Skip To Main Content

Overview

Standards and Assessments

"Assessments are an integral part of education in our state; in fact, they are included in the state’s definition of instruction in OAR 581-022-0102(30)(a). At their most basic level, assessments are the tools and practices we use to collect and interpret the information we need to make decisions in everyday life....

Quality assessments provide results that are used to inform a broad range of decisions at the classroom, district, and state levels:

  • Students and their parents use assessment results to check mastery of key learning targets;
  • Teachers use formative assessment practices and interim/benchmark assessments in the classroom to identify gaps in student learning and adjust instruction;
  • Teachers and administrators use summative assessment results to review learning patterns annually, to determine systems-level changes that might be required from year-to-year;
  • State and local leaders use summative assessment results to make important policy decisions, like where and how to invest in Oregon schools and how to hold schools accountable for the outcomes of those investments."

(from Oregon Department of Education "Statewide Assessments"  from https://www.oregon.gov/ode/educator-resources/assessment/Pages/Statewide-Assessments.aspx)