Assessment Literacy Self-Assessment and Gap Analysis
Overview and Instructions: This Assessment Literacy Self-Assessment and Gap Analysis Tool is intended to support districts in
understanding where their educators fit overall on a continuum of assessment literacy. The basic principles of assessment literacy
are outlined and allow districts to also note their current practices for each principle and their potential needs as they think about
assessment knowledge and understanding across the entire district. District teams should note that the continuum is cumulative
from left to right. After determining where the district as a whole generally falls on the continuum, districts can determine any potential
next steps.
By using this tool districts will be able to have a general picture of where they should focus their efforts in building up the assessment
literacy knowledge and skills of its educators in order to successfully launch and implement district-determined measures as part of
their educator evaluation system. This tool also helps prepare districts for the content that will be presented in webinar #2: Basics of
Assessment.
General Statistics/Data Knowledge and Skills
District Self-Assessment

Beginning assessment literacy
Our educators can use and
describe basic measures of
central tendency (mean, median,
range)
Developing assessment literacy

Our educators can use and
describe additional measures
of central tendency (mode,
standard deviation)

Our educators understand how
sample size affects
assessment data
Current District Assessment Practices


Secure assessment literacy
Our educators understands the
concept of statistical significance
as it relates to assessment data
Our educators understand the
concept of correlation and its
limitations as it relates to the
reporting of assessment data
District Assessment Needs
Potential Next Steps
2
General Assessment Structures
District Self-Assessment

Beginning assessment literacy
Our educators can accurately
use common assessment
vocabulary (norm-referenced,
standardized, criterionreferenced, etc)
Current District Assessment Practices
Developing assessment literacy
Secure assessment literacy

Our educators can describe

Our educators can describe and
foundational principles of
utilize the concepts of validity
assessment (assessment
and reliability
triangle; standards
Our educators can describe and
assessments-results)
utilize the concept of

Our educators can describe
measurement error (sampling
other guiding principles of
principle of assessment)
assessment (fairness, equity)
District Assessment Needs
Potential Next Steps
3
General Assessment Design and Reporting
District Self-Assessment
Beginning assessment literacy

Our educators understand the
basics of good test
administration (familiar with
common accommodations, test
security policies)
Developing assessment
literacy


Current District Assessment Practices
Secure assessment literacy
Our educators can accurately

Our educators can accurately
describe common reporting
interpret a variety of types of
elements or types of scores
scores (including over time)
(norms, scale scores,

Our educators can determine
performance levels/standards)
and communicate appropriate
Our educators can describe
and inappropriate uses of an
various purposes of
assessment or assessment data
assessment and provide
based on characteristics of the
examples from the
assessment or the scores
Massachusetts context
District Assessment Needs
Potential Next Steps
4
Linking Assessment and Instruction
District SelfAssessment
Beginning assessment literacy



Our educators need significant
support to determine which
assessment data should be used for
day-to-day, within semester or year,
or cross-year instructional planning
and decision-making
Our educators need significant
support to determine how to translate
assessment data into instructional
changes in practice
Assessment process is mostly
teacher-driven
Developing assessment
literacy



Our educators need some support
to determine which assessment
data should be used for day-to-day,
within semester or year, or crossyear instructional planning and
decision-making
Our educators need some support
to determine how to translate
assessment data into instruction
changes in practice
Our educators make some attempts
to draws students and parents into
the assessment process; students
and parents receive information of
inconsistent quality or quantity
about expectations, assessments,
and results
Current District Assessment Practices
Secure assessment literacy



Our educators consistently select
appropriate assessment data to use
for day-to-day, within semester or
year, or cross-year instructional
planning and decision-making and
help other educators select
appropriate data
Our educators successfully translate
assessment data into instruction and
help other educators interpret and
apply data
Students and parents are involved as
partners in the assessment process;
educators provide clear and concrete
information to students on
expectations, assessments, and
results
District Assessment Needs
Potential Next Steps
5
Summary of Needs and Next Steps
Where do we have the
biggest gaps in
assessment literacy?
General Statistics/Data
Knowledge and Skills
General Assessment
Structures
General Assessment
Design and Reporting
Linking Assessment and
Instruction
Which of these areas is
the biggest priority area
of focus?
What do we need to do
to support our educators
to become more
assessment literate? (in
each of these areas or
overall)
Other Notes
6