School-wide Assessment Program
New Vista School
School-wide Assessment Tools
ACT Plan: The Plan program helps our 9th and 10th graders build a solid foundation for future academic and career success. It is a comprehensive guidance resource that will help our students measure their current academic development, explore career/training options, and make plans for the remaining years of high school and post-graduation years. The Plan can help students who are interest in college or who are interested in entering the workforce directly after high school. The Plan is a powerful predictor of success on the ACT. It focuses attention on both career preparation and improving academic achievement. The PLAN not only includes career subtests, but includes academic testing in English, math, reading, and science.
ACT Explore: The Explore will be used to assess our students in the 8th grade. Scores give information about your child’s knowledge, skills, interests, and plans. Students, parents, and teachers can use this information in order to develop a high school plan and begin thinking about college and work. The assessment includes a career inventory along with English, math, reading and science subtests.
Brigance Life Skills Inventory: The BLSI is an authentic assessment for developing transition goals. It will assist staff in determining your child’s present levels of performance and to monitor and report progress. It assess the following skill areas: speaking, listening, money, finance, functional writing, food, common signs, warning labels, clothing, health, telephone, travel, and transportation.
CAT/5: The California Achievement Test, 5th Edition, accurately measures achievement in reading, language, spelling, mathematics, study skills, science, and social studies. In the area of reading, the CAT/5 looks at word analysis, vocabulary, and comprehension. The spelling subtest provides feedback regarding vowel sounds, consonant sounds, and structural units. The language mechanics and language expression subtests work together to measure a broad range of language and writing skills. Test items measure the ability to apply standard usage and writing conventions and to develop effective sentences and paragraphs. In math, the CAT/5 assesses the ability to perform fundamental mathematics operations, apply mathematical concepts, and use a variety of problem-solving strategies. Study Skills measures how well students can carry out independent study using information-processing skills that they can apply across subject areas.
Science items sample knowledge of the natural world and assess inquiry skills. The Social Studies subtest measures understanding of various disciplines needed for a comprehensive global perspective: geography, economics, history, government, citizenship, sociology, and anthropology.
Career Assessment Inventory: The CAI compares your child’s occupational interests to those of individuals in specific careers. In using the assessment, we will be able to assist our students in developing a study and career plan.
KTEA II Brief: The KTEA-II Brief is an individually administered battery that gives you a flexible, thorough assessment of the key academic skills in reading, math, written language, and oral language.
Multiple Intelligences: This theory of human intelligence, developed by psychologist Howard Gardner, suggests there are at least seven ways that people have of perceiving and understanding the world. Gardner labels each of these ways a distinct “intelligence”–in other words, a set of skills allowing individuals to find and resolve genuine problems they face.
• Verbal-Linguistic–The ability to use words and language
• Logical-Mathematical–The capacity for inductive and deductive thinking and reasoning, as well as the use of numbers and the recognition of abstract patterns
• Visual-Spatial–The ability to visualize objects and spatial dimensions, and create internal images and pictures
• Body-Kinesthetic–The wisdom of the body and the ability to control physical motion
• Musical-Rhythmic–The ability to recognize tonal patterns and sounds, as well as a sensitivity to rhythms and beats
• Interpersonal–The capacity for person-to-person communications and relationships
• Intrapersonal–The spiritual, inner states of being, self-reflection, and awareness
Through the use of a Multiple Intelligence assessment, our staff will be better able to understand the modalities in which your child learns and designed their lessons to best serve your child.
Portfolios: Portfolios are collections of selected student work representing an array of performance. Throughout the school year, teachers will collect samples of your child’s work in order to determine if progress is being made. Student portfolios vary widely in content and purpose and even in who decides what goes into the portfolio. Each individual teacher will make a determination as to what items will be placed in the portfolio.
Social Behavior Assessment Inventory (SBAI): New Vista School uses the SBAI at the beginning and end of the school year to measure growth and progress of its students. The Social Behavior Assessment Inventory by Thomas M. Stephens and Kevin D. Arnold, is a teacher based rating instrument that measures the performance level of social behaviors exhibited by students in a classroom setting. The SBAI yields scores within four areas of social behaviors: Environmental Behaviors, Interpersonal Behaviors, Self-Related Behaviors, and Task-Related Behaviors. Information from the SBAI is used to identify areas where students may have social behavior deficits.
New Vista School
Student Assessment Schedule
Grades 6
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
April – CAT/5
Continual – Portfolios
Grade 7
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
April – CAT/5
Continual – Portfolios
Grade 8
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
October – ACT Explore
Continual – Portfolios
Grade 9
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
October – ACT Plan
Continual – Portfolios
Grade 10
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
October – ACT Plan
Grade 11
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
October – ACT
Continual – Portfolios
Grade 12
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
October – ACT
Continual – Portfolios
FAME (Grades 6 – 8)
Sept. – KTEA II Brief
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
Nov. – Brigance Functional Skills
Continual – Portfolios
HITS (Grades 9 – 12)
Sept. – KTEA II Brief
Sept. – Multiple Intelligence Assessment
Sept./June – SBAI
Nov. – Brigance Functional Skills
June: Career Assessment Inventory
Continual – Portfolios
Continual: Portfolios
June: Career Assessment Inventory
