YPP Information Steet - Granite School District

Formative Assessment is “Assessment which provides learning experiences for students
as well as feedback for teachers. Assessment which measures student learning in order to
identify how well they are learning or how much of the subject matter they have mastered
in order to help them learn more or to help the teacher to improve ongoing instruction.”
(Baird, 1997). It can best be described as assessment for learning.
Granite District has selected Yearly Progress Pro to provide on-going formative
assessment to teachers. Please be aware of the following guidelines.
WHO:
• YPP is required for all students in first grade through Pre-Algebra for math, in
first through sixth grade for reading and in second through sixth grade for
language arts.
• All students are to take grade-level assessments. See Administration Guidelines
for accommodations and modifications.
WHAT:
• YPP is an on-line assessment tool using Curriculum Based Assessment
methodology. This type of formative assessment measures student progress over
the course of the year toward the year-end grade level goal.
• YPP provides critical information to teachers on student progress, generates
data reports and provides prescriptive exercises designed to improve student
learning and close achievement gaps.
• YPP provides built in weekly review which significantly builds in student
retention of concepts learned.
• YPP also provides teachers the opportunity to develop Custom Test, using the
technology to streamline their work by providing valid and reliable test items and
efficient scoring for teacher made assessments.
• YPP is aligned to the Utah State Core
• Granite School District’s math benchmark tests will be on the YPP program.
WHEN:
• Students in second through eighth grade must begin participating in YPP no later
than one month after school begins and continue through out the school year.
First grade must begin the second trimester (they may begin earlier if the teacher
chooses to).

• Taking the assessment in every subject every week is the recommended best
practice, because it provides the most valid data. The YPP Reading Assessment
(2 ½ minutes) must be taken weekly.
• Students may work on YPP on classroom computers, mini-labs, and mobile labs
or in a computer lab setting. In schools that only have one computer lab, and
which do not participate in E-mints, 2 nd through 6 th grades may take math and
reading one week and language arts and reading the next. This is a school based
decision, which should be implemented consistently in the building.
WHERE:
• Students complete YPP at school; however teachers may access YPP reports at
home using this address: https://athome.yearlyprogresspro.com. This address is
for teacher use only and may not be given to students.
WHY:
• YPP has been approved by the Education Department’s National Student Progress
Monitoring commission and found to be research-based, valid and reliable and
is recommended as best instructional practice.
• YPP is a tool that can strengthen both teacher instruction and student
achievement.
• YPP can provide empirical evidence of student learning which can be used to
document response to interventions, measure value-added results (growth over
time) and to show growth for subgroups which may not achieve the benchmarks
set for adequate Yearly Progress as required under No Child Left Behind.
“Firm evidence shows that formative assessment is an essential component of
classroom work and that its development can raise standards of achievement…..”
“All these studies show that innovations that include strengthening the practice of
formative assessment produce significant and often substantial gains.”
Black and William, 1998
“Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards
through Classroom Assessment.”
Phi Delta Kappan, 80 (2), 139 – 148