What Parents and Students Should Know About Formative and Interim Assessments for 2020-2021

• The I-GMAs are a chance for students to show what they know and don’t know.
• Students’ test scores are NOT graded or used for report cards.
• The district and schools use the results yearly to measure progress towards instructional goals.

• Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) for Grades K-12
• The SAT Suite of Assessments (PSAT, SAT) for Grades 9-12 (optional for students in the 2020-2021 school year)

• Interim-Growth Monitoring Assessments (I-GMAs) are occasional tests used to measure student growth over time.
• The results of the I-GMAs provide the district, schools, teachers, and students with information about student learning and improvement toward instructional goals.

• CFAs provide students and teachers with frequent data to inform teachers and students about their learning.
• CFAs support teachers working together to constantly improve instruction for ALL students.
• CFAs may be used by teachers to inform student progress for grading purposes, but grading is not the primary purpose of a CFA.

• Teachers have access to several different kinds of formative assessments:

• Teacher-created tests and assignments
• Site-created tests oDistrict-created tests and performance tasks
• State-created tests and performance tasks (The statecreated tests are called Interim Assessment Blocks or IABs.)

• Students are required to take at least three Common Formative Assessments (CFAs) throughout the school year. These three CFAs can be any combination of site, district, and state-created tests

• Formative assessments are on-going tests used before, during, and after short rounds of instruction to guide student learning.
  
  
• The results of the tests provide teachers and students with information about student learning and help teachers plan next steps for instruction.