FROM THE DESK OF THE SUPERINTENDENT
by Ed Hawks
February 25, 2008
MARCH 2008 DISTRICT DISPATCH
The Underwood Community School District has joined a consortium which includes 27 other school districts in Area Education Agency (AEA) 13 to use the tools and framework provided by a program called Assessment Solutions to analyze and share student achievement data. Several years ago, AEA 13 superintendents identified a need for additional tools to use in managing and studying student achievement data. AEA 13 formed a committee to study this need and to explore tools which might meet the needs of local school districts. Ultimately, AEA 13 entered into a partnership with Ms. Marian Godwin, an independent assessment consultant living in Southwest Iowa, who is the driving force behind Assessment Solutions. The exploratory committee discussed possible commercial tools available on the market, but preferred the model provided by Ms. Godwin and Assessment Solutions in large part because of her ability to troubleshoot and provide customized solutions when school districts run into problems trying to manage student achievement data.
Assessment Solutions is a “fee for service” partnership with AEA 13. Each of the 28 school districts pays into a fund comprised of two parts. The first part is a “lease fee” which allows schools to use the templates and analysis tools of Assessment Solutions. The second part of the fee goes into a fund which is used to contract with Ms. Godwin for professional development services, consultation, and research involving more sophisticated analysis techniques. An AEA 13 superintendents’ advisory committee assists AEA 13 staff members in setting fees each year in a way that will keep costs as low as possible, while still allowing for essential training and the development of new tools. Underwood’s total fee for the 2007-08 school year is $2,654.00.
Improving analysis and enhancing the interpretation of accountability data from the Iowa Testing Program are primary goals of Assessment Solutions. School districts submit raw electronic data from their ITBS and ITED results from a CD onto the Assessment Solutions website. The information is formatted into a database that allows school districts to easily sort and manipulate their data. Working with a series of Excel templates, school districts are able to easily produce charts and graphs that effectively communicate student achievement to faculty members, school board members, parents, and the community-at-large. Student performance can be monitored in a number of different ways, e.g., school-wide, collapsed grade, classroom, cohort groups, and individual student levels. Another very valuable service is the production of individual student progress reports in the key areas of reading comprehension, mathematics, and science.
March is a busy month which has several “days off” for students. Please refer to your school calendar for specifics and remember that there may be changes to what was printed several months ago. Check with school district officials if you are not sure whether or not your child should or should not be in school on a certain day.
