Wiseburn USD Assessment Guide
Understanding Standards-Based Assessment at Wiseburn
Welcome
At Wiseburn USD, we want every student and family member to understand what students can do, what they're working on, and what comes next. This guide walks through how we assess student learning in Wiseburn, why we do it this way, and how to follow along.
What's in this guide
- Why We Assess This Way: the philosophy behind our approach
- What We Assess: standards, learning targets, and the proficiency scale
- Grading & Reporting Policies: how scores are decided and reported
Why We Assess This Way
The Wiseburn assessment philosophy stems from our purpose: engage, empower, and elevate. In line with our purpose, Wiseburn is adopting learner-centered assessment practices to highlight learner strengths and areas for growth, foster ownership of learning, and accommodate diverse learning styles. By clearly communicating their understanding, learners take charge of their growth, enabling all educational partners to support their progress and positive identities as learners.
Five Principles of Standards-Based Assessment in Wiseburn
Assessment Principle #1: Formative Assessment Drives Instructional Choices
We believe that assessment should inform instruction, enrichment, intervention, and learner goals to create opportunities for learning and learner growth.
Assessment Principle #2: Standards-Based
We believe that assessment should be grounded in grade-level standards and clearly communicate a learner’s current level of proficiency.
Assessment Principle #3: Progress and Growth Over Time
We believe in focusing on continuous progress over time, supporting each learner's unique journey, with emphasis on the most recent evidence of learning.
Assessment Principle #4: Multiple Measures and Modalities
We believe in providing learners with multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding through variety, choice, and multiple modalities.
Assessment Principle #5: Collective Efficacy
We believe that by collaborating, educators, learners, and stakeholders can effectively improve learning. This teamwork fosters greater trust and a shared responsibility, driving continuous improvement in our assessment practices and learner outcomes.
What We Assess: Standards, Learning Targets & the Scales
Every class in Wiseburn USD is built around a set of standards — the key skills and knowledge students are working toward that year.
| Proficient (PROF.) | The student can consistently and independently meet the criteria of the standard by using and applying skills in context. |
| Developing (DEVP.) | The student can demonstrate some elements of the standard, needing some prompting, scaffolding, or support to use and apply skills. |
| Beginning (BEGN.) | The student can demonstrate an element of the standard with extensive prompting, scaffolding, or support. |
Our instructional goal in every class is for all students to reach proficiency on all standards by the end of the year, and we design our learning and assessments intentionally to support that goal. We know, however, that all students learn at their own pace. Some students may need more time and support on certain standards, which can show up as developing or beginning even later in the year.
The goal of providing proficiency scores on each learning target is to make progress over time and in the moment visible to students and families. The Achievement Report shows a summarized score for the standard, reflecting the student's progress up to that point in the year. Read more details about grading and reporting policies here.
The Anatomy of a Standard: Math Rubric
Here's a real example from a 5th grade math rubric for the standard "numerical expressions." The standard is what you will see on a report card and what is assessed in the day-to-day and what you will see reported in PowerSchool (elementary) and Canvas (middle school). A student's work from an assessment or project is compared against descriptions to determine their proficiency level on each learning target at that time.
Math: Operations and Algebraic Thinking
Standard Assessed:
| 5.OA.1 | Writes and evaluates numerical expressions |
| Beginning | Developing | Proficient | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5.OA.1 Writes and evaluates numerical expressions |
I can solve basic math problems and am learning to use the order of operations and symbols like parentheses ( ) to help me solve them accurately. Example: (Student might incorrectly add 10+5 first instead of multiplying 5 x 2 first) |
I can solve basic math problems and am learning to use the order of operations and symbols like parentheses ( ) to help me solve them accurately. Example: 1. (10-2) = 8 2. 4 x 8 = 32 3. 32 + 5 = 37 Answer: 37 |
I can independently solve multi-step math problems by correctly using parentheses ( ), brackets [ ], and braces { } in the correct order. Example: 1. (3+2) = 5 2. [15-5] = 10 3. {10+4} = 14 4. 14 x 2 = 28 Answer: 28 |
Notice that each level describes what a student can actually do; there's no point value or percentage attached. A teacher looks at a student's work and matches it to the description that best fits, using the most recent and strongest evidence of learning.
Grading & Reporting Policies
Here's what families should know about how scores are determined and how they show up on progress reports:
| Topic | What this means for your family |
|---|---|
| What's scored, when and where? | Students submit evidence demonstrating a standard and a learning target, and their current proficiency level on that learning target is scored in PowerSchool by the teacher using the proficiency scale, within about a week of an assessment so PowerSchool stays a current picture of progress. |
| Where are scores coming from? | Scores come from a variety of types of evidence including quizzes, tests, project assignments, observations, and self-reflections. Both formative and summative* evidence may appear to show the full picture of a student's progress. By the end of the semester, teachers will have input a score from a more summative piece of evidence. |
| Should I be concerned if I see a Developing or Beginning score? | What matters most isn't a single score, but the trajectory over time. If a student's scores on a learning target aren't moving toward proficiency across multiple assessments, or if you have questions about progress on a particular learning target or standard, looking at the evidence on the rubrics is a first step, followed by discussing with the teacher the evidence, the feedback, and next steps. |
| How is a score for a Standard decided for the Report Card? | A standard's score is a simple grading method that focuses on growth. Instead of giving equal weight to an assignment from two months ago, it gives more weight to recent performance— 65% on the newest scores, and 35% on past work combined. Think of it like learning to drive: a minor mistake in your first week shouldn't drag down your grade once you've mastered parallel parking. |
| How will students know how they are doing along the way? | Rubrics are shared with students at the start of a project or unit, so students know exactly what they're working toward before they begin. Teachers use that same rubric to score student work. Every unit or project includes formative assessment at least once along the way and will include an opportunity for students to self-reflect on the rubric and their progress. |
| How many times is a standard assessed? | Every standard is assessed and scored summatively at least twice by the end of the year. This provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate growth on each standard. |
*Formative vs. Summative — what's the difference? Formative evidence is a check-in along the way — practice work, drafts, and feedback that help a student (and their teacher) understand where they are and provide feedback on next steps. Summative evidence is a more complete demonstration of a skill, used to determine an overall level of proficiency. It may look like a final draft, a project deliverable, or a final presentation or performance. Both may show up in PowerSchool, but before achievement reports are generated at the end of the semester, a summative assessment score will be input in PowerSchool so formative assessment data (practice) is not contributing towards a final report card score.
Examples of the Achievement Report
Transition Kindergarten
Kindergarten
1st Grade
2nd Grade
3rd Grade
4th Grade
5th Grade
Middle School
Parent Resources
WUSD Community Webinar Recording
Presentation from Community Webinar