Student Assessment

Student assessment begins in the classroom. Each teacher evaluates students informally every day, observing their responses to questions, classroom contributions, interactions with other students, and acquisition of specific skills and concepts. The teacher uses these informal observations to answer these questions:, “Are the students learning the specific skills?  Have the students understood the concept I was trying to teach?”  If the answer is “NO”, the good teacher looks for another way to illuminate the skill and concept, either for the whole class or for the individual student. If the answer is “Yes”, then the teacher can move on to new skills and concepts.

Periodically, teachers augment these informal student assessments with more formal measures. Teachers use two types of formal assessment: 

• One type of assessment measures students’ ability to answer well-structured, unconditional questions (e.g., true/false, multiple-choice, short answer, essay questions, or math problems). 
• An alternative type of assessment evaluates students using a variety of indicators and sources of evidence, for example: 
  • Performance Assessment - a teacher’s evaluation of the process students use to solve a problem or complete a project demonstrating their knowledge and skills, as well as the evaluation of the product they create. 
  • Portfolio Assessment - involves teacher evaluation of a collection of samples of an individual student’s work showing progress over time. 

A standardized test is one that is administered and scored under the same conditions for all students.  Through such tests, the students in Scarsdale are evaluated in relationship to students regionally, statewide, and nationally.

These tests serve a variety of purposes:

• They provide additional information for teachers, parents, and students on students’ progress with basic skills.
• They assist teachers in identifying students in need of additional support.
• They provide information to administrators and teachers about curriculum and instruction.
• They provide information about the performance of Irvington students relative to students in the region, state, and nation.
• Some are required by state mandate.

Parents and educators should use caution when interpreting standardized test scores. They should not be the sole evaluation of student achievement or an educational program because:

• They provide additional information for teachers, parents, and students on students’ progress with basic skills.
• They assist teachers in identifying students in need of additional support.
• They provide information to administrators and teachers about curriculum and instruction.
• They provide information about the performance of Eastchester students relative to students in the region, state, and nation.
• Some are required by state mandate.
• The tests are concerned only with certain basic skills and abilities and are not intended to measure total achievement for each subject and grade.
• The best assessment of a student’s achievement is still classroom performance as judged by a teacher who sees the student’s work in a variety of situations over the course of a school year.