Appendix F: District Interview Protocol
1. How many interim or benchmark assessments are administered in your district? About how many days does it take to
administer these assessments? How many years have you used these assessments?
2. How much time do students in your district spend on assessments?
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Do you think this is too much time?
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Do you think they should spend more time on assessments?
3. How do you use assessments in your district? In what ways do you use data from assessments to drive decisions in your
district?
4. How do you select benchmark or formative assessments to implement in your district? Do you have any processes in
place that you use to select assessments? If so, could you walk us through that process? (ask for artifacts)
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How do you evaluate the quality of assessments?
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How do you measure the usefulness of these assessments to different stakeholders (teachers, principals,
students, parents, etc.)?
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Do you think your district needs any additional support in the selection of assessments? If so, could you
describe what support you need and who you think should provide that support to your district?
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Have there been any policies or programs that have influenced the adoption of additional assessments at the
district level?
5. What district or state mandated assessments are helpful to you in your work? What about these assessments makes them
helpful?
6. Are there any district or state mandated assessments that are not helpful to your work? What about these assessments
makes them not helpful?
7. What are you hearing about assessment from principals?
8. What are you hearing about assessments from teachers?
9. What are you hearing about assessment from parents and community members?
10. Are there areas for improvement you see in the assessments you have access to in your district? If so, what supports do
you need to fill in those gaps?
11. What are the top challenges you face with assessments?
12. How has assessment changed in your district over the past few years? What do you think drove these changes?
13. Do you have any materials or artifacts that you could share with us related to assessment practices in your district?
14. Describe how you feel about Tennessee’s transition to the TNReady assessment.
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How has the state communicated with you about the changes to Tennessee’s assessment?
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What support do you need to ensure a successful transition to TNReady
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How are educators in your district feeling about the TNReady assessment?
15. Describe your district’s readiness for the TNReady assessment from a technological standpoint.
16. Describe your thoughts on student readiness for the TNReady assessment from a technological standpoint.
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