Number of times per year school-level assessment administered
45
Number of Respondents
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
More
than 8
Number of times per year assessment administered
Figure 15
Principal Survey: How many times per year is this assessment given?
Interim Assessment Selection Processes
During interviews with district leaders, we asked a series of questions about interim assessment selection processes. District
leader responses revealed common practices as well as common challenges faced in the selection of high-quality interim
assessments.
Teacher participation in the selection of interim assessments was a common practice across districts. In some cases, teachers
serve on leadership teams that evaluate vendor-created assessments. In other cases, teachers collaborate across schools to
create common formative assessments for their grade level. For example, a district leader from one of our interviews stated:
“We have weekly team meetings where we look at new assessments that are coming out, we look at
samples, and we sit down around the table and just kind of hash it out. We discuss what we feel is the best
product to meet our needs. So our teachers are very, very involved in our decision-making process. It’s not
me making the decision or [other district leaders] making the decision. We sit down with a team of teachers
and we listen to their feedback. Before we went with Discovery Education, we got a free pilot. So we did a
test run of it. The teachers worked with it. They used it and determined if they liked it or didn’t like it. So, it
is very much a team process.”
District leaders also described the different criteria or qualities they consider when selecting interim assessments. Many
of these qualities were mentioned in most or all interviews with district leaders, creating a common picture of what district
leaders view to be a high-quality interim assessment. Some common qualities or criteria discussed included cost, quality of
assessment reports, ease of adm