DISTRICT ASSESSMENT PLAN

In order to plan instructionally to benefit each student to the fullest, and to examine and track individual as well as district-wide academic performance, the district developed the local assessment plan found on page 96 of the Strategic Plan.  (See Strategic Plan on web site.) 

The plan establishes a system of assessment that includes a nationally recognized test, the Terra Nova, which is administered at grades 4, 7, and 10 to measure student performance in reading and math.  The Terra Nova was selected by a committee of district administrators, teachers and parents because the test results provide data on student performance that enables us to track student performance and progress relative to Pennsylvania�s Academic Learning Standards.  The Terra Nova also gives the district data to compare our students� performance to a representative sampling of student performance throughout the United States.  The district, by regulation, must administer the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment at grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 in reading and math, and grades 6, 9, and 11 in writing.  The PSSA provides information on how well individual students are performing relative to the State Academic Learning Standards and provides data on how well our individual school�s students are performing when compared to other school district buildings that are suburban and of similar socio-economic status. 

Beginning in the fall of 2002, the district will begin administering K-12 our own math assessment developed by our teachers to determine how well students are progressing toward the grade 3, 5, 8, and 11 targets for what students should know and be able to do in math.  The locally developed assessment will be administered in all classrooms grades K-6, and the same assessment administered by every teacher who teaches the same course in grades 7-12.

There is one additional important piece of our local assessment, and that is the ongoing assessment done by the classroom teacher on a regular basis to determine how an individual student is doing and help make instructional decisions.  When the assessment is administered and a student hasn�t performed, then the teacher must modify the instruction to assist the student in reaching a level of defined expectation. 

The district teachers and administrators will be analyzing results to determine whether our curriculum and instruction are best meeting the needs of our students.  In addition, the assessment results will help us to analyze the effectiveness of various programs. 

We encourage all parents to further their understanding and purpose of all district assessments and to reinforce with their children the importance of such assessments.  Please feel free to direct any questions or concerns to building principals, or respective classroom teachers.