Teacher Use of Interim Assessments in Elementary Mathematics: A Two-District Study

1. Teacher Use of Interim Assessments in Elementary Mathematics: A Two-District Study Leslie Nabors Oláh Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania CCSSO Education Leaders Conference, Chicago, IL September 12-14, 2007 www.cpre.org leslieno@gse.upenn.edu

2. Acknowledgements • Margaret Goertz, Nancy Lawrence, Matthew Riggan, Joy Anderson, Andrea Oettinger • Heather Hill • Administrators and teachers in the two districts

3. Background • CPRE awarded grant from the National Science Foundation (REC-0529485) to study how elementary teachers use formative assessments to improve instructional practice in mathematics. • Focus on interim (benchmark) assessments. • Focus on 3rd and 5th grade math instruction and assessment.

4. Research Questions • How do teachers analyze interim assessment results and modify instruction in response to those results? • What policy supports and resources for assessment use are available to teachers and how are they utilized?

5. Sites • Suburban district • 7 elementary schools • Has used Everyday Mathematics (EDM) since 1991 • Urban district • 177 elementary schools • Has used Everyday Mathematics (EDM) since 2003 • Nine schools chosen based on state accountability status, mathematics performance, and socio-demographic characteristics.

6. Data Sources • Preliminary findings based on initial round of interviews with district leaders, school principals, and math coaches in Spring 2006. • First round of teacher interviews and classroom observations in Fall 2006. • We also attended test construction meetings; professional development sessions; principal meetings; and technology training seminars.

7. Interim assessments • Suburban district • Teachers help create assessments • Moderate teacher discretion • Teachers score and record assessment results • District-created data storage and analysis tool • Urban district • Assessments co-created with Princeton Review, based on state standards • No teacher discretion • Online administration, scoring, and reporting of results • SchoolNet

8. Interim Assessment Results Spreadsheet for the Urban District

9. Interim Assessment Results Spreadsheet for the Suburban District

10. Preliminary Findings • Teacher analysis • Teacher planning and practice

11. Teacher use: Analysis • Teachers are using the interim assessments results. • Primarily to identify content areas of weakness and low-performing students. • Urban teachers link performance to state standards.

12. Teacher use: Analysis • Teachers look to the interim assessments to confirm or corroborate what they already know about their students. I can’t say it’s a big surprise, because as we’re going through Everyday Math, we kind of know where kids are, if the interest is there, if the hands are up. You kind of know if you’ve got them, if they’re understanding it. (3rd Grade, urban district)

13. Teacher use: Analysis • Data management systems • Both urban and suburban teachers use basic features of data management systems to organize and clarify results • Built-in analysis features appear to influence teachers’ interpretation of data • Online test administration in urban district is still controversial

14. Teacher use: Analysis • Math Coaches • Some teachers go to coaches for assistance in analyzing interim assessment results and planning instruction, but coaches have many other duties. One of our teachers was the math leader two years ago, but that was her [full-time] job. She didn’t have a classroom. Now, [we have] the math leader, but [he] has a classroom.(3rd Grade, urban district)

15. Teacher use: Planning and practice • Preferred instructional strategies differ by district. • Teachers vary their analysis of the benchmark assessment results, • many seemed “stuck” with the next steps of planning and modifying instruction in response to these scores.

16. Teacher use: Planning and practice • Other sources of support • Grade-level partners are the most frequently-cited sources of support for confirming performance, analyzing results, and planning instruction. We sit and talk about where we are and what we see and what we would like to change or what we’d like to add. Often times, we bounce ideas off each other. And if we have a particular group that is struggling, sometimes one teacher’s idea is the light bulb for another.(3rd Grade, suburban district)

17. Further analyses • Teachers’ expectations of interim assessments • Instructional practice in response to interim assessment results • Teacher response to common student misconceptions in mathematics