocational qualifications that students can earn while still in high school. They're designed to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for specific jobs or industries.

• The exact certifications available can vary widely from school to school, but they often include areas like health care, information technology, construction trades, culinary arts, and automotive technology, among others.

• Earning a CTE certification can give students a head start in their chosen field, allowing them to jump straight into work after high school or giving them a leg up in post-secondary technical education programs.

• Additionally, CTE programs can often provide valuable real-world experience through internships, apprenticeships, or hands-on projects. They can also help students make more informed decisions about their career paths.

Workplace Readiness Sill Practice Test