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.  

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