Kindergarten

[Carole]

We are implementing the CCSS  in our school district this year and have been told by our school district administration to use written, timed math tests  to assess our kindergarten students on number fluency. (K.OA.5 Fluently add and subtract within 5).

I was shown a page of computation problems that I am to give to my students to complete within 2 minutes.

I think this is inappropriate for kindergarten students and not the intent of the writers of the CCSS.  Am I wrong about the intent?  (I know I am not wrong about the timed tests being inappropriate, a sure way to develop math anxiety for some and the reason why many children do not like math!)

If you google “kindergarten ccss assessments”  you’ll find examples of these written math tests, such as this one in Oregon:  http://www.orecity.k12.or.us/files/Kinder_Fact_Fluency.pdf

Sigh…..

Please share your thoughts regarding this kind of assessment.                                                                 

Thank you,

Carole

[Cathy Kessel]

Here are comments on two issues: Item format and assessment guidelines.

Item format. I notice that the format used for test items is vertical (e.g., one addend written above another) rather than horizontal (e. g., expressions or equations). The CCSS do not mention this format for K. Vertical format is not used in many countries until multi-digit addition. It appears in the NBT progression at grade 1.

More explicitly, K.OA.1 says:

Represent addition and subtraction with objects, fingers, mental images, drawings, sounds (e.g., claps), acting out situations, verbal explanations, expressions, or equations.

Assessment guidelines. There are guidelines for assessment in the National Research Council report Early Childhood Assessment: Why, What, and How which includes ages 0 to 5 years old. It can be read online here: http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12446. These say:

Those selecting assessments should be familiar with the assessment standards contained in the standards document produced by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education (1999). Important questions to ask are: Has this assessment been developed and validated for the purpose for which it is being considered? If a norm-referenced measure is being considered, has the assessment been normed with children like those with whom it will be used? (p. 350)

Implementation:
problems with implementation can pose a challenge to the validity of the data obtained. A poorly trained assessor or a child so distracted that she does not engage with the assessment fully, for example, can lead to questionable data. (p. 281)

The following criteria, developed by the committee, operationalize . . . principles in important characteristics that child outcome measures should have if they are to provide useful evidence for the improvement of early care and education systems.

• A clearly articulated purpose for the testing.
• Identification of why particular assessments were selected in relation to the purpose.
• A clear theory connecting the assessment results and quality of care.
• Observation of quality of instruction and specification of what would need to be focused on for improvement.
• A clear plan for following up to improve program quality.
• Strategizing to collect the required information with a minimum of testing.
• Appropriate preparation of testers to minimize disruptive effects on child responses.

(p. 338)

• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Cathy Kessel.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Cathy Kessel.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 11 months ago by Bill McCallum.

[Cathy Kessel]

p.s. Sorry about the format. All the pieces that are followed by page numbers should be shown as block quotes but there’s some problem with my browser and the editing interface.

[Bill McCallum]

Cathy, I’ve tried to fix the formatting. I’ve noticed that if you are editing with the HTML tab active you need to use the buttons at the top to enter the tags rather than typing them in. The latter causes the tags to be displayed verbatim.

[Bill McCallum]

And, to speak to question of the authors’ intent, the standards set expectations but do not dictate how those expectations are met or assessed. The debate about assessment is the domain of practitioners and researchers.

[Author]

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