Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems
A Local Comprehensive Assessment System (LCAS) employs a balance of assessment types to assess the standards approved by the Vermont State Board of Education, enabling data-informed decision-making regarding instruction, professional learning, and educational resources and curriculum. LCAS data also inform the development of Personalized Learning Plans and provide evidence of student proficiency for grade promotion or graduation.
Section List
Vermont Agency of Education Resources
K-3 Universal Reading Screener Guidance
Additional Local Comprehensive Assessment System Resource
Additional Local Comprehensive Assessment Resource
Jay McTighe Visits the Performance Assessment Peer Learning Community
Facilitating a Peer Learning Community
Beyond Standardized Tests: Using Performance Assessment in College Admissions
Performance Assessments Templates
Vermont Agency of Education Resources
This document, Strengthening and Streamlining Vermont Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems: Defining Essential Components, was created from a larger piece of work, Strengthening and Streamlining Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems, in order to develop a shared understanding of assessment terminology that is commonly used.
The Strengthening and Streamlining Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems: Guidelines and Support for Leadership Teams provides information to help educators in supervisory unions and districts develop a streamlined, balanced local comprehensive assessment system (LCAS) for all students. Appendix B includes assessment resources for mathematics and English language arts (ELA) as well as additional content areas.
- Arts LCAS Appendix B
- English Language Arts and Literacy Appendix B
- Financial Literacy LCAS Appendix B
- Math LCAS Appendix B
- Physical Education/Health LCAS Appendix B
- Science LCAS Appendix B
- Social Studies LCAS Appendix B
Essential Components for Ensuring Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems are Culturally Relevant and Equitable: This document serves to support supervisory unions and/or school districts (SUs/SDs) as they refine their local comprehensive assessment systems (LCAS) to ensure that assessments are equitable and culturally relevant.
“All instruction [and assessment] is culturally responsive. The question is: to which culture is it currently oriented?” —Gloria Ladson-Billings
This document offers detailed technical assistance and guidance to support the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems (LCAS) within school districts, in alignment with Act 173 requirements.
The LCAS Quality Criteria Single Point Rubric supports reflection on a system’s strengths and areas for growth, guiding next steps to improving balanced assessment systems.
Strengthening Local Assessment Systems for Personalized, Proficiency-Based Education: Strategies and Tools for Professional Learning includes a variety of resources that can be used to create high-quality local comprehensive systems of assessments. A webinar related to the report, Strengthening Local Assessment Systems for Personalized, Proficiency-Based Education: Strategies and Tools for Professional Learning, was recorded by Aurora Institute on January 14, 2021. Additionally, here is a link to the related slide deck.
K-3 Universal Reading Screener Guidance
Review and Recommendations: K-3 Universal Screener reviews universal reading screeners most commonly used in Vermont, offers recommendations, and provides practical guidance for screener selection and supplementation to meet Act 139 review criteria. For more information about this guidance or Act 139, visit AOE’s Read Vermont webpage.
Additional Local Comprehensive Assessment System Resource
How Systems of Assessments Aligned with Competency-Based Education Can Support Equity describes what school, district, and state leaders can do to develop balanced assessment systems that are coherent with target competencies and learning progressions, comprehensively provide a range of evidence for each student, serve multiple stakeholders, and continuously monitor students’ progress over time.
Performance Assessments
Essential Components of the Vermont Framework for Proficiency: Performance Assessments highlights the role of performance assessments within proficiency-based systems for fostering student agency and enabling learners to demonstrate the skills and knowledge essential for career, college, and civic life.
The document, Performance Assessment Tools and Resources, was created to provide access to materials that can be incorporated into Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems or adapted to meet local needs.
The Quality Criteria for Performance Assessments tool outlines key criteria for authentic performance assessments and can be used with the Agency of Education’s Performance Assessment Templates.
Jay McTighe Visits the Performance Assessment Peer Learning Community
Educational author Jay McTighe joined the Agency of Education’s PLC to address questions regarding the design and implementation of performance assessments. See below for details regarding the PLC and watch the recording to learn more.
Facilitating a Peer Learning Community
The goal for this PLC was to build a shared understanding of performance assessments' role in equity, student engagement, and authenticity based on the work of Jay McTighe in Designing Authentic Performance Tasks and Projects. To replicate a similar PLC, please see the following documents:
- Performance Assessment Peer Learning Community: An Introduction; and
- Facilitation Guide for a Peer Learning Community and Book Study Focused on Performance Assessments.
Beyond Standardized Tests: Using Performance Assessment in College Admissions
This webinar addresses the use of performance assessment as an equitable college admissions strategy.. During the webinar, speakers discuss Implications for postsecondary opportunities, access, and success when performance assessments are used in K-12 preparation and higher education admissions.
Performance Assessments Templates
Performance assessments play a vital role in a proficiency-based system. Performance assessment templates for content areas as well as an interdisciplinary template are available below.
Tools
Inclusive Practice Tool: The Accessibility Review from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education can be used to analyze common assessments to determine if assessments and assessment items effectively address what is important for students to know, understand, and be able to do. This tool will help educators identify elements at the item-specific level that interfere with students’ ability to demonstrate their knowledge.
Screening Tool: The National Center on Intensive Intervention at American Institutes for Research has created an Academic Screening Tools Chart that can be used to identify students at risk for poor academic outcomes, including students who require intensive intervention.
Questions?
Danielle Dupuis, Director of Assessment, Danielle.Dupuis@vermont.gov
Pat Fitzsimmons, Local Comprehensive Assessment Systems, Pat.Fitzsimmons@vermont.gov or (802) 828-5896