Task Module Assessment System
Teacher Interviews: Reflecting on students and large-scale assessment (Gap Kids Study)
One of the initial challenges when conceptualizing assessments for ‘students in the gap’ is the need to accurately identify students who fall into the ‘gap;’ that is, those for whom the assessment does not accurately measure what they know and can do. Data analysis of large-scale assessment scores can provide important information about gap students, but it may not capture the complete picture. The Compact recognizes that teachers – who work daily with students – can provide an important perspective on student achievement and instructional and assessment needs. To bring the views of teachers to the forefront, the New England Compact interviewed both regular and special education teachers to get their perspective on the following question: What are the characteristics of students who currently do not achieve proficiency on each state’s 8th grade math assessment?
Eighth grade mathematics and special education teachers from Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont were interviewed. The teachers described all students in their classroom who faced challenges on the large-scale assessment, and provided a sense of general categories into which students fall. The interviews are currently being analyzed, and results in the form of case studies will be posted on this site when they are ready.
In addition, the case studies will be followed up by in-depth teacher interviews, in which teachers will focus on two students, their assessment results and the relationship between those results and their classroom performance. While the first set of teacher interviews provides essential information to help the project to understand the broad issues around gaps in the assessment system, the second set will allow us to obtain a more detailed understanding of how teachers explain the experiences of specific students. The two sets of teacher interviews will provide an essential picture of students and large-scale assessment and will contribute to the final process by which students in the gap are identified in the New England Compact.