TIE533 Benchmark Overview

To fulfill the requirements of this course, students must complete a four-part project. The four parts are:

1. Investigate and summarize the practices and procedures your school district employs for student assessment data including collection, analysis, and use.


2. Develop and document a tool (see detail below), built with advanced features of productivity applications, that provides some decision-making support related to instructional planning or practice.


3. Develop and deliver a presentation to your peers describing the tool and its applications.


4. Describe the assistance you provided to your colleagues in collecting and analyzing data, and communicating findings.

Overview Screencast

Development

To create part one, students should identify the key staff members to be interviewed in order to collect the pertinent details regarding student assessment data and the way in which it is collected, analyzed, and used. A summary of each interview including questions and responses should be included as artifacts. The interviews should identify what standardized test scores, local assessments, and other related student assessment data are collected. Additionally, the interviews should identify which person(s) in the district work directly with the data, what tools are used for analysis, how the data and analytical assessments are reported, and how this process supports instructional planning and practice.

For part two, students should identify an element of the assessment data management practice which would benefit from the creation of a “tool” or “template” that would enhance the process and make the data more readily useful for instructional planning and practice. Such a “tool” should consist of any combination of worksheet (spreadsheet) templates, data base templates, and data collection components, though other elements may be included. The tool should be created and tested with sample data and reviewed by a potential user for its effectiveness.

Part three calls for a presentation (10-15 minutes) to be delivered to your peers that describes the tool developed for part two. The presentation should indicate how the tool is constructed, how it is to be applied to data, how it fits into the overall district assessment program, and how it can be applied to instructional planning and practice.

Part four should be a short description and reflection of the project. The entry should include any assistance you provided to colleagues around the development, analysis, and communication of your findings.

The products for this project will consist of a written summary report, including from part one, artifacts from the interviews, related documentation, and a table (organized by grade-level and indicating the type and source of assessment data) describing the district’s practices for assessment data management. The report will also include samples of the tool created for part two, examples of the tool’s application to sample data, and a review of the tool’s value as described by its potential user(s). Part four will be included as the narrative and reflection of the collaboration and communication of findings to colleagues. Finally, a copy of the presentation from part three is to be included.

You can review Cindy's final benchmark assignment in the resources to see what I'm looking for.