EdVisions Schools

Evaluation and Assessment of Student Growth

EdVisions Schools as an organization expects all schools who are awarded grant money
to adhere to a comprehensive plan for evaluating and assessing student growth. Although
evaluation of a school community is not limited to the assessment of student growth, it is
the most important aspect of the successful school. All resources ought to point toward
achieving success in student transformation.

The most important determination as to whether or not students’ achieve is their

development as a self-directed life-long learner. If a person is self-directed and knows
they have resources both from within themselves and from without, they will become a
successful and productive person. Knowledge as to whether or not this has taken place in
your students is the most important knowledge you can have in regard to decisions on
program, personnel, and other resource allocation.

Therefore, adherence to the following plan will assure your staff, board and other
sponsors that you have indeed made an important transformation in the lives of the young
people who have matriculated in your school community. The EdVisions Evaluation Plan
consists of five elements. Although this appears to be a large number of assessments, and
is well beyond expectations of your state’s NCLB requirements, we believe all of the
items form a holistic and value-added look at student transformation toward becoming a
productive learner.

1. Recording and reporting Core Demographic Data:

a. As a member of the Alternative High School Initiative of the Gates Small
Schools Project, we have agreed to keep track of common core data
pertaining to student demographics. Almost all of this data is necessary to
report to your state agencies, except for a small number of items (see other
documents). This data is important in order to evaluate incoming students’
needs and to report the precondition of learners.

2. Recording and reporting standardized test data on Reading and Math scores.
a. Most EdVisions grantees will be encouraged to use the Northwest
Evaluation Association’s Measure of Academic Progress and will report
RIT scores in a value-added manner. If these tests are not used, then raw
scores from any other state-wide or nationally normed test ought to be
recorded. (If raw scores are not indicative of growth, please discuss with
us an alternative).
b. These scores ought to be kept on each student in a common data-base with
other data, preferably using the Hope Study Identification Number as a
placeholder so that we can compare developments of each.
 3. Recording and reporting the development of Process Skills using a rubric
developed by EdVisions practitioners.
a. Skills such as Project Management, Responsibility, Collaboration,
Presentation, and Use of Technology will be subjectively measured,
quantified and kept in the data-base on a year-to-year basis.

4. Recording and reporting development of Higher Order Thinking Skills.

a. This would entail assessing such skills as Analysis, Synthesis, Problem-
Solving, Creativity, and sophisticated Communication. These scores
would be recorded and reviewed in a value-added manner.
b. This may be done either via subjective analysis on an EdVisions designed
rubric, or using the Collegiate and Work Readiness Assessment.

5. Recording and reporting the development of Dispositional Hope. All students will
be expected to take the series of self-perception surveys that diagnose school
culture as it relates to relationships, relevance and rigor.
a. Autonomy, Belongingness, Goal Orientation, Engagement and Hope Index
scores will be recorded per school or advisory (we recommend NOT per
student) and will be used by each staff in creating school-wide
improvement plans.
b. EdVisions will utilize individual Hope scores to analyze correlations
between development of basic skills (reading and math), development of
process skills, and development of higher order thinking skills if each
school site will maintain a spreadsheet of student’s scores in each category
with students identified by their Hope Study Identification Number.

Each of these five elements of a comprehensive assessment plan will be explained in

more detail in the Summer Institute and by EdVisions coaches. It may seem daunting at
first to contemplate daily assessment and tracking of all of these items. However, if a
staff establishes the procedures and tracking mechanisms as they begin their first school
year, and establish the assessment of each student on an ongoing basis, they will fulfill
the mission and goal of creating a school community that encourages growth of young
people into self-directed, life-long learners.

EdVisions Schools believes in assessing competencies as outputs, not inputs such as seat
time and curriculum. Therefore, it is important that we do the job well in order to
overcome the traditional bias toward test results, attendance numbers, number of AP
courses and other such measures. EdVisions will give you all the support you need to
accomplish this comprehensive evaluation plan.