District Informs RTI Process in the Early Grades Using Computer-adaptive Assessment

Bowling Green, KY | 8 schools (5 elementary) | serving 3,821 students in Pre-K – Gr 12

SUMMARY

Bowling Green is a diverse Reading First district with 98% of its students qualifying for free and reduced lunch and 51% participating in an ESL program. The district has been using an RTI framework for seven years. Adding the Children’s Progress Academic Assessment (CPAA) to its toolkit helped Bowling Green identify areas of need in the earliest grades quickly and proactively across its five elementary schools. Combined with other data points, the CPAA is helping the district ensure that all of its youngest students are on the right track before high stakes testing begins.

We use CPAA data in our grade-wide benchmark meetings. It’s not all about test scores, but about building positive relationships with kids and each other. We really focus on using the data as a tool and simplifying it down to information that we can use to help the kids. The reports are immediate, so we don’t have to wait to act.

Deborah Ecton
School Improvement Coordinator

CHALLENGE

Prior to using the CPAA, Bowling Green used paper and pencil assessments that took time to score and did not offer detailed narrative information about each student’s performance in specific concepts. The district was looking for a tool that would be age-appropriate for its youngest students and one that would also fit well with its RTI process. Beyond generating numerical scores for each student, Bowling Green needed a practical tool that could help teachers get started with interventions by pinpointing specific areas of need in language development and other early literacy and mathematics building blocks.

SOLUTION

Bowling Green implemented the CPAA in 2009. The district now uses it as a benchmark assessment three times a year (in the fall, winter and spring) for all students in Kindergarten through Grade 2. Two schools are also planning to start using it for follow-up assessment with struggling students this year. Because the CPAA is adaptive, it adjusts to individual performance and can be used multiple times each season to screen and track progress.

CPAA data is discussed at grade-wide benchmark meetings at each school. Each meeting is attended by the principal, all teachers for a given grade, learning specialists (i.e. special education and ESL coordinators) and guidance counselors. The team reviews CPAA reports and other pieces of data at both the group and student level. Vicki Writsel, Associate Superintendent for Learning Programs says, “These meetings have proven very successful and have created an open forum for teachers to share best practices. They have also been a great way to identify next steps for students who were identified as needing interventions in the previous year.”

Deborah Ecton, Bowling Green’s School Improvement Coordinator, works closely with groups of teachers throughout the five elementary schools, using CPAA data to identify needs and plan interventions. “We believe in job-embedded professional development with respect to data study,” says Ecton. Bowling Green focuses on ensuring that all teachers and specialists are well versed in interpreting and acting on assessment data. In fact, the district has even gotten its guidance counselors involved in data discussions in an effort to ensure that all members of the school team are focused on helping students make academic progress.

IMPACT

Adaptive, Engaging Format Motivates Students
Initially “worried about assessing the little ones,” Writsel and Ecton are seeing the benefits of computer-adaptive assessment. With the CPAA, after each incorrect response, students receive a second chance. They see a follow-up question with an additional hint or scaffold. This unique feature has helped Bowling Green students continue to learn even while taking an assessment and has enabled teachers to receive more accurate data by identifying misunderstandings more precisely than a regular test. “The scaffolding is a great feature, because it places students on their individual instructional level,” says Ecton.

The adaptive, scaffolded format not only makes the assessment quick to administer but also ensures that students are challenged appropriately, not bored or frustrated. Writsel adds, “The students enjoy it. It’s not like taking a test. The questions are attractive.”

Detailed, Immediate Information Helps in Intervention Planning
Teachers are putting the CPAA’s instant reports and instructional recommendations to work in the context of RTI. Ecton says, “We really do use all of the reports. The individual student reports contain detailed information that we use to identify gaps. This tool has helped make our process more systematic and efficient.” Ecton also mentions that teachers use the reports to quickly assign students to groups for additional instruction on specific concepts that seem to have been misunderstood.