The assessment program for Farmington Area Public Schools is designed to provide teachers, parents, and school administrators regular feedback on student achievement that will facilitate customized instructional decision making for every student. Student achievement is evaluated through teacher delivered classroom assessments, nationally normed standardized assessments and the required state assessments. The results of the various assessments are used in multiple ways. Individual student results are used to monitor student progress and identify areas in need of additional support or enrichment. Group results are evaluated to monitor intervention programs. Building and district results are used to evaluate district curriculum.
Standardized External Assessments
The following assessments used in the district provide a snapshot regarding what students have learned by a set point in the year. These summative assessments are used by the district and outside organizations including the Minnesota Department of Education as well as many colleges to evaluate the progress of our students and schools. The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) is developed by the state to meet federal No Child Left Behind assessment regulations and is given in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science at multiple grade levels. The Pre-ACT and ACT are tools to assist districts in developing students for high school and preparing for the transitions they make after graduation. The ACCESS is an English language proficiency assessment used to monitor progress of students in our English Language program as they acquire academic English.
Diagnostic and Progress Assessments
In addition to the formal summative assessments, staff use a variety of formative and diagnostic assessments to identify specific learning needs of students and to monitor growth throughout the year. These are both created by outside organizations as well as our own expert teaching staff. Formative and diagnostic assessments used in the district include: Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) also referred to as NWEA/MAP for Math and Reading (Grades 2-8), Reading Fluency Probes (Grades 1-5). Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) – (Grades K-5), Teacher-created common assessments connected to specific curriculum (K-12).