Measuring your child's growth and academic progress

Dear Parents and OLF families,

Parents often inquire about how they can ensure that a child is developing and growing to his or her full potential. There is no easy answer that is complete or correct. Assessments measure one or two facets of the child's growth. Even the best tests can merely measure a snapshot of performance in time.

For many years, there has been a national debate about the validity of standardized tests as the sole measure of a student's growth and academic progress. Nevertheless, many private high schools, colleges and universities still heavily rely on them for selective admissions processes.  Because students will be confronted with these types of tests, we train our students not to fear them.

It is important for parents to remember, that standardized test results can not be taken as the only measure for a child's growth and academic progress. Classroom observations, formal and informal, formative and summative assessments, and overall conduct can inform the parents and teachers of a child's learning progress. Making progress in physical education, music and the arts, is just as important as the social maturity on the playground.  

At OLF, we are currently using a number of standardized tests to support our observations:

• The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) measures basic skills at the beginning of the school year, to determine the student's strength and areas of growth. 
• Complementing the ITBS is the CoGAT, a test of cognitive skills, that allows us to measure the student's abilities versus his or her academic performance.
• For the youngest students in the school, OLF is using the Gesell Test to determine readiness for a rigorous academic program.
• In the primary grades, we also use the DIBELS Test to see how students are progressing with their literacy skills.
• Finally, OLF uses the ACRE test to measure the level of progress and knowledge in Religion. 

While academic subjects are measured against CA and Common Core standards, the measurement of schoolwide learning expectations is more subjective. 

Having frequent communication with the teachers, is one way for parents to monitor growth and progress. Observing changes in behavior, can often signal the underlying changes in mood and the child's perception of self-worth. The only way for a parent to ascertain if a child is growing, is to take multiple measures into account, and to communicate daily, about accomplishments, challenges, feelings, health, friends and interests. Measuring a child's growth and academic progress is only possible with ongoing teamwork between the parent and the educator.     

Beate W. Nguyen, M.A.Ed.

Principal

Thank you to the National Forest Service for helping us learn about fire prevention.  Our students were amazed by the hard work that is done daily by our community servants to ensure everyone is safe.

Please review and approve the enclosed list of last year's honor roll of auction donors by October 19th. Please contact the school office for any omissions and corrections.

honor roll 2010-2011

S.O.A.R

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