Assessment Development

About the Program

Category: Children and Youth (Best in Category)

Year: 2014

Maricopa County Education Service Agency (MCESA), in collaboration with approximately 45 school districts, and with funds from federal Teacher Incentive Fund grants, developed assessments for 18 different non-state-tested subject areas to support the collection of valid and reliable assessment data to measure student academic progress and teacher effectiveness. In response to the 2011 Arizona Legislature’s revisions to ARS §15-203 requiring measures of student academic progress to account for 33% to 50% of an educator’s evaluation scores, MCESA’s assessment development process demonstrated an effective use of combined federal, state, and local funds that realized substantial economies of scale, built internal capacity, and produced and an exceptional product now in use by 27 districts, and growing throughout the county. MCESA’s mission is to ensure every child is educated by an effective system. To achieve that mission, one of the many functions of the agency is to support schools and districts in the county with the implementation of state-wide data use and technology initiatives and legislative priorities. MCESA assessment development process is an effective example of our mission at work that resulted in collaboratively developed valid and reliable classroom assessments for non-state-tested subject areas.