Wilton, Connecticut Public Schools
Joyce M. Parker
Administrator for Elementary Instruction and
Curriculum
Educational Evaluation 6180
The central purpose of the evaluation of educational
achievement is to gather information that will facilitate the
improvement of instruction and, ultimately, student learning.
It is understood that a comprehensive plan of appraisal will
include a variety of widely accepted tests and measurement techniques
as the bases for judgment. In all cases, the process of educational
assessment will be under the direction of, and accomplished by,
trained and competent staff acting in accordance with appropriate
federal and state law, Board of Education policy, and the tenets
of ethical and professional practice.
Test selection shall be subject to Board approval.
Evaluative measures may be used for purposes
such as the following:
1. Identifying group and individual learning
objectives.
2. Selecting content, learning experiences
and procedures of instruction.
3. Organizing continuity, sequence and integration
of instruction.
4. Aiding the supervision and administration
of instruction.
5. Providing data for research.
6. Assisting in the guidance and counseling
process.
7. Improving the knowledge base on which
group and individual educational placements are made.
8. Assessment of group and individual learning
progress over time.
9. Public accountability.
10. Professional Responsibility.
Standardized tests shall be administered according
to a schedule that will minimize interference with the regular
program of instruction.
In order to ensure the most effective use of
test data, a report giving an analysis and results of all standardized
testing will be presented to the Board of Education. Each school
shall also prepare an annual report demonstrating the manner in
which this information was applied toward the improvement of instruction
and the results that followed. The validity and performance of
student testing will be addressed on a regular basis.
State-mandated programs of proficiency testing
shall be carried out in accordance with this policy, giving special
attention to remedial assistance in the basic skills of reading,
writing, language arts, and mathematics.
The Board recognizes, however, that educational
measurement is neither the sole nor an infallible basis on which
to make critical decisions about a child's capabilities or school
career. Accordingly, the interpretation and application of results
shall always be set in a context in which the welfare of the student
and his/her family, and the best professional judgment of the
staff are considered, together with the requirements and guidelines
of law and Board policy for purposes of individualized or group
planning.
The disclosure of test results shall comply
with Board policy governing student records. An annual report
of the results of the District's standardized testing program
shall be presented to the Board.
Legal Reference: General Statutes of Connecticut,
Chapter 163c Sections 10-14 m-r
Cross-Reference: Board of Education policy #5125,
Student Records
Policy Wilton Public Schools
Adopted by the Board Wilton, Connecticut
September 13, 1979
Revised by the Board
May 11, 1995
November 21, 1996
Educational Evaluation
Supervision
The planning, development, execution, and evaluation
of a comprehensive program of educational assessment and remedial
assistance shall be under the general direction and coordination
of a district committee composed of selected teachers and administrators
with the Administrator for Curriculum or his/her designee serving
as Testing Coordinator. The Testing Coordinator shall be responsible
for the preparation of required federal, state and local reports.
The committee shall be known as the Educational Evaluation and
Testing Committee.
Test Selection
Achievement Tests
In grades five and seven, the common standardized
measure of educational growth for all students, unless specifically
exempted with the prior approval of the district committee, is
the Comprehensive Testing Program III of the Educational Records
Bureau. This includes an ability factor and its relationship
to student performance. In the third grade, the IOWA Math Test
is given to evaluate student math skills. The Degrees of Reading
Power Test is administered in grades two, three, five, seven and
nine. The same test is given to grades four, six and eight as
part of the Connecticut Mastery Test. In addition, students in
grades three, five, seven and nine take the Educational Records
Bureau Writing Prompt to be scored by an appropriate scoring agency.
In the fourth, sixth and eighth grades, state-wide
mastery tests serve as the test instrument for measuring general
achievement in reading, writing, language arts, and mathematics.
In the tenth grade, the Connecticut Academic Performance Test
is given.
The Educational Evaluation and Testing Committee
encourages the regular measurement of achievement in written expression,
oral communication, listening comprehension, reading comprehension,
and viewing comprehension, incorporating technology where appropriate.
School Ability Tests
The Comprehensive Testing Program III ability
test in the verbal and quantitative areas shall be used as a measure
of potential ability and will be compared to the student's CTPIII
academic performance for all but duly exempted students in grades
five and seven.
The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test is also
used as a uniform measure of learning potential ability for all
but duly exempted students in grades three, five and nine.
The Educational Evaluation and Testing Committee
encourages an ongoing search for other means of school ability
assessment.
Diagnostic Tests
During the kindergarten year, the process of
diagnostic assessment shall occur through ongoing monitoring of
behavior using a developmental curriculum checklist of exit-level
skills.
