Fall Assessments
The State of Michigan is requiring District's administer Diagnostic assessments to students during the 2020/2021 SY.
Assessments play an important role in education. They provide information about what students can do and what they are ready to learn next. The District uses assessments to design learning paths for each student.
This year, assessments will look different. Students will take assessments as listed below, and many of these will be administered as online assessments. Virtual learners will test at home in most cases. The only case when virtual learners may be asked to come to the school to test would be when a test must be administered in person, such as College Board.
Parents should understand that in the Fall, these baseline tests will ask questions of students that they do not know. Part of the design of the assessments is to see what students know and what students don't know. This can upset students when they don't know the answers. Make sure to let them know to do thier best and that it is okay not to know as the assessment is testing content they will learn this year.
Fall assessments include:
|
Test
|
Grades
|
Online
|
Virtual leaners test at home
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Description
|
|
i-Ready
|
K-8
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Identifies strengths in reading and math, used to assign online lessons and activities
|
|
District Benchmark Science and Social Studies Assessments
|
5, 8, 11
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Mirror the M-STEP, gives teachers information about current level of knowledge
|
|
Academic Approach
|
8
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
A practice PSAT test, which indicates if a student is on track for college readiness
|
|
SAT with Essay
|
12
|
No
|
No
|
An optional test for high school seniors, used for college admissions
|
|
PSAT/NMSQT
|
10-11
|
No
|
No
|
An optional test to measure progress toward college readiness
|
|
PSAT 8/9
|
9
|
No
|
No
|
An optional test to measure progress toward college readiness
|
How can parents and families help?
First and foremost, parents and families can help by providing positive messages to students about their testing. Stress is the enemy of deep thinking. A simple “You can do this!” or “Try your best!” can go a long way.
Setting up the physical location for testing can help. To the extent possible, a student should have a quiet, dedicated space to work. Remove distractions such as cell phones and other electronics, and try to keep other people away from the testing student as much as possible. Every home is different.
Parents can also help by making sure that students get logged in to their assessment. It is perfectly fine (and encouraged!) for parents to help log in to the various platforms. Teachers will help here, too.
What should parents NOT do?
Most of the district tests that students take are designed to challenge them. In some cases, the test is designed for the student to only get about half of the questions correct—that’s ok and normal! It is important that parents DO NOT:
- Read test questions or passages aloud to students.
- Provide suggestions about how to solve problems.
- Indicate whether an answer is correct or not.
- Complete work for a student.
Results from district assessments are used to design learning pathways for students, so it’s important that they reflect what the student can do on their own.
