Woodruff Primary School

All students are assessed individually and the results, along with informal assessments, are analyzed to plan instruction based on the individual needs of the students. Teachers do not make decisions based upon one piece of assessment.
Woodruff Primary School

Yearly Assessment Schedule

2011-2012

PRESCHOOL

Show Me
Student must write his or her own name, and then must demonstrate knowledge of print conventions (e.g. point to a letter, point to a word, etc.). A rubric is provided for scoring the name writing.

Children must understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Knowing these relationships will help them recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and decode new words. In short, knowledge of the alphabetic principle contributes greatly to children's ability to read words both in isolation and in connected text.

KINDERGARTEN

Concepts About Print (CAP)

Concepts of Print is the knowledge of print awareness and book handling skills. This assessment helps teachers understand what individual children know specifically about book concepts, directionality, concepts of letters and words, as well as concepts of punctuation. This assessment is not used as a predictability device, but rather as an instructional tool for the teachers.

One of the strongest research findings in the field of reading is the high correlation between knowledge of letter names and success in learning to read Letter identification instruction includes teaching the name, characteristics, and formation of the 26 uppercase and lowercase letter symbols used in the English language. The goal of teaching letter identification is to ensure that students are able to recognize and name letter shapes, as well as discriminate among them before they are faced with the task of learning the letters' sounds. Among the reading readiness skills that are traditionally evaluated, the one that appears to be the strongest predictor of reading success on its own is letter identification. (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 1998) Upon entering school, most students have some knowledge of letter names, usually from singing the alphabet song. Some students can recognize letters used in their own names and in environmental print. In order to have true fluency with letter identification, students must be able to identify letter names in and out of context and sequence. It is not just accuracy of letter recognition, but the automaticity that comes from practice and familiarity, that contribute to eventual reading success.

Letter Sounds

Children must understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Knowing these relationships will help them recognize familiar words accurately and automatically, and decode new words. In short, knowledge of the alphabetic principle contributes greatly to children's ability to read words both in isolation and in connected text.

Monster Test

This developmental spelling assessment is referred to as the monster test because the first word on the test is monster. The monster test is a list of five to ten words that the teacher reads aloud and that children write as best they can. The teacher analyzes the young children's responses to see where they are in their understanding of phonics and their use of visual memory of how words work. This is not a traditional test in that the words are not given to the students to memorize ahead of time.

High Frequency Words

High frequency words are core words that occur often in oral language and thus occur often in reading and writing. Emergent readers us these words to help them monitor the way they are reading a text. Having many words that are quickly recognized helps to move the reading along to that problem solving is not necessary on each word. Being able to write these words quickly without conscious attention helps young writers produce longer and more meaningful messages because they do not have to slow down to figure out every word.

Developmental Reading Assessment

The Developmental Reading Assessment is a method for assessing and documenting primary students' development as readers over time. Its purpose is to identify students reading level, defined as a text on which students meet specific criteria in terms of accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Additional purposes include identifying students independent reading strengths and weaknesses, planning for instruction, and monitoring reading growth.

FIRST GRADE

Monster Test

This developmental spelling assessment is referred to as the monster test because the first word on the test is monster. The monster test is a list of five to ten words that the teacher reads aloud and that children write as best they can. The teacher analyzes the young children's responses to see where they are in their understanding of phonics and their use of visual memory of how words work. This is not a traditional test in that the words are not given to the students to memorize ahead of time.

High Frequency Words

High frequency words are core words that occur often in oral language and thus occur often in reading and writing. Emergent readers us these words to help them monitor the way they are reading a text. Having many words that are quickly recognized helps to move the reading along to that problem solving is not necessary on each word. Being able to write these words quickly without conscious attention helps young writers produce longer and more meaningful messages because they do not have to slow down to figure out every word. First graders are asked to write the first 25 high frequency words at the beginning of the year. Those words should be mastered by the end of the 2nd nine weeks. Then the teacher will move to the next 25 words. Any student who masters the first 50 words will be instructed on the next 50 words from the 100 most frequently used words list.

Developmental Reading Assessment

The Developmental Reading Assessment is a method for assessing and documenting primary students' development as readers over time. Its purpose is to identify students' reading level, defined as a text on which students meet specific criteria in terms of accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Additional purposes include identifying students' independent reading strengths and weaknesses, planning for instruction, and monitoring reading growth.

