i-Ready Assessment System: A Tool for Students, Parents and Teachers

What is the i-Ready Assessment System?

Have you heard students and teachers talking about the i-Ready Assessment System and wondered what it was all about? Galileo is a website where students can log in individually and be assessed in math and reading throughout the school year to measure progress. This system was piloted by Tucson International Academy last year. The information Galileo provided helped to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses and also identified areas where teachers should target their instruction for each student.

The Baseline Assessment

In the first quarter of school, students do a baseline assessment to discover where they are starting out. This initial assessment shows the student, parents and teachers where students may have weak areas in their knowledge and where they have strengths. This provides the  information needed to be able to set attainable goals in the areas that need improvement. Having the students involved in the planning and goal-setting of their own education has proven to be a powerful tool toward success. They see what needs work and are able to break the goals down into achievable steps. Having that much clarity and involvement in addressing areas that need improvement has empowered students in remarkable ways.

A Powerful Assessment Tool

The assessments are scientifically designed to measure very particular and targeted skills. The i-Ready assessment is so accurate that it can show for example, whether a student trying to solve a multiplication word problem has trouble decoding the word problem itself, or if she  understands how to set up the problem, but struggles solving the problem mathematically. Being able to zero in so specifically on the areas that need attention truly benefits both student and teacher when it comes to targeting the instruction needed. The i-Ready assessment can also identify larger, more complex areas of need for a student.

Benchmark Assessments

After that initial assessment and goal setting, benchmark assessments occur as the school year progresses and goals are re-evaluated and realigned as needed. At the end of the year there is a final assessment to measure the year’s progress toward the identified goals for each individual student. Last year, a senior in precalculus set a goal of 15% to 20% improvement for each assessment. By the last assessment of the year, the student had scored 100%!

Multiple Benefits

Not only does the i-Ready Assessment help students, teachers and parents identify areas that need work, the results also inspire, motivate, and guide the students in achieving measurable goals. Additionally the tests provide an indicator of how students will perform on the AZMerit test and gives them practice for this test.

Sharing the Results

This year TIA will add the i-Ready Assessment System results to student report cards so parents can see how their child is performing. The assessments are not entered as part of the student's GPA and do not enter into the decision on whether the student will be promoted the next grade level. They are just a tool to help teachers, students and parents identify weak areas that need attention and also to identify strengths the student can build upon to enhance their chances of success.

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Galileo Assessment System

New Student Assessment Program at TIA

The new 2015-2016 school year at TIA brought about a student assessment program implemented by Galileo K-12 Online. The purpose of this new program is to give a benchmark test for each student K-12 that shows the student’s level of achievement in all areas of math and reading for each grade. Progress is then monitored throughout the school year to make sure any problem areas are being addressed. The test scores generated by the Galileo program will also help identify the students that are behind. These students  may need one-on-one help with a Title 1 specialist, or tutoring with a teacher after school. If a group of students is in need of the same sort of help in a specific area, the problem may be addressed in a classroom situation. TIA wants all the students to grow and meet the standards by the end of the school year so they will be ready for the next grade. The Galileo assessment creates a snap picture at the beginning of the school year to help achieve this. Each quarter the students are given another test, and the scores are entered on a spreadsheet.  Teachers can then tell at a glance where each student needs to concentrate. Example: Johnny is in the fifth grade and takes the fifth grade Galileo assessment test for math at the beginning of the school year. If he mastered his fourth grade math, he will score at least 15-20% proficient with his base knowledge for fifth grade. This test will include some of the areas of math that Johnny should have learned from the fourth grade in order to move on to fifth grade. A test score of  lower than 20% means that Johnny needs some tutoring time to help him catch up with his math skills so that he will be ready to tackle fifth grade math. As he learns more, his proficiency score will continue to move up. The second quarter there should be a growth of approximately 10 - 15%. By the third quarter there should be a jump to 60-70% and 80-100% by the end of the school year. This shows that he is moving forward. If his proficiency isn’t increasing steadily, the test shows which areas he needs help with. The advantage of quarterly testing is that the teacher can see right along where Johnny is having trouble. These specific areas are then addressed throughout the year, allowing Johnny to move forward to the sixth grade at the end of the year with all the knowledge he needs to continue to learn and succeed in the next grade. Depending on the need of the student, he or she may be put into a group with other students who need help with a specific area. If it’s just one student, then help is provided by a Title 1 teacher, or the student may stay after school for one-on-one help from a teacher. If half the class or more is lacking in a certain area, then the teacher will reteach that particular area of math or reading to the whole class. In addition to assessing proficiency levels of the students, the Galileo program will give the students experience in on-line testing in preparation for the mandatory state assessment AZMerit test and will also help teach them most of the information included in that test.  In addition, the identification of specific areas of need ahead of time allows the teachers to better prepare students for the AZMerit test.  

Enroll today at TIA!

New Student Assessment programAZMeritlogo

Video Interviews: How to Prepare for College While in High School

Four TIA student’s share in this video how the “Own Your Success” event taught them to deal with life’s challenges and how to prepare for college while in high school. This learning event was held at TIA and taught by Master Elite Results coach Brodie Whitney.

Second Video- 2 Part Series

This is the second video in a three part series. In the video you will hear from TIA students Angelica (10th), Jhoanna (9th), Doroteo (9th), Edgardo (9th) as they share the words of wisdom they learned at the "Own Your Success" event. Three questions were asked of each student: What was your overall experience from the Coach Brodie event? What was the most valuable thing you learned from the event? What are your plans after high school?

Student Quote

Angelica shares, “Success has different meaning for different people...If you fail, it doesn’t mean you can’t succeed anymore...If you fail, it’s something to motivate you to keep going...My plans after high school is to go to college and get a doctors degree." Click here to watch the video   Enroll now!
Video by Braelyn Smith~TheJ3Effect Story by Kim Murphey~TheJ3Effect
 
How to prepare for college while in high school