DCPS announces the beatings, err testing will continue until morale approves

This is a letter staff just received about iReady and Achieve 3000 testing that will commence next week, presented without comment:

Teachers,

Next week students in Kindergarten through 11^th grade will begin taking the iReady and/or Achieve3000 diagnostic assessments in reading and mathematics.  While we will not be administering state and district tests, it is still important to assess the academic growth of our students for this school year. 

This diagnostic will not be graded and it will not count in the students’ final grades.  While we understand that there are inherent issues with administering a diagnostic in this manner, we want to reassure you that this is for student diagnostic purposes only to determine student growth, develop learning paths, and provide an additional data point for course placement for summer and/or the next school year.  In addition, this diagnostic will not be used for teacher evaluation purposes in any way.

It is also important to note that this diagnostic assessment will provide information that may inform us of the impact that Covid-19 and home instruction has had on our students. In addition, this diagnostic assessment should be taken in context along with many others throughout the year when making academic decisions about a student.  As teachers, we know you may spot anomalies in student data including significant underperformance/overperformance.  Your assessment of previous performance along with current course participation will be a vital piece of information as we begin to plan for the summer and next school year.

Your principal will be sending out information regarding your school’s administration of the diagnostic assessment.  The attached directions for at-home administration will be provided to parents and students on the Duval HomeRoom Portals, but it would be helpful for you to reiterate the information.

While students are assigned to take these diagnostics, please be particularly sensitive to the amount and types of work you assign.  We want students to give their best effort so that the data we receive back is reflective of their actual performance.  If students are worried about signing in to other classes or missing work deadlines, they may rush through the assessment or their performance may be impacted in other ways.   

We are providing the following link for teachers to submit additional questions/concerns regarding the Spring Diagnostic Administration:  Teacher Comment Survey Link. 

We will follow up with an FAQ document in the Weekly Briefing this Friday to ensure we have addressed all of your concerns.