DDES Assessment Overview
2015-16
DRA2
* required for all
students
Administered by
learning support
specialists and
teachers
3 times/year
MAP and MAP
for Primary
Grades (MPG)
CMAS
* Required for
grades 3 & 4 only
Administered by
Teachers
NNAT2
*required for
Kindergarten &
2nd grade only
Administered by
the GT Specialist
CBM (Curriculumbased
measurements)
Administered by
CMAS Test
Proctors
Expedition
Assessments
(Formative and
summative)
Administered and
developed by
Teachers
3 times/year
1 time/year
1-2 times/year
TBD
Bi-Monthly
Administered by
SPED Teachers
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2): The Colorado Reading to Ensure Academic Development (READ) Act was passed by
Colorado legislature and went into effect on July 1, 2013. The act focuses on K-3 literacy development and includes requirements for
assessment, individualized READ plans for students performing significantly below grade level, and specifics around parent
communication and involvement. DDES is currently using the state-approved assessment DRA2 to assess students’ reading
comprehension and fluency and to determine a students’ given “text level.” It provides a universal language for naming students’
reading levels against grade level standards. All students are assessed three times a year – fall, winter, and spring. For Kindergarten
students, the Word Analysis tasks 1-7 are administered at the beginning of the year, as required by the district. The DRA informs the
development of students’ READ Plan, which is developed by the end of October or mid-year for Kindergarten students.
Measures of Academic Progress & Measures of Academic Progress for Primary Grades (MAP and MPG): DDES uses MAP and MPG
as an interim and quarterly measure of growth in students’ reading and math abilities. These assessments are computer adaptive
assessments that provide information on letter and number understanding, specifically letter recognition, sounds, concepts of print,
phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, word structure and comprehension and writing. Math assesses problem-solving,
number sense, computation, measurement, geometry, statistics, probability and algebra. All students are assessed three times a
year – fall, winter, and spring.
Naglieri Nonveral Ability Test – Second Edition (NNAT2): The NNAT2 provides a nonverbal, culturally neutral assessment of general
intellectual ability. All kindergarten and 2nd grade students partake in this 30-minute, online screener, as required by the district. The
NNAT2 score is one indicator used in the identification of gifted and talented students.
Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS): The Colorado Measures of Academic Success, known as CMAS, are statemandated assessments aligned to the Colorado Academic and Common Core State Standards. Beginning in the spring of Grade 3,
students partake in CMAS English Language Arts and Math online assessments developed by PARCC (the Partnership for Assessment
for Readiness for College and Careers). The CMAS Social Studies is a Colorado-created, online assessment administered in the spring
of Grade 4. This test emphasizes a student’s ability to synthesize informational text and to write with clarity, taking a position and
defending it with evidence.
Expedition-Based Summative Assessments:
 CCSS Reading and Writing standards are aligned to all summative assessments listed, however they are not explicitly noted
within the STAs. During August and ongoing PD on the CCSS, teachers need to audit STAs and map when and how each Reading
and Writing standard is measured for reporting/grading purposes. Planning for additional instruction in Reading (especially CCSS
RL standards) and Writing may be warranted, based on students’ needs and flow of standards and assessments in STAs.
 Formative assessments are listed for each learning target in the scaffolding plans. Scaffolding plans are a 25 to 50 day windows
for teachers to use in teaching the first case study. These tools may be considered a strong model for them in writing their own
scaffolding plans for subsequent case studies.
 Additional “short-cycle and on-demand” assessments may be modified/designated from existing listed assessments to provide
interim data on student performance within expeditions. Ideally data team may choose these assessments before teaching the
content for this case study/expeditions.
CBM (Curriculum-based Measurement): A Curriculum-based measurement, or CBM, is a method the special education teachers use
to find out how students are progressing in basic academic areas, math, reading, writing and spelling. CBMs are used every two
weeks and generally last from 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the child’s needs.
Glossary of Assessment Terms
Diagnostic Assessment – An assessment that provides baseline data on students’ specific strengths and needs in skills and
conceptual understandings, which are then used by teachers for planning and instruction. Often occurs at beginning of school year
to illuminate students’ gaps and provide roadmap for differentiating instruction, against a specific curriculum’s scope and sequence.
Summative Assessment (Assessment of Learning) – A tool that “measures or audits attainment and is administered time to time to
create snapshots of what has happened” (Advancing Formative Assessment in Every Classroom, Moss and Bookhart, p. 7) in student
learning. Typically this is performed at the end of a teaching-learning cycle. Results are used for making final success or failure
decisions.
Formative Assessment (Assessment for Learning) - An immediate and daily assessment that is carried out while learning is in
progress, which is intended to improve learning and achievement. These tools focus on learning targets, examine progress toward
those targets, and ultimately help the student and teacher take action to move closer to the target. At a minimum, it helps teachers
identify material that needs to be retaught or clarified.
Interim Assessment – An assessment that is given multiple times in a school year to diagnose gaps between student performance
and intended curriculum, how to best target curriculum to meet student needs, and determine students’ ability levels in grouping
them for instruction. Interim assessments can also serve as short cycle assessment (curriculum-based) which evaluate student
performance to enrich instruction and curriculum.