Frequently Asked Questions

Answers to the Questions from the First Community Forum on August 12

What has changed since we last met?

The Oregon Department of Education announced on Tuesday, August 17 that it had updated the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Resiliency Framework, clarifying some mask rules. If a student won’t wear a mask, school staff can offer remote options but cannot teach them in person, new language in the framework says. For an overview of the change, visit the Oregon Schools Boards Association website.

What standardized assessments are used in the North Marion School District?

High School Assessments

How is learning assessed at North Marion High School? 

At the High School, we typically have assessed 11th-grade student proficiency using work samples in reading, writing, and math. 

The mandatory State Assessment in English/Language Arts and math for 11th grade is a standardized assessment that also assesses student proficiency in reading, writing, and math. It is still required this school year.

Until 2021, both the 11th-grade mandatory State Assessment and secure classroom-based work samples had satisfied the state Essential Skills requirement for graduation.

What has changed regarding the Essential Skills requirement and what does the change mean? 

Although Senate Bill 744 suspends the Essential Skills requirement through the 2024 school year, classroom work samples will continue to provide our high school students and teachers statewide with progress toward meeting grade-level standards. 

In addition, North Marion High School is determining whether they will use state Interim Assessments as another tool in providing evidence of student learning toward the standards in reading, writing, and math. An interim assessment is designed to support teaching and learning throughout the year.

K-8 Assessments

How does K-8 do assessments?

The North Marion School District teaches the Oregon State Content Standards, in all K-12 classrooms. This year, we will implement Measures of Academic Progress (NWEA MAP), which assess and monitor student progress toward meeting standards in the following areas:

• MAP Reading Growth in grades 2-5
• MAP Reading Fluency in grades K-5

In addition, Grades K-5 will implement a Number Sense screener, a tool to assess students’ proficiency in math standards. 

For K-8 math instruction, the iReady Diagnostic assessment is used to inform students and teachers about progress toward grade-level math standards.

These assessments will be completed three times throughout the year to determine where students are in their learning and to inform our instructional practices for moving learning forward. 

Assessment Types Used Throughout the School District

What else does the North Marion School District do to facilitate teaching and learning?

In addition to the assessments listed above, our district emphasizes formative assessment practices, sometimes called assessments for learning, which means they happen as the student is learning new content. Designed to support students in the moment-to-moment process of learning, these assessments happen every day throughout each instructional period. Teachers describe the learning goals and success criteria so students to answer these questions:

• Where am I going?
• Where am I now?
• Where to next?

What are a few examples of how a teacher can use formative assessments to improve teaching and learning?

Formative assessment practices include: 

• Creating clear learning goals;
• Creating clear criteria for all student work ;
• Using tasks/activities that elicit evidence of student learning, coupled with higher-order questioning and discourse; 
• Using descriptive feedback; 
• Providing peer feedback opportunities;
• Completing a self-assessment;
• Fostering a collaborative culture of learning; and 
• Using evidence to inform instruction.

Wait, isn’t there another kind of assessment? How is it different?

Oregon State Assessments are summative, meaning they are assessments of learning and provide an overall assessment of how a student achieved proficiency to grade-level standards at the end of an academic year. State-level summative assessments are typically used for school accountability, program evaluation, and to estimate groups of students’ achievement levels. Students may opt out of the English/Language Arts and math state assessments, with parental permission.