Administration of the Interim Assessments

The interim assessments can be administered flexibly by teachers to best meet their instructional needs. All student results will note the manner in which the assessment was administered (standardized/non-standardized). This information is provided when viewing results in the online reporting system.

Standardized

Standardized administration means that a student completes the interim assessment individually, following the procedure for administration used for the summative assessments. For students, the opportunity to become familiar with the procedure of standardized administration can help them approach the summative assessment with more confidence. For educators, results from a standardized administration can provide data about what an individual student knows and can do. Standardized administration affords the opportunity to use comparable data across classrooms, buildings, and subgroups based on the content assessed. The data can inform decision making about instructional next steps, professional learning needs, and curriculum gaps.

Non-Standardized

If the sole need is to inform instruction within a classroom, an educator may elect to administer an interim in a non-standardized way. Non-standardized administration refers to any administration that is not consistent with the administration requirements of the summative assessment. Some examples of non-standardized administration might include (but are not limited to):

• Administering tests while students answer cooperatively in pairs, in small groups, or as a whole class. For example, as a whole class, a teacher may elect to read each item aloud and use a think aloud strategy or include some discussion time between test items, and each student completes the assessment individually with this assisted support.
• Administering tests individually with modified standardized requirements. For example, provide scaffolded support to all student questions. Log the questions being asked during test administration to inform instruction using student misconceptions and barriers during the assessment.
• Administering tests and having students self-assess, or provide peer feedback, on short answer and extended response questions by having students hand score items.
• Administering tests by providing interim assessment resources and tools other than those approved in the Usability, Accessibility and Accommodations Guidelines (e.g., use of text to speech, a script, or multiplication table by a student who does not have an IEP and a documented need for this accommodation).

Non-standard administration does not necessarily describe the performance of individual students in a comparable manner; therefore, caution must be used when interpreting classroom results of tests administered in these ways.

When deciding how to administer an interim assessment, consider the purpose. Is it to be an assessment OF learning or an assessment FOR learning? For example, using standardized administration at the beginning of a unit can be used as an assessment FOR learning if the information informs instructional next steps. Using standardized administration at the end of an instructional unit is an assessment OF learning. Non-standardized administration can be used in the assessment OF learning, but caution should be used. when interpreting results.

Remember that data from an interim assessment, both standardized and non-standardized administrations are most useful as an assessment FOR learning. As part of a balanced assessment system, interim assessments are formative tools to identify students’ learning needs and to guide instructional next steps to move learning forward. Each Interim Assessment Block, or Focused Interim Assessment Block, has a corresponding Interim Connections Playlist (ICP) available in Tools for Teachers. The ICP includes a Performance Progress chart that shows the attributes of Below/Near/Above results for each skill assessed. The ICP also includes links to Instructional Resources that have been written and vetted by teachers to use for targeted instruction with these same skills.