January 2018 Newsletter
Iowa Assessment Testing, Student Profile Report, & More
Iowa Assessments
The Iowa Assessment tests will be given to students in grades three through eleven (3-11) from Monday, April 2 – Friday, April 13. The test date for high schools is Wednesday, April 4. Please see the Critical Iowa Assessment Information booklet for information about testing. A KITE module, Iowa Assessments: Bldg Admins & Test Coordinators 17-18, is also available at https://dmschools.mindtickle.com/login. This module takes approximately 20 minutes to complete. The Critical Iowa Assessment Information booklet will be referenced throughout the KITE module.
Additionally, a KITE Module, Iowa Assessments: Teachers and Staff, will be available the first of February as a resource for building leaders to use to train staff. If you currently have a staff training plan that works for your building, you are not required to use the module.
An optional, in-person training for Building Administrators and Testing Coordinators new to administering the Iowa Assessment will be on Tuesday, February 27 from 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. at the Dean Operations Center, 1917 Dean Avenue, in room 112 East.
If you have any questions, contact Cindy Slinger at 242-8127 or Kim Martorano at 242-8505.
Elementary Assessment Advisory Committee
We have formed an elementary assessment advisory committee to provide recommendations to the superintendent on the assessments we administer to elementary students at a district level.  Our work will involve evaluating our current assessment system and identifying potential gaps.
The first item of business for the committee is a recommendation on math assessments.  DMPS has the opportunity to purchase the FastBridge math screeners and progress monitoring tools through Heartland AEA at a reduced rate. Several schools are piloting the FastBridge math assessment suite and will provide feedback to the committee.  The committee will also be looking into social/emotional learning assessments.  Stay tuned for updates from the committee on both math assessments and social/emotional learning assessments this spring!
Continuous Improvement Update
This month’s newsletter features Melissa Nevels as our first Status Quo Breaker and a Governing magazine article naming DMPS as a national example for continuous improvement. Find it here.
Tableau Reports Offline on January 15
Tableau will be down for maintenance on Monday, January 15 (MLK day). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Student Profile Report Available in Infinite Campus
We are excited to release the beta version of the Student Profile report in Infinite Campus, which summarizes all pertinent data (attendance, behavior, assessments, grades, etc.) for a single student. The Student Profile provides a report of key data about a student and their current performance in multiple areas—bringing together the data you need to support each student.  To view the Student Profile, select Campus tools, search for a student, select the student, and then click on the Student Profile tab.
Is anything unclear? Do you wish for another feature? Click the TELL US WHAT YOU THINK button to the left and let us know what is missing, unclear, or needs to be improved.  We will be collecting feedback through January 26.  After January 26, we will edit the Student Profile and will release the updated Student Profile to student and families via the Campus Portal on February 5.
State Updates Iowa School Report Card
The Iowa Department of Education (IDE) released the updated 2017 Iowa School Report Card to the public on December 13. There are no changes to the calculation of the report card this year, the release is an update to include 2016-17 school year data.
Here are some talking points we have developed around the Iowa School Report Card:
  • The goal of the Iowa School Report Card is to present data in a way that makes it easier for the public to access.  This tool may add to conversations about schools, but measures and ratings are based on limited data.
  • Only 11 to 14 percent (depending on school level) of the Iowa School Report Card ratings are based on growth.  Therefore, ratings do not reflect the value-add that schools provide to students and are more of a reflection of the demographics of the school.
  • The Iowa School Report Card ratings do not take increases in student achievement into account. A school may demonstrate significant increases in proficiency from year to year and the gains will not be reflected in the school’s rating.
  • Iowa Assessment results represent the majority (78-87%, depending on school level) of the measures in the Iowa School Report Card.  Therefore, ratings provide little to no insight on school performance beyond basic student proficiency.
  • DMPS will not use the Iowa School Report Card to inform decision-making in the district.
More information on the Iowa School Report Card is located here.

UPCOMING DATES

December 4: - January 12: Grades K-10: Winter MAP Growth Testing
January 12: Last Day of First Semester
January 15 - February 9: Grades K-3: FAST Testing
January 29 - March 9: Selected Schools Only: NAEP
February 13 - March 8: Grades K-12: ELPA21
February 27: Grade 11: ACT

WAIT. WHAT?

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I hope everyone had some time to relax and reflect over winter break. I am thankful to work with so many amazing people who are so dedicated to serving our kids.
As Always,
Data Diva & the Assessment, Data, & Evaluation Crew

PAST NEWSLETTERS
December 2017
November 2017
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September 2017
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February 2017
January 2017

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