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)

MAP assessments are achievement tests in mathematics and reading delivered by computer to

students. With MAP, test questions are displayed on the computer screen and students

select an answer using the mouse or the keyboard. The difficulty of the test will adjust

to each student's performance. As they answer correctly, the questions will become harder.

As they answer incorrectly, the questions will become easier. It will build a test specifically

for each student.

MAP test scores help answer both these questions, but can be difficult to
understand at first. MAP test scores are different than other standardized
testing scores, in that MAP uses "RIT" scores to place a student's
achievement into academic RIT bands that correspond roughly to grade levels.

Performance

By looking at your student's RIT score, and comparing it to National Average RIT
scores for that student's grade level, you can determine if your student is
performing at, above or below the expectation for their grade level (academic
performance).

Growth

It is important, although sometimes difficult, to understand academic growth,
because it is important for students to continue to learn, even if their
performance is above grade level. For students that are below grade
level, they may be making significant progress, even if they haven't "caught
up" yet.

Information regarding MAP may be found at this site.
http://www.nwea.org

MEASURES OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS (MAP) TESTING SCHEDULE

WINTER TESTING DATES: 

November 29 - December 12, 2012 (Reading and Math)

SPRING  TESTING DATES: 

April 23 - May 18, 2012

Writing Sample
At the end of each grading period, the students are given a 3-day writing assessment. On the first day, the students are instructed to write a first draft in response to a prompt. The second day is devoted to editing and revising the piece, and the third day is for publishing or making a final copy.

SECOND GRADE

Monster Test

This developmental spelling assessment is referred to as the monster test because the first word on the test is monster. The monster test is a list of five to ten words that the teacher reads aloud and that children write as best they can. The teacher analyzes the young children's responses to see where they are in their understanding of phonics and their use of visual memory of how words work. This is not a traditional test in that the words are not given to the students to memorize ahead of time.

High Frequency Words

High frequency words are core words that occur often in oral language and thus occur often in reading and writing. Emergent readers us these words to help them monitor the way they are reading a text. Having many words that are quickly recognized helps to move the reading along to that problem solving is not necessary on each word. Being able to write these words quickly without conscious attention helps young writers produce longer and more meaningful messages because they do not have to slow down to figure out every word. Second graders are assessed at the beginning of the year on the 100 most frequently used words. Once a student has mastered these words, the teacher will move on to a new set of 100 words.

Developmental Reading Assessment

The Developmental Reading Assessment is a method for assessing and documenting primary students' development as readers over time. Its purpose is to identify students' reading level, defined as a text on which students meet specific criteria in terms of accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. Additional purposes include identifying students' independent reading strengths and weaknesses, planning for instruction, and monitoring reading growth.

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)

MAP assessments are achievement tests in mathematics and reading delivered by computer to

students. With MAP, test questions are displayed on the computer screen and students

select an answer using the mouse or the keyboard. The difficulty of the test will adjust

to each student's performance. As they answer correctly, the questions will become harder.

As they answer incorrectly, the questions will become easier. It will build a test specifically

for each student.

MAP test scores help answer both these questions, but can be difficult to
understand at first. MAP test scores are different than other standardized
testing scores, in that MAP uses "RIT" scores to place a student's
achievement into academic RIT bands that correspond roughly to grade levels.

Performance

By looking at your student's RIT score, and comparing it to National Average RIT
scores for that student's grade level, you can determine if your student is
performing at, above or below the expectation for their grade level (academic
performance).

Growth

It is important, although sometimes difficult, to understand academic growth,
because it is important for students to continue to learn, even if their
performance is above grade level. For students that are below grade
level, they may be making significant progress, even if they haven't "caught
up" yet.

Information regarding MAP may be found at this site.
http://www.nwea.org

MEASURES OF ACADEMIC PROGRESS (MAP) TESTING SCHEDULE

FALL TESTING DATES: 

August 22 - September 9, 2011 (Language Usage)

WINTER TESTING DATES: 

November 29 - December 12, 2011 (Reading and Math)

January 23 - February 3, 2012 (Language Usage)

SPRING  TESTING DATES: 
April 23 - May 11, 2012

We consistently track data on our students at each testing period. The following charts show our percentage of students scoring at or above grade level using the norms provided by NWEA.

Reading

Reading - Mean

Reading - Median

Math - Mean

Math - Median