Common Assessments

Our math department is going through a change right now, a good change.  The administration has noticed our struggle and decided to emphasize support for us.  All the Algebra 1 teachers meet at least on a monthly basis, sometimes more if our schedules allow. I have to admit that this isn't as easy or convenient task for some of the teachers.  Both 8th grade Algebra 1 teachers work in different buildings (one is a half-hour drive away), and our PLC times do not co-inside with each other (they need coverage for their classes in order to meet with us). 

In the past we had this unwritten philosophy that we could teach the Algebra 1 topics in the order that we wanted, we just had to make sure that we taught all the standards.  This really isn't a problem, as long as you are the only Algebra 1 teacher in the district.  Because we taught in different orders, it didn't allow us to communicate with each other effectively.  It also created a problem if a students needed to have their schedule changed.  

Change #1:  As a department, we decided the order of the standards.  

When we sat down to discuss this it surprised me that no one had a strong opinion as to what order they wanted to teach the Algebra 1 topics.  This step was fairly easy for us.  We also checked and double checked that the information we are teaching is aligned with the state standards and eligible content.  You would be surprised (or maybe not) on how easy it is for a teacher for spend a significant amount of time teaching a topic that is not on the standards but that the teacher really enjoys.  Guilty!!

Change #2:  Write common assessments for the end of each quarter.

I love, love, love this change.  At this point, when we meet, we are creating our common assessments.  We agreed to create assessments that would have the following:

• They would cover the material covered in the particular quarter and be given at the end of instruction of those standards.  Hopefully that would happen very close to the end of the quarter.
• They would follow the structure of the state exam as far as the proportion of multiple-choice questions to constructed response questions.
• The length of the exam had to be reasonable so that the students could finish in 45 minutes.  
• The scoring of the exam had to be consistent with the scoring of the state exam.
• The grade had to count (unlike the benchmark tests).

I love that we can discuss results once the students take the exam.  We complete an item analysis of the exam and discuss the results both individually as teachers and as a whole group.  Our focus was to look at the top 3 and bottom 3 questions and ask ourselves "why?".  Why did the students perform poorly on these 3 questions and why did they perform so well on these 3 questions? 

I also want to point out that the common assessments do not hinder our individual teaching styles.  At no point did anyone say we have to teach a certain way or not.  We have a lot of flexibility when it comes to instruction, but we need to make sure we cover the material.  We also have our own say when it comes to homework, quizzes, classwork, and unit tests. 


Pennsylvania Math Teachers:

Most of the questions that we use for our common assessments are from the SAS portal. 

If you are a Pennsylvania math teacher, then there is a good chance you have heard of the SAS portal.  Click here to find out more. 

To find sampler questions:

1. Log in.
2. Click on your name in the upper right .
3. Click on "my assessments".
4. Click on "start new assessment".
5. Click on "Choose Grades and Subjects".
6. Click on "Courses" and pick Algebra 1.

I like to use the filter option for specific standards, but of course you can poke around there as you like.  

I have noticed that it seems to only give me 15 questions at a time.  For instance if you use the filter to find all the questions for 3 different standards, there might be 30 questions that apply in their question bank, but it will only give you 15.  You would need to pick one standard at a time to get all the questions.