From November 5th – 7th, students at the Ottawa Jewish Community School in Grades 3 – 8 will be writing the Fourth Edition of the Canadian Achievement Tests (CAT4). The purpose of this test is to inform instruction and programming for the 2019-202o school year, and to measure our students’ growth over time.
- If this is the first time you are visiting this topic on my blog, I encourage you to read my post on our philosophy of standardized test-taking.
- If you are curious about how we share the results of our standardized test-taking (and what those results have been), I encourage you to read that post as well.
What’s new for 2019-2020?
We have gone from offering the exam in Grades 3, 6, and 8 to Grades 3 – 8 in order to ensure that the data is actionable on all four levels – that of the individual student (is there something to note about how Jonny did in Mathematics from last year to this year?), individual classes (is there something to note about how Grade 5 scored in Spelling compared to when they were in Grade 4?), grades (is there something to note about how Grade 3 performed in Reading this year when compared to how Grade 3 did last year?), and the school as a whole (how does OJCS do in Vocabulary across the board?). Without testing the same students in the same subjects at the same time of year on an annual basis, we would not be able to notice, track or respond to meaningful patterns.
Reminder:
Standardized tests in schools that do not explicitly teach to the test nor use curriculum specifically created to succeed on the tests – like ours – are very valuable snapshots. Allow me to be overly didactic and emphasize each word: They are valuable – they are; they really do mean something. And they are snapshots – they are not the entire picture, not by a long shot, of either the child or the school. Only when contextualized in this way can we avoid the unnecessary anxiety that often bubbles up when results roll in.
Last year it took about six weeks to get results back, analyzed and shared out – to parents with individual results and to community with school metrics. We hope to be in that window of time again and look forward to making full use of them to help each student and teacher continue to grow and improve. We look forward to fruitful conversations. And we welcome questions and feedback through whatever channels they come…
