Summative+Assessments+with+DIBELS+and+MAPS

**Summative Assessment Tool** by Terri Jorgensen

Summative Assessments are given periodically to determine at a particular point in time what students know and do not know. The key is to think of summative assessment as a means to gauge, at a particular point in time, student learning relative to content standards. Summative assessments are tools to help evaluate the effectiveness of programs, school improvement goals, alignment of curriculum, or student placement in specific programs.(Garrison, C and Ehnrighaus, M., 2007)

A couple of summative assessment tools that are used by many schools and districts are the DIBELS testing and MAPS testing.

DIBELS is a web-based tool used mainly for reading skills such as letter naming, nonsense word reading, oral reading fluency, phoneme segmentation, and comprehension. This test is usually taken 3 times a year for most schools; fall, winter and spring. The DIBELS assessment cost is $1.00 per student per year. Each student is tested one on one and then the information is put into the web site data base. The reports that teachers can get are school reports, grade level reports, class reports, and student reports. Some of the features of these reports have are class progress graphs and summaries, individual student performance profiles which can include graphs. One report that is very useful in assessing the student and the program performance is the student history report. The report can give the student’s progression throughout their K-6 school years as well as yearly reports. The data can be used to make differentiated small groups in a classroom to help develop skills that a group of students are lacking. Reading groups are developed with the information. With each assessment given, the teacher can evaluate their own teaching practice and readjust the reading group according to the student’s progress. In between assessment, the DIBELS program has a progress monitoring component to make sure that the program or teaching process is staying on track since the test is given only 3 times during the year. The booklets can be reproduced for each student and monitored even on a weekly basis. (DIBELS)

 MAPS test is a computer-based with web-based reporting assessment tool used for math, reading and science evaluations. It goes along with The Common Core Standards. The MAPS testing cost approximately $13.00 per student a year based on a 4 time a year testing time frame. This is only for the reading and math; the science is an additional cost. The test has several different options for testing the different levels of students. The younger students and ELL students have the option of taking the test using headphone and it allows the questions to be read to them. The older grades don’t need headphones other than to keep noise level down. The results are downloaded from the school’s computer to the company and a RIT score is determined for each student. A RIT score is like a placement score. The test will give a question that is very hard or easy and then depending on how the student answered it, then it will go the other way. After 42 questions of going high and low, the test zones in on the students level. The web site has a lot of helpful tools. There is the teacher reports that tells each child's RIT score, a score range of each sub topic, comparative averages of other schools and state, and mean scores. In the class report, the teacher can split the class into quartiles to determine the areas the students are proficient and deficit in. If you choose an area of deficit, it will tell you what it is that those students need for that sub topic. There is also a student report that can be used for report cards and making differentiated group. Along with the RIT score, the report shows a graph of how the student has done throughout the year and it has the sub topic with an indicator of lo, med lo, med, med high, and high. These are great visuals for parents and students to show the student's level as well as where they should be.(Northwest Evaluation Association)



Garrison, C., & Ehringhaus, M. (2007). Formative and summative assessments in the classroom. Retrieved May 26, 2011 from []

Retrieved on May 26, 2011 from []

Retrieved on May 26, 2011 from []