A Letter about iReady and Assessments at St. Giles School
Dear St. Giles Families,
In recent weeks we have shared information regarding the success of iReady testing across all Archdiocese schools. We have completed the 2nd diagnostic test and individual results have been shared with parents. I am certain that this brings about questions and I hope to address those here. In this letter you will find an overview of iReady, including a guide to help you interpret the results and other parent resources listed below.
What do we do with these results? There are many ways we use iReady data, including:
- Identifying tier supports for individual students in Reading and Math
- Providing detail within the subject areas for teachers to differentiate instruction
- Reviewing our curriculum and identifying areas for improvement, ultimately outlined in our annual school improvement plan
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We DO NOT use iReady for determining grades in individual classes
This is our 2nd year using iReady in grades K-8 and we have seen significant improvement through the diagnostic testing. As we end trimester 2, over 40% of our students already exceed one year’s worth of learning in Reading and 33% exceed one year’s worth of learning in Math. Students continue to outpace average targets set by the i-Ready program, which is particularly impressive given where we are in the school year.
The Archdiocese has determined that instead of implementing the annual Aspire testing in April, we will use iReady as our final summative assessment for the 2020-21 school year. This decision was made due to the inability to test students remotely and the impact of other COVID protocols and realities. iReady assessments will occur in May and results will be immediate. For middle school families concerned by this change, area Catholic high schools are aware and many used iReady assessments as supportive data for acceptance this year.
Please take some time to explore the iReady parent resources below. As always, if you have questions or concerns, please reach out to me directly at [email protected].
As this enews goes to print, we are preparing for what I am certain was a wonderful event last night and I will share our success of Black and Gold with you next week!
Stay well,
Meg
Family iReady Resources
Important Calendar Adjustment
Friday, April 30th, we will be participating in an Archdiocesan system-wide staff development day. There will be no school on Friday, April 30th.
Reminder
Thank you to those who have completed the 5 Essentials Survey from the Archdiocese. Please take a moment to share your input. The survey closes on March 26, 2021.
Archdiocese Travel Guidance Update
If you are traveling to either an orange or red state at any time, especially during Easter Break, a 10-day quarantine is required, regardless of a negative COVID test. The city of Chicago and Cook County update the travel restrictions weekly. Please check this website for current restrictions. Close exposure quarantines remain at 14 days. We will not implement remote learning for all after Easter Break as we did at Christmas.
If you know you are traveling over Easter, we ask that you complete this Easter Break Travel Survey in order for our teachers to know who will be out of class following the break. Students who need to quarantine after traveling are asked to bring home their books and materials ahead of travel time and follow the teacher’s webpages for daily lessons. There will not be remote instruction.