Diagnostic tests shall be administered on a
selective basis to individual students. These tests are to be
selected at the discretion of the Pupil Study Team according to
the needs of the particular student.
Reporting to Parents
Parents of students identified for the purposes
of individual diagnostic evaluation are notified and informed
of the nature of the testing to be administered. Opportunities
are provided for parents to discuss the results of testing in
individual conferences with appropriate administrative, teaching
and/or support staff.
Parent Consent
Informed parent consent is obtained prior to
the diagnostic evaluation and the implementation of an assistance
plan for students.
Special Area Tests
Additional tests in such special areas as occupational
interests and aptitudes, learning climate or atmosphere, and classroom
environment may be selected from among the inventory of widely
used and relevant tests and techniques.
Test Administration
Diagnostic tests are administered as early
as possible in the fall.
Achievement tests are scheduled appropriately
during the fall and/or spring.
Appropriate arrangements are made in the school
calendar to accommodate the State mastery testing programs.
Special area tests are scheduled so as to minimize
interruption of the routine instructional program.
In all situations, tests shall be administered
by trained staff under circumstances conducive to optimal performance.
Building level arrangements shall be the responsibility of the
principal and shall be at the discretion of the principal.
Teachers are strictly prohibited from specific
substantive coaching for a test. However, general information
and/or instruction designed to improve test-taking skills may
be provided by means of either student selected courses, or building,
department, or grade level activity only.
A summary of the District's annual program
of educational evaluation appears in Appendix A.
Educational Evaluation and Assessment Plan
No later than February of any school year,
each building principal shall devise an action plan for the approval
of the Administrator for Curriculum or the designee showing how
the results of the standardized testing program will be applied
to the improvement of instruction during the succeeding year,
together with a method of using data to evaluate the outcomes
of the action plan. The Administrator for Curriculum or the designee
shall serve as an advisor to the principals in this effort. The
building plans will be incorporated into the annual report to
the Board of Education.
Composition of the Action Plan
Part I: General Instruction
Each plan must address in specific terms the
improvement of general instruction in basic reading, writing,
language arts, and mathematics skills. For this purpose, the following
definitions of these areas will apply:
Writing: The ability to expand ideas using
appropriate support and an age-appropriate level of verbal complexity.
Reading: Fluency, the ability to read inferentially
and evaluatively, key skills in word recognition, word meaning,
comprehension, and location of information.
Language Arts: Key skills in listening, and
speaking, as well as age-appropriate skills in spelling, punctuation
and correct usage.
Mathematics: Key skills in numeration, problem-solving,
measurement, estimation and application.
Part II: Additional Individual Assistance
Each plan must be based on these uniform conditions:
Identification of Students-at-Risk
In grade three and below, identified students
will receive assistance based on the results of the testing as
well as teacher observation.
In grades five and seven, all students earning
a stanine score of 1, 2, or 3 determined by local norms on one
or more of the following specified sub-tests of the E.R.B. Comprehensive
Testing Program III shall receive an appropriate diagnostic evaluation:
Instructional Area Sub-Test
Reading Reading Comprehension
Language Arts Listening Comprehension
Language
Spelling
Vocabulary
Word Study Skills
Mathematics Math Computation
Math Concepts
Math Application
Writing The Writing Prompt
Additionally, students demonstrating a discrepancy
of two or more stanine scores between their ability and performance
scores on the Comprehensive Testing Program III shall be considered
for diagnostic evaluation.
The scores established by the State mastery
tests shall help serve as the referral source in grades four,
six and eight.
In the case of transfer students, equivalent
tests may be used for this purpose.
Individual Assistance Plan
Each student determined to be in need of assistance
following diagnostic evaluation shall have an individualized assistance
plan composed of the following elements:
Coordination of Plans
The building plan shall identify the participants
in the several aspects of the decision-making process in both
parts of the plan, i.e., the general instructional program and
the program of individual assistance.
The responsibility for coordinating the building
plans rests with the Administrator for Curriculum or the designee.
Reporting Test Results
Results of the achievement, special area, and
mastery tests shall be reported to parents, students, teachers,
and the public according to the plan noted in Appendix B.
Program Evaluation
The evaluation of the entire program of educational
assessment shall be the responsibility of the Administrator for
Curriculum or the designee.
The evaluation plan itself shall be based on
the key features of each building's plan stated in terms of goals
and objectives.
Regulation Wilton Public Schools
Revised and reviewed by the Board Wilton, Connecticut
January 9, 1992
May 11, 1995
November 21, 1996