Overview
Interim assessments are tools that educators use at pre-determined intervals to determine where students are along identified learning progressions and also to evaluate whether or not they appear to be on schedule to meet learning goals and perform well on future assessments, like final exams or state standardized tests.
Interim assessments are typically given three to four times a year at set intervals and they are typically administered out of the context of daily instruction.
Interim assessments are also sometimes called benchmark or predictive assessments, and they are also commonly confused with formative assessments. Interim assessments can be formative in nature, it just depends upon how they are used (see formative assessment page). In this scenario, interim assessments would be formative assessments embedded in a curriculum to and used to modify ongoing instruction if students are not making the expected progress. Sometimes interim assessments are described as the bridge or connection between regular, classroom based formative assessments and year-end summative assessments.
Similar to summative assessments, interim assessments can be designed by teachers, or they can be purchased as entire assessment packages, such as the NWEA tests.
Examples
NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association)
State of Michigan Interim Assessment Program
Michigan’s Interim Assessment Program will consist of on-line pre/post assessments and, when operational, may be used as one measure of student growth. Michigan Interim Assessments will include:
- K-2 English Language Arts and Mathematics
- Grades 3 – 7 Science
- Grades 3 – 8 Social Studies
- High School Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) credit assessments in Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science)
- High School Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC) credit assessments in Social Studies (US History & Geography, World History & Geography, Economics, and Civics)