December 2013 Newsletter

December ELAT Happenings: Middle of Year Benchmark Testing Approaching

MOY WINDOW December 9, 2013 - January 22, 2014 ( all K-3 students)

Middle of Year Benchmark Checklist

Planning ahead is the best way to ensure a smooth benchmark assessment window. Check with district leaders to confirm your school’s window dates. If your district does not know the window set, please contact Karen Cushman at kcushman@amplify.com  Then, use the suggestions below to ensure everyone is prepared for Middle Of Year (MOY).

 Before the MOY Window opens:

• Prepare a training plan for new staff and refresher training for returning mCLASS staff members.

• Have your district administrator check student and class rosters to be sure all students are classed in mCLASS and that appropriate staff are assigned to the class to assess students.

• Establish district or school site assessment protocols such as staff responsibilities, assessment scheduling, delivering of student data outcomes and how benchmark data will inform instructional plans.

• Inventory all assessment materials and devices to ensure all assessment tools are available for participating staff and students.

• Send out an assessment window reminder to staff before the window begins. This is also a good time to remind assessors to sync their devices prior to, following and regularly during the window.

During the MOY Window:

• Strive for 100% student completion for MOY.

• Encourage teachers and your assessment team members to log on to www.mclasshome.com following their syncs throughout the testing day and at the end of the day to verify success of the syncs.

• Check throughout the window for Completion Reports through “Go to My Reports” from www.mclasshome.com to identify teachers who may need assistance with their assessments.

Following the close of the MOY Window:

• Pull data from Reporting Suite after nightly refreshes occur.

• Use the data for planning meetings and ensure all appropriate stakeholders are notified of assessment outcomes.

• Print Home Connect Letters using the Now What? Tools.

• Prepare for Progress Monitoring.

 If you have technical issues during the Benchmark window, please call Customer Care at 800-823-1969, option 3.

Entering DAZE Scores

This handout is a series of steps to follow for entering DAZE scores

January / February Data Analysis Face to Face Training

Our last face to face training will be occuring from mid-January through mid-February. This is a second data analysis session that will involve your TOT's and your principal together. We will be exploring the reports that require two data points, you will spend time looking at your BOY to MOY results and you will have time to plan next steps as an instructional team.  it is important that all members of the team attend the training. Please sign-up so that materials can be shipped and that we can assure we have enough room in all of the facilities. You will recieve an email cofirmation of registration as well as an email reminder prior to the training.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1L0TDju7NnaGJyxsyLOovDuPwW_Zy4ljYsZ44OzokhsA/viewform

Determining SRD at MOY

There have been many questions about determining SRD during the middle of the year benchmark. We have developed a flow chart to help you decide on next steps depending on where students scored at the beginning of the year compared to what they score at the middle of the year. Remembering that the goal of the READ Act is to prevent a Significant Reading Deficiency this is the ideal time to review your universal instruction as well as the components of your interventions. The State Board Rules in section 6.0 and 7.0 describe effective attributes of each of these and are a good reminder as your review your data.