Are We Over-Testing in Schools?

Test overload – a hot topic turned national debate in today's education realm – has parents, educators, school officials, and government representatives asking, "How much testing is too much?"

Of course, assessments are fundamental and essential to informing the teaching-learning process. The mounting conflict with assessments is centered on their growing complexity and redundancy, and the invaluable time they take away from teaching and learning.

There is a way to challenge the status quo, however, and it starts with making the administration, scoring, and data collecting efforts of assessments as time efficient and effective as possible.

Administer Assessments in Just Minutes

Assessing students to capture understanding and basic skill competency should not be a time-consuming process. In fact, administering quick, reliable assessments that can be completed in just one to ten minutes has proven to be vastly successful in schools across the country.

aimsweb™Plus—an assessment, data management, and reporting system for grades K-8—delivers brief, valid, and reliable assessments that ensure the most relevant student performance data is collected in the least amount of time.

In turn, this can significantly reduce test overload and the amount of time students and teachers spend away from instruction and classroom activities.

Only Measure What Matters

These short student assessments target the most indicative and critical math and reading skills, screening and progress monitoring in one system.

The measures—designed around grade-level standards and end-of-year targets—ensure that only the most important and effective assessments are administered.

Through brief, timed assessments that are based on rich tasks validated as vital signs or indicators of basic skill outcomes, educators can:

• Minimize time spent on testing
• Determine students' level of comprehension
• Pinpoint students' strengths and areas for improvement
• Identify at-risk students in need of additional support or intervention
• Measure the effectiveness of instruction or intervention efforts
• Improve the student learning experience

You can learn more about what this looks like by exploring sample aimswebPlus reports.

Real-Time Data on One Seamless, Web-Based Assessment System

In addition to the number of assessments we place in front of students, the type of data these assessments yield and how assessment results are being used should be challenged, too.

It’s simply not enough to deliver short educational assessments; these assessments must be tied to valid, real-time, understandable data.

On the aimswebPlus system, educators are empowered to differentiate and track targeted instruction. From relevant reports that reveal a student’s sensitivity to growth, educators can also predict student performance on end-of-year targets.

Learn how the aimswebPlus all-in-one benchmarking and progress monitoring system can help your district make more effective and efficient instructional decisions with less time spent on assessments.