SAC Data-Driven Decision Making & Assessment 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following best describes the purpose of a universal screening assessment?
- To diagnose specific learning disabilities
- To identify all students who may need additional academic or behavioral support (Correct answer)
- To evaluate teacher performance
- To determine gifted program eligibility
Correct answer: To identify all students who may need additional academic or behavioral support
Universal screening assesses all students at set intervals to flag those at risk and in need of further support, forming the foundation of MTSS Tier 1.
Question 2: A school administrator presents benchmark data showing that 60% of students are below proficiency in reading. Which framework should guide the school's response?
- Increasing homework requirements
- MTSS, with a focus on strengthening Tier 1 core instruction first (Correct answer)
- Immediately placing all below-proficient students in pullout programs
- Hiring additional tutors for every student
Correct answer: MTSS, with a focus on strengthening Tier 1 core instruction first
When a majority of students are below proficiency, the priority is improving Tier 1 core instruction, which reaches all students before adding intervention layers.
Question 3: What is 'data literacy' in the context of school leadership?
- The ability to type data into a spreadsheet accurately
- The ability to read, interpret, analyze, and use data to inform educational decisions (Correct answer)
- Knowledge of state assessment scoring rubrics
- Proficiency in using gradebook software
Correct answer: The ability to read, interpret, analyze, and use data to inform educational decisions
Data literacy for administrators means being able to collect, analyze, interpret, and apply multiple forms of data to drive instructional and operational decisions.
Question 4: A school's state assessment scores are released. Which step should a data team take first?
- Share results immediately with the media
- Clean, disaggregate, and examine the data for patterns before drawing conclusions (Correct answer)
- Compare the school's scores to the top-performing school in the district
- Present results to parents without analysis
Correct answer: Clean, disaggregate, and examine the data for patterns before drawing conclusions
Effective data teams begin by organizing and disaggregating data, looking for patterns and anomalies before attributing causes or designing responses.
Question 5: Which metric measures the percentage of students who graduate within four years of starting ninth grade?
- Promotion rate
- Attendance rate
- Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR) (Correct answer)
- Dropout rate
Correct answer: Four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate (ACGR)
The four-year ACGR tracks students who earn a regular diploma within four years of first entering ninth grade, as required for federal reporting under ESSA.
Question 6: How should a school administrator use climate survey data effectively?
- File the results without sharing
- Analyze trends, share findings with stakeholders, and use results to develop targeted improvement strategies (Correct answer)
- Use only student data and discard staff and parent responses
- Compare results only with the previous year's survey
Correct answer: Analyze trends, share findings with stakeholders, and use results to develop targeted improvement strategies
Climate surveys are most valuable when results are transparently shared, analyzed collaboratively, and used to inform concrete school improvement actions.
SAC Data-Driven Decision Making & Assessment 2
Which of the following best describes the purpose of a universal screening assessment?