Tools and Services

• Alignment
• Formative Assessments
• Scoring and Reporting
• Coaching
• MPSP Network

Meeting the Need

MPSP provides a complete set of tools and ongoing coaching to participating schools that produces assessments with the right data at the right time and supports schools to ensure that data will be put to immediate and tangible use for student learning. Our comprehensive approach has been designed as a substantive long-term partnership with urban schools. Our approach is not a quick fix, but a guided process that occurs again and again throughout the school year. Eventually this process becomes embedded in the fabric of the school and is seen by all involved – school leaders, teachers, and students – as an integral tool to help all students achieve at high levels. Our support includes:

1. Alignment Coaching We begin working with schools to ensure that school leaders and teachers have a clear roadmap of the skills they need to teach by the end of the year.
2. Formative Assessments We start by administering an assessment at the very beginning of the school year in English and in Mathematics to help school leaders and teachers immediately understand where their students are beginning the year. Then, every 6-7 weeks, we administer two assessments – one in English and one in Mathematics – to students in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8. Each assessment takes place during one regular classroom period and tests the material the teachers have recently covered.
3. Scoring & Reporting Given the limited amount of time that school leaders and teachers have, we also score all student answer sheets for schools, warehouse the results in a secure database, and provide in-depth, research-based data reporting to the schools within 48 hours of administration of the assessment.
4. Ongoing Coaching We meet with school leaders throughout the school year to coach them on how to create a culture that supports this work, how to analyze the data, how to put their findings to direct and immediate use, and how to monitor the effectiveness of their school’s action to ensure all students are learning.
5. Access to a Powerful Peer Network We convene leadership teams and subject-specific teachers from all participating schools throughout the year to share strategies and best practices to eliminate the isolation many of them feel as they grapple with helping all students achieve.