How do Interim Assessments Support Student Learning?

Interim assessments are used at intervals of 6-8 weeks throughout the

instructional year to inform student needs. Interim assessment shares many
similarities with formative and summative assessment, but is distinct in its
use. While formative assessment focuses on the real-time changes that need
to be made to accommodate learning in the moment, interim assessment
looks toward a year-end goal, like summative assessment does, and informs
whether the class is on track to accomplish that goal.
Interim assessment produces actionable data and allows educators to
identify strengths and weaknesses in their curriculum and systematically
improve upon them. Revisions to instruction can then be made before high-
stakes exams at the end of the school year. The formal format of interim
assessment can help students prepare before its too late to improve
learning.
As Bambrick-Santoyo said, the rigor of assessments drives the rigor of
the material taught in class. Interim assessment plays its role in rigorous
achievement by guiding year-long curriculum. This is the first assessment
educators should consider when planning their curriculum because its results
and data play a key role in changes in schools.
In Washington state, the state-testing consortium is known as the
Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). Interim assessment
through the SBAC is broken down into Interim Comprehensive Assessment
(ICA) and Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB). ICAs contain the same content
as the summative assessments and assesses the same standards. This is
helpful for familiarizing students with the state-testing format for all grades,
including those not required to test that year. IABs consist of a smaller set
of targets and provide greater flexibility to better support instruction. Data
and reports from either interim assessment type can be obtained from the
Smarter Balanced reporting system.
Viewing interim assessment as a future educator, I see its
implementation as being a powerful tool in viewing the path my students will
take through the curriculum. I think interim assessment must be
strategically placed and planned in order for it to be effective though.
Students must be aware of the level at which they need to perform to
achieve the standard. I dont believe a classroom norm for rigorous study
can be achieved without first setting that level through interim assessments.
 As a teacher, I believe it is my responsibility to bar against an
ineffective assessment. It is a waste of classroom time and does a disservice
to my students. When planning interim assessments I need to be conscious
of the connection between what my students are doing in the class and what
will be asked of them on the assessment. I also need to be sure not to test-
prep my students and come to inaccurate representations of their
comprehension.
At the moment, its difficult to say how I will use interim assessment.
My content area does not currently have a high-stakes test associated with
it, so I believe I will have more flexibility to administer interim assessments
and guide instruction accordingly. The aforementioned interim test examples
from the SBAC, (ICAs and IABs), are only available in Math and ELA, giving
me even greater freedom in selecting test items that I can place on interim
assessments. Now that I understand how important interim assessments are
I want to ensure that I create innovative tests that provide an accurate
measurement of my students achievements.
References:

Bambrick-Santoyo, P. (2010). Driven by data a practical guide for

school leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Perie, M., Marion, S., Gong, B., Wurtzel, J. (2007). The Role of Interim
Assessment in a Comprehensive Assessment System. The Aspen Institute.

Interim Assessment Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved April 27, 2017, from

http://www.smarterbalanced.org/assessments/

Perie, M., Marion, S., & Gong, B. (2009). Moving Toward a

Comprehensive Assessment System: A Framework for Considering Interim
Assessments. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, 28(3), 5-13.