Assessment & Evaluation

The Las Vegas City Schools Department of Assessments and Evaluations strives to prepare all of its pupils to meet or surpass district, state, and nationwide standards. With the help of accurate data from pertinent testing we can learn what needs to be addressed to help the students achieve all benchmarks. In addition, we need the support and commitment of all parents to impress upon their students the importance of all testing, so that the results will be accurate and a true reflection of their abilities.

PED Assessment Schedule 24-25

Statewide Test Assignment Guidelines 24-25

NMPED Federal Testing Requirements

Contact

Saras Reddy, District Test Coordinator
Phone: (505) 429-2648
Email

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Formative assessments are required by the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) and are administered at various times of the year to provide teachers a measure for each student’s growth. Formative assessments provide educators with the tools needed to inform instruction and drive student achievement. They help teachers answer the questions:

  • Where are you now?

  • Where are you going?

  • What is the best way to get there?

  • Are we on the right course?

Las Vegas City Schools currently uses short-cycle assessments (a type of formative assessment tool) delivered by Discovery Education Assessments. Discovery offers a variety of interim benchmarks and common assessments that are reliable, state-specific, and built on the most up-to-date research, software, and psychometrics. Discovery Education Assessments also offers a support system for Response to Intervention (RTI), an individualized support system for each student who is struggling. With the information garnered from assessments, Discovery helps our teachers screen for students at risk, monitor progress, measure growth, and identify students' response to intervention.

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENTS

Summative Assessments are given at a particular time during the year to measure what the student has learned and what he/she has not learned. The most well-known summative assessment in New Mexico is the Standards Based Assessment (SBA) that is given to students in the spring. These tests are important because they tell a school whether the students have learned the objectives that were established for that year. A summative assessment at the classroom level is a measure that is generally used as part of the grading or accountability process of the student, the school and even the teacher. Some examples of summative assessments are:

  • State assessments (SBA)

  • End-of-unit or chapter tests

  • End-of-term or semester exams

Because summative assessments occur after instruction every few weeks, months, or once a year, they are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.



W-APT and ACCESS

Any student who is new to the district is given a Home Language Survey, and if the survey reveals any background in another language other than English, the student is identified as a PHLOTE (Person with a Home Language Other Than English). Pursuant to the laws of New Mexico, all students with another language background must be screened to determine whether any student is considered an English Language Learner. If the student is identified as an ELL he/she has the right to additional instructional supports in English Language Arts and is provided with 45 minutes of instruction in another classroom. In order to measure the academic language growth of each ELL, the ACCESS test is administered in January and February to all ELL students. The writing portion is given in groups, while the reading and speaking portion is given individually. Once the student attains the minimum score considered proficient, the student is exited from the English Language Development program. The ELD program is meant to help a student augment his/her English skills in order to find success in other subjects and is completely separate from Special Educational Services.