 Chris Jackson is the program director for the College and Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA). This test, administered to high school freshmen and seniors, is a version of the Collegiate Learning Assessment (CLA), also a project of the Council for Aid to Education. The CWRA assesses the development of higher order skills: critical thinking, analytic reasoning, problem solving, and written communication. The test presents a number of real-life scenarios and asks students to understand and apply disparate information to construct a response. This holistic approach to assessment tests a broader set of skills and furthers an understanding of the student's readiness for both college and life. The CWRA is structured as a measure of value added. By evaluating students in both their first and last years of high school, the test gives teachers and administrators a bird's eye view of pedagogical strategies in action and allows comparison between different schools and groups of students. The CWRA is currently deployed in almost 50 schools, including Napa New Tech. Those interested can try a sample instrument, kindly provided by Chris. |
Chris Jackson |