Success Academy Charter Schools

To say that this organization is "test obsessed" may be up for debate, but they did express a desire to prepare their students for state exams in a way that achieved superior results. To achieve this, I mimicked the New York State exams in their look, feel, content, standards distribution, and rigor. I developed a system of design, detailed content standards analysis, answer keys, and rubrics. I further conducted training for scorers to calibrate the assessments across the network. Finally, I designed graphic elements and page layout to look exactly like the exams did at that time. The provided sample is an example of a full-length 8th-grade exam.

Tools Used: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, MS Excel, MS Word.

Terryville High School

To better align student outcomes to the math department's desired objectives, I created a system of Interim Assessments given to all students in Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 four times per year. These exams were aligned with Common Core content standards and further aligned with standards found in an online platform offering computer-adaptive practice in several subjects, including math. The IXL alignment was established to instill a growth mindset and an increased emphasis on mastery. Students were allowed to "recover" missed credit for incorrect answers by practicing and demonstrating that they had learned the skill. As a result, there was a significant increase in student effort and performance. Scored results were captured in a spreadsheet and then merged to generate their reports and skills recovery. The system is still used at THS today, over four years after I left.

Tools Used: Google Forms and Sheets, MS Excel, MS Word, IXL.

Burlington High School

At BHS, an associate (who wrote me an AMAZING rec. letter, BTW) joined forces in our displeasure with assessment styles that were being practiced. We focused on proficiency-based assessment and learning, developing a growth mindset, and aligning priorities with 21st-Century Learning Skills. The result in mathematics was to encourage and assess student thinking rather than simple performance of algorithmic performance. We worked with high-school math teachers to develop Claim-Evidence-Reasoning tasks for students to concentrate on their reasoning skills and put more emphasis on mathematical practices. Additionally, we formed a common language for use in all academic areas to better align teaching and learning with graduation expectations throughout the school. This sample is an example of a math C-E-R task.