MEETING GOALS
CNMI Assessments Near Completion

By Rita A. Sablan and Jackie A. Quitugua

School systems across the nation are responding to the call for higher expectations and increased accountability. In the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), teachers and administrators have responded to this call with an enthusiastic YES! Recognizing that teaching, learning, assessment, and reporting can be improved, the CNMI Public School System (PSS) established the following objectives to help meet these goals:

• identify rigorous outcomes in student terms;
• engage the community in the educational process; and
• collect and report data that documents student achievement, reflects progress at the broader school and system levels, and informs future initiatives.

The CNMI PSS began by establishing challenging standards and rigorous benchmarks. This process was carried out with input from educators, parents, and community members. At the same time, the PSS instituted coordinated professional development programs. The final step in the process was to plan and implement an assessment and reporting system.

A good accountability system provides information for data-driven school improvement planning, tracking student achievement through a student-centered process, and reforming curriculum with an eye toward rigorous standards and accountability. The PSS Data System (PSSDS) meets these criteria, incorporating student data from norm- and criterion-referenced assessments, educator qualifications, professional development records, and other qualitative and quantitative data. Information from the PSSDS is used to set goals, identify entity-wide activities, and develop school-based improvement plans.

Students are at the center of the process, both as a measure of progress and as the beneficiaries of improvement efforts. One component of the PSSDS, the Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan, is intended to create school environments that nurture high levels of student achievement. Under the student accountability plan, student performance is assessed and monitored throughout the year. Data is compiled from classroom assessments, criterion-referenced assessments based on the CNMI content standards and benchmarks, and standardized external assessments such as the SAT9. This data is then triangulated to provide valid and reliable measures of student achievement. Student self-assessment adds an important dimension to this process.

Implementation of the PSS Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan is nearly complete. SAT9 data has been collected for five years. The criterionreferenced CNMI standards-based assessments, developed under the guidance of Dr. Don Burger from PREL’s Pacific Assessment Systems and Services, are currently being piloted and implemented. Assessments in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies will take place during the 2003-2004 school year.

The dramatic increase in data creates a new challenge: how best to put it to use. The PSS shares the information freely with parents and community members and works closely with schools to assist them in effectively using the data. Schools are guided through a process in which the information is carefully reviewed. Current research is consulted, and data-based action plans are developed. The PSSDS, and the Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan incorporated in it, provides the PSS and the people of CNMI with new tools and information to continue moving forward.

For additional information about the CNMI Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan, contact Rita Sablan at sablanr@pss.cnmi.mp or Jackie Quitugua at quitugua_ja5@hotmail.com. Rita Sablan is the CNMI PSS Associate Commissioner for Curriculum and Instruction.