Sixth Grade District Assessments

Language Arts Literacy Assessments

1. Writing Assessment - Persuasive writing

Format & Tasks

Student writes for 45 minutes in response to a written prompt also read by the teacher. The teacher scores this writing using the New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric. A rubric score of 4 out of a possible 6 is expected in the 6^th grade. Review class data sheet for all students to see if selected student scores above/below benchmark and how they perform compared to classmates.

Instructional Implications

In addition to the overall rubric score we should note the criteria skills that were and were not exhibited from NJDOE’s rubric. This analysis can guide instruction, including setting goals and addressing weaknesses. In this endeavor, note the following skills from NJDOE’s rubric:

1.   Content / Organization - communicates intended message to intended audience; relates to topic; opening and closing; focused; logical progression of ideas; transitions; & appropriate details and information

2.   Usage - tense formation; subject-verb agreement; pronouns usage/ agreement; word choice/meaning; & proper modifiers)

3.   Sentence Construction - variety of type, structures, and length; & correct construction

4.   Mechanics – spelling, punctuation, & capitalization

In addition, NJDOE’s Editing & Revising Rubric, Author’s Self Reporting Form, as well as Cumulative Progress Indicators can be utilized to identify strengths and weaknesses to be addressed in classroom instruction, school-based interventions, special education evaluations and reports and integrated into IEPs (e.g., PLAAFP Statements, Goals & Objectives, & Supplementary Aids and Services). 

The following research-based instructional strategies can address identified weaknesses and may be noted in classroom instruction, school-based interventions, and IEP programs & services (e.g., IEP goals and objectives), based on a student’s needs:

1.     Model the writing we want student to produce independently.

2.     Provide coaching and scaffolding where necessary.

3.     Have student articulate and reflect on compositional strengths and needs.

4.     Provide student with frequent writing experiences in all content areas to build confidence and competence.

5.     Student should generate topics, plan, write, revise, and edit writing.

Reading Assessments

1. Novels Assessment – Fall & Spring

Format & Tasks

All students in the 6^th grade read the same novel in the fall and another novel in the Spring. There are classroom activities where the text is discussed, multiple perspectives are shared, & insights are gained. In December & May all 6^th grade students are given the same assessment on these two books. The assessments are given on the same day throughout the district and take place during a 40-minute period. The assessments also follow the same format as the State's standards-based assessments. There are 10 multiple-choice questions worth 5 points each and 2 open-ended questions worth 25 points each. Each open-ended question utilizes the NJDOE scoring rubric with the following point allocations: rubric score of 4 = 25 points; rubric score of 3 = 15 points; rubric score of 2 = 10 points; rubric score of 1 = 5 points; & rubric score of 0 = 0 points.

Knowledge/skills being assessed

Reading Comprehension –

1.     Recognition of theme or central idea

2.     Recognition of details that develop or support the main idea

3.     Extrapolation of information &/or following directions

4.     Paraphrasing, retelling, or interpreting words, phrases, or sentences from the text

5.     Recognition of the organizational structure of a text

6.     Recognition of a purpose for reading

7.     Questioning

8.     Prediction of tentative meanings

9.     Making judgments &/or forming opinions

10.   Drawing conclusions from the text

11.   Drawing conclusions or drawing inferences

12.   Interpretation of textual conventions & literacy elements or devices

Instructional Implications

The student’s performance on the above skills can assist in identifying strengths and weakness, which can be addressed in classroom instruction, school-based interventions, special education evaluations and reports and integrated into IEPs (e.g., PLAAFP Statements, Goals & Objectives, & Supplementary Aids and Services).  The district’s curriculum and the Harcourt textbook resources can be utilized to enrich skills where strengths are noted and address weaknesses. In addition, NJDOE’s cumulative progress indicators, framework activities, as well as vignettes can be utilized to enrich identified strengths and address areas of weakness.

Math Assessments

1. Fall Problem Solving Tasks

The district distributes a group of problem-solving tasks in early Fall, which are aligned with the state's standards and district curriculum for the corresponding grades, and are designed to help students develop critical thinking strategies and problem solving skills.  These tasks can prepare the students for the types of open-ended and multiple-step questions they encounter on the state’s standards-based assessments. Consequently, they can be used in the classroom as an informal evaluation tool to identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses on the content and format of the state’s assessments. However, the teacher, school, and district do not formally document the students’ performance on the Fall Problem Solving Tasks. 

