DesCartes

Overview

DesCartes is a dynamic tool that provides the information educators need to meet the academic needs of each student.

The DesCartes continuum of learning orders specific reading, language usage, mathematics, and science skills and concepts by achievement level. For reading, language usage, and mathematics, the skills and concepts align to the goal structures and content of your state standards. For districts using a state-aligned science test, the skills and concepts align to the goal structures and content of state standards. For districts using nationally-aligned science tests, the skills and concepts align to national standards. For easy reference, the skills and concepts are grouped along the continuum according to the NWEA measurement scale.

“The big benefit to students is how MAP helps teachers learn how to differentiate instruction. There's no better tool for teachers than DesCartes. We know right away where to start teaching.”

Jana Beth Slibeck-Francis, Director of Assessment, Research and Development

Daviess County, KY

Features

Typical assessment systems limit their scope to comparing students to their peer groups. With DesCartes, educators make practical use of student test scores to help guide instruction and materials selection. DesCartes provides teachers with needed information to design instruction for each student, including those at the extreme ends of the achievement spectrum. All students can then be engaged with appropriately challenging instruction.

Practical Application

DesCartes gives meaning to test data. When used in combination with other NWEA resources, such as assessment scores, reports, and training, educators can use DesCartes to:

“The big benefit to students is how MAP helps teachers learn how to differentiate instruction. There's no better tool for teachers than DesCartes. We know right away where to start teaching.”

Jana Beth Slibeck-Francis, Director of Assessment, Research and Development

Daviess County, KY

• Organize resources, programs, and staff to meet the needs of individual students.
• Define flexible grouping for instruction based on students' performance in specific goal areas.
• Identify the skills and concepts that provide the most appropriate academic challenge.
• Guide selection of materials that are appropriately challenging to ensure sustained academic growth for all students.
• Engage students in setting their academic goals and tracking their progress.
• Monitor academic growth in relationship to content standards.
• Adopt a common framework to facilitate goal setting, collaboration, and further inquiry.
• Share academic needs with parents.

Do you have a student like Isabel?

Isabel attends class. She seems engaged. She occasionally asks questions. She turns in homework. She has even stayed after school to participate in a study group. Yet, her teachers noticed that she continues to struggle with her class work. Moreover, they don't see a noticeable difference in her scores from last year to this year. Why isn't Isabel learning?

Are the skills and concepts being taught appropriate for Isabel?

We know that learning happens on a continuum. When students are presented with tasks that are too difficult or too easy, their growth potential is limited. Using DesCartes, Isabel's teachers can see if the skills and concepts that Isabel is learning are appropriate.

By locating Isabel's RIT score for mathematics and then referencing DesCartes, her teacher can see the difference between her grade-level curriculum and the concepts Isabel is ready to learn.

How do we set objective goals for Isabel's learning?

Because DesCartes is organized by achievement level, Isabel's teachers and counselors can objectively look at the continuum of learning and use it as the basis for setting academic goals.

Moreover, DesCartes offers all people involved in Isabel's education a common framework for understanding her learning. During conferences, Isabel's parents can see what Isabel is ready to learn, can see what Isabel's academic goals mean in terms of skills and concepts she'll be working on, and can better support her learning at home.

Isabel's progress can be monitored throughout the year. For example, Isabel can take another NWEA test half-way through the year. Using the results from that test, Isabel and her learning team can evaluate her progress and adjust her goals if needed.

How can we make sure we have the necessary resources for Isabel?

When educators can see that students like Isabel are learning at a level that is atypical of grade level curriculum, they may find that the resources within their classrooms are insufficient.

The common framework offered by DesCartes provides a tool to organize resources within the school. Depending upon the needs, some teachers might use it to divide their classes into flexible learning groups. Others might recognize the need to share textbooks and lesson plans that are outside their grade-level resources. DesCartes could even present evidence on how time should be used so that all students are challenged and learning.

How can we foster a collaborative environment?

Isabel's education is the charge of several people including herself, her parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators. Working cooperatively, this group can ensure Isabel receives the education she deserves. DesCartes offers a common framework to base their discussions. They work from objective knowledge to explore the causes and effects of teaching and learning. As they ask questions of the data, and explore with each other, they begin to understand their students better.

FAQ

What is DesCartes?

DesCartes ("day-cart") is a continuum that orders specific reading, language usage, mathematics, and science skills and concepts by achievement level. These skills and concepts align to the goal structure and content of your state standards. DesCartes is a constantly evolving resource that is adjusted to reflect the changes in your state standards. For districts using a state-aligned science test, the skills and concepts align to the goal structures and content of state standards. For districts using nationally-aligned science tests, the skills and concepts align to national standards. For easy reference, the skills and concepts are grouped along the continuum according to the NWEA measurement scale.

What is provided when DesCartes is licensed?

You will receive the DesCartes version that aligns with your test in three formats:

• A three-ring notebook with print masters
• A CD with electronic files in PDF format
• Online access to an electronic version through password-protected Reports Site

What does a DesCartes license permit?

The license to DesCartes allows your district to effectively and efficiently use DesCartes in the format that best fits your needs while protecting the integrity of the data. Essentially, you can reproduce and make DesCartes available to employees of your district, either in print or electronically. However, the license prohibits making DesCartes available, online or in print, to people other than employees. The agreement also prohibits putting DesCartes into a database or otherwise reformatting and adjusting the information without permission from NWEA.

Does DesCartes: A Continuum of Learning provide an individualized learning plan?

No, while DesCartes is aligned to the goal structures and content of state standards, it is derived from a generalization of the skills required to answer items represented within particular RIT ranges. Students only encounter about seven items per goal area on the Goals Survey test. The breadth of learning statements within DesCartes often exceeds the number of skills actually assessed by a single test event.