NWEA Spark Community

Welcome guest blogger Michael Lo Cascio. Michael  is the Data and Assessment Specialist at Valley View Community School District 365U in Illinois.As we begin to analyze the results of our latest NWEA testing many will notice a phenomenon known as negative growth, an occurrence most commonly seen in winter testing, where the RIT scores for some students appear to have fallen from previous levels in the year.  This unexpected fall in a student’s score can lead to confusion, misinterpretation, and even frustration when it comes to understanding student data. Read more

American students are going to need more and better reading, math, science, and problem solving skills if they are to succeed in college and enter the workforce in our increasingly competitive society. Without these skills and education beyond high school, it may be difficult to earn a living or to support a family.  Consequently, educators need better data to inform them about how their students are performing relative to college readiness standards, data that will allow them to identify and assist students who aspire to go to college but are not on track. Read more

January 31, 2012 - What are YOU hoping to hear about at Fusion??Things are heating up at the "Fusion headquarters"! Presentations and registrations are rolling in! And we are just putting the finishing details on our pre-conference event so expect to see something on the Fusion website soon!It looks like we may also be adding a fabulous featured speaker that will present and engage with attendees around school improvement and data analysis - stay tuned! Sure to be a valuable addition to the line up - We hope to announce that very soon.This is a great point in the planning to hear from you about what you would like to hear about at Fusion. What topics or issues are most important to you in your work that you hope to be able to glean insight in to at this conference? We welcome the feedback and input to shaping the content at Fusion to bring you the most value possible. Leave your comments and suggestions below. Read more

Some great insights and discussion on Common Core have been presented by a avariety of people in different areas of the educadtion field in this  blog collection by Learning Matters.  Among the voices, John Cronin, Director of The Kingsbury Center at NWEA. It's a great mix of perspecitives and experience including an assistant professor, educational writer, teacher, researcher and former president of NBPTS. They all tackle the question, "are Commom Core standards a good or bad for education?" What do you think? Read the blogs and share your perspectives. Read more

Culture eats strategy for breakfast In the high-stakes context of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), districts around the country are faced with making difficult decisions to reach academic benchmarks. One danger is the risk of ethical compromise. In 2009, pressure became so great for educators in urban schools of Atlanta that they cheated on the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) exam. Read more