Teachers pose the problem solving tasks to the class then facilitate student discussion to ensure that students understand the task. Students break into groups to work on the problem. While students work, the teacher moves from group to group, listening, questioning, facilitating, and assessing. Students should be encouraged to explore, take risks, and question one another. Students record their solutions using diagrams, charts, symbols, and explaining their ideas in writing. The problem solving tasks should be used to facilitate the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Process standards. 

2. Math Midterm and Final Assessments:

These assessments are designed by the district and are similar in format to the New Jersey Standardized assessments. On the mid-term and finals, there are both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. The majority of the questions are multiple-choice, where the student chooses the best answer from among 4 choices and darkens in the circle of the correct choice. For the open-ended questions, the student provides solutions using a combination of diagrams, charts, symbols, and verbal explanation of how he/she solved the problem on a blank piece of paper or in the test booklet.

The open-ended questions are scored with generic New Jersey Registered Holistic Scoring Rubric for math that gives 0 to 3 points for each answer. The generic rubric helps ensure that students are scored in the same way for the same demonstration of knowledge and skills regardless of the test question. The open-ended questions require students to construct and explain their own written or graphic responses. Since partial credit can be earned, it’s critical that students show their work and explain their answers.

3. Unit Assessments:

The unit tests are part of the standards-based, Connected Mathematics series published by Prentice Hall. These assessments measure student progress in the Connected Math curriculum and are administered to students as they finish each unit.  The questions on these assessments measure mathematical competency at multiple levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.

SPA Assessments:

The SPA assessments are similar in content and design to NJ-ASK, GEPA, and HSPA. It is a standards-based assessment given to all Newark’s 6^h grade students in March; however, it assesses CPI expectations for the end of the 6^h grade. In addition, although it utilizes multiple-choice and open-ended questions, evaluated with scoring rubrics, the reporting out doesn’t provide this type of differentiated feedback, nor an item analysis on how each student performs on each assessed skill. Consequently, the ability to identify each student’s strengths and weaknesses is very limited.  

The various subjects are reported as scale scores that range from 100 to 300, and help identify various proficiency levels of our students in each assessed subject. If the student is in the "Advanced Proficient" or "Proficient" level, he/she has met the state standards for that content area. A student needs to achieve a minimum score of 200 to achieve proficiency in that subject. On the other hand, scores below 200 are in the "Partially Proficient" level, which means that the student has not met the state's minimum level of proficiency in that subject. Clearly, on a global level, the proficiency level in LAL and Math can identify strengths and weaknesses. 

In addition, each student’s Individual Student’s Report (ISR) allows for a cluster analysis for each subject. Each subject (Language Arts Literacy & Math) has subtotals for all the clusters of skills that make up that subject.

This section of the ISR compares the student’s performance in each particular cluster skill to other students who just achieved proficiency (score of 200) on the overall assessment. Therefore, relative strengths and/or weaknesses may be cautiously identified for students performing above &/or below this “Just Proficient Mean” respectively. These relative strengths and weaknesses should be integrated into classroom instruction, school-based interventions, special education evaluations and reports, IEP PLAAFP statements and goals/objectives, and classroom instructional activities. (For a more comprehensive analysis of a student’s assessment results see the Example of an analysis of Individual Student Report (ISR)

However, to get a true picture of each student’s strengths and weaknesses in the general education curriculum his/her scores on the SPA must be supplemented with class work, homework, teacher-made tests, district wide assessments discussed above, and the Cumulative Progress Indicators, which specify the expectations by the end of the 6^th grade on learning New Jersey’s Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS), referenced on the bottom of this page.

Science:

Foss & FTC Modules

-FOSS assessment takes the form of informal teacher observation and teacher questioning. The teacher guide suggests behavior to watch for during investigations and questions to ask about the content. Assessments fall into two categories: formative and summative. Formative assessments are integrated into instruction. Based on these two means of assessment, teachers will know how to adjust their teaching for individual students or for the whole class. A recording system is included.

  New Jersey's Core Curriculum Content Standards (CCCS) -

The above district wide and statewide assessments are aligned with New Jersey's Core Curriculum Content Standards. Therefore, teachers, parents, administrators, school-based intervention teams and/or IEP teams can utilize the hyperlinked CPI (cumulative progress indicator) checklists developed by the Newark Teachers Union (NTU) for reading, writing, math, and science to identify strengths and weaknesses, in the corresponding grade's knowledge/skills. These strengths and weaknesses can be integrated into teachers' lessons, school-based interventions, special education evaluations/corresponding reports, and IEPs (e.g., PLAAFP statements, goals/objectives, and supplementary aids and services.