|
Dear Winnetka Families,
The beginning of each school year is a crucial time for building community, establishing routines, and collecting baseline data on our students' understanding and mastery. For the latter, assessing students early is key in order to set appropriate instructional, growth, and achievement goals for the year. It is important to understand
the howand why behind our assessment practices, as they take a variety of shapes and forms throughout the year.
Qualitative assessment is used extensively throughout a child's experience in our elementary schools. This is particularly true in Kindergarten through 2nd Grade, as research shows that standardized assessments do not always offer the most reliable measures for early childhood students. Portfolios, examples of student work, teacher observation, and more all fall under this category of assessment.
Beginning in 3rd Grade, students will also take part in a variety of standardized measures. This includes the MAP assessment, a measure of student growth and achievement, which is taken at three points throughout the year. Data resulting from MAP is sent home twice a year (Fall and Spring). Students in Grades 3-4 will also take part in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR), which is taken once a year in the Spring. IAR results are sent to families the following school year, once they are received from the state.
Both qualitative and quantitative data are reviewed by staff throughout the year. Grade level teachers meet weekly to discuss student growth/achievement, among other topics. Each school also hosts three formal data meetings by grade level throughout the school year. These meetings, which include administrators, instructional support staff, and other members of our student services team, aim to review the needs of each student and make any necessary additions or changes to curriculum and intervention services to both support and challenge our learners.
Just as our children are complex and multi-faceted, so too are our means for speaking to the Whole Child and monitoring student growth and achievement. Through these various measures, we are able to better understand our students and develop a plan that best meets their academic and social-emotional needs. Please contact your child's teacher or principal if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Beth Carmody, Hubbard Woods
Julie Pfeffer, Crow Island
Joshua Swanner, Greeley
Crow Island News:
Dear Crow Island families,
I look forward to seeing you all at our Go To School Night scheduled for this Thursday night, September 12th. The purpose of this evening is to get to know your child's teacher, hear a bit about the classroom routines and expectations and learn about the grade level curriculum. The times for the sessions are as follows:
- First and Second Grade - 6:15 - 7:00 PM
- Third and Fourth Grade - 7:15 - 8:00 PM
Please proceed directly to your child's classroom, as I will be sharing school level information and announcements and introduce building level staff via an email message sent on Wednesday.
Also, I want to share some exciting news. I was invited to be a guest of VS America (the furniture company that donated our beautiful furniture) in Germany next week at their North American Days. This event offers presentations, panels and workshops to international leaders in the fields of architecture, design and education. I will be participating in two panel conversations. Our topic is Architecture Lessons from Crow Island: A Modern Masterpiece of Design for Children. Our message is that design is of critical importance when thinking about learning spaces for children and the architecture and design of a building should communicate what a school values. As many of you know, Crow Island is an iconic representation of our philosophy and values in brick. I am honored to represent the Crow Island community at this important event early next week and thank VS America for hosting me.
I look forward to seeing you all later this week at Go To School Night.
Sincerely,
Julie
|
