What are Common Summative Assessments (CSA) and what is their purpose?

Common Summative Assessments are a common measure of the agreed upon learning goals or Priority Standards for a course. The assessment results show what students know, and how well they know, the skills and standards that were taught that quarter.

Who chose the Priority Standards?

Teaching staff from each grade level and course have met to determine what State Standards they are going to teach each quarter. Knowing that not all standards can be assessed, district teams of teachers chose the most important standards for the quarterly assessments based on two criteria: attainment of the big ideas of that course and preparation for the next grade or course.

Who wrote the assessments?

Livonia teachers write the assessments utilizing their curriculum resources and materials, AP assessment questions, and State Standard aligned questions. The common assessments help us to ensure all students are aiming for the same targets/standards/skills in the same time frame.

How much of my student’s grade is based on these assessments?

Middle School Courses: District CSAs will account for 10% of the overall grade for each marking period. ​​​​​​​

The semester grade will be the average of the two marking period grades: 50% for marking period one and 50% for marking period two.

Why are we doing this instead of semester exams?

There are multiple reasons for moving towards quarterly assessments that are aligned across the district.

• Quarterly CSAs provide a Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum in each grade and course.
  • Guaranteed means that all students will get the same curriculum in each grade and course.
  • Viable means that the amount of curriculum, and the rigor level of the curriculum, is feasible for teachers and students. This is why teams of teachers work on the assessments and pacing for each quarter, to make sure that the standards are being taught and assessed in an appropriate time frame and in an appropriate manner.

• Quarterly CSAs provide equitable access to the same curriculum throughout the year at each school, grade and course.

• Quarterly CSAs support the teachers with planning for instruction aligned to the quarterly assessments.