Elementary teachers and administrators spent their summer months reworking and improving the Caldwell County School System K-2 Literacy Assessment. Their efforts resulted in a new assessment document to be used this school year. The new K-2 Literacy Assessment incorporates a specific category designed for DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills), a set of standardized measures of early literacy, and the assessment also includes a section for Letterland, a program that instructs students in phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, sight words, and fluency of letter names, sounds and words.
The localized assessment continues to include information from the Department of Public Instruction K-2 Literacy Assessment, particularly the revisions approved in 2009. School systems may or may not use the state model in its entirety. The CCS K-2 Literacy Assessment Team extracted parts from the State assessment and combined several local academic evaluations into one document.
"A group of teachers representing kindergarten, first and second grade met with Central Office staff this past summer to review materials, and then they determined that streamlining DIBELS, Letterland and the State Assessment into one piece was the best course of action," said Stephen Martin, Elementary Education Director. "We reached consensus that this new document would afford teachers more time instructing students in the classroom."
Students in grades K-2 will be formally assessed by certified classroom teachers or teacher assistants (depending on the area of assessment) three times during the school year. By definition, the K-2 Literacy Assessment is intended to assess the reading and writing skills of students in kindergarten, first, and second grade based on the grade level English Language Arts competencies. The North Carolina State Board Policy HSP -C-016 states that the "State Board of Education requires that schools and school districts implement assessments of grades K, 1, and 2 that include documented on-going individualized assessments throughout the year and a summative evaluation at the end of the year. These assessments monitor achievement of benchmarks in the North Carolina Standard Course of Study." The Caldwell County K-2 Assessment is designed to be a process for formative, interim/benchmark, and summative assessment.
In accordance with State Board policy and Caldwell County School Board Policy 7500, the K-2 Literacy Assessment monitors the progress of the student and provides indicators for early adaptations and interventions if necessary; documents student performance over time; keeps parents informed about the status of their children relative to grade level standards at the end of the year; and provides the school and district information on the academic progress of groups of students. Students are assessed in the core subject areas of reading, spelling, grammar, and writing (compositions, stories, journals). Numerical numbers 1-4 are used to indicate levels of performance, from 1 being performance below grade level to the highest mark of 4, consistently exceeding grade level expectations in one of these areas.
Another area of implementation aligned with the K-2 Literacy Assessment occurred this fall. Elementary teachers and administrators agreed that modifications were needed in the Progress Report, which is referred to now as the Report Card. The major changes in the reporting process included 1.generating a K-2 report card on NCWISE, which replaces a voluminous paper trail previously sorted and filed by each K-2 teacher; 2.allowing K-2 teachers the ability to easily produce progress reports and assessments; and 3.archiving academic performance of students in grades K-2.
"The assessment has become a user-friendly, accessible document and will better serve teachers and parents as the reporting record for students in grades K-2," said Elementary Director Stephen Martin. "We're only one of a few systems in NC posting the K-2 report card on NCWISE. However, it's my prediction that in the near future most systems will follow our lead."
The K-2 math assessment is administered quarterly and based on the Caldwell County Schools pacing guides provided through the school system. After review last summer, changes were made to align the K-2 math assessment to the new math textbook and pacing guide. Math is another subject area measured on the K-2 Report Card with 1-4 assessment levels. Other areas listed on the report card and graded with an S-Satisfactory, N-Needs Improvement or U-Unsatisfactory include Social Studies, Science/Health, Handwriting, Conduct, Computer Skills, Music, Art, Physical Education and Drama (at some schools).
