Assessment

Students in grades 3-8 take PSSAs in reading and math in the spring of each school year. Students in grades 5 and 8 also take a PSSA in the area of writing while grade 4 and 8 students take a Science PSSA. These assessments, which are part of the Federal No Child Left Behind legislation, are aligned with state standards and provide us with information on students' progress across the state toward meeting them.

More information on PSSA

A great deal of research has been done on the skills that early readers need to develop into successful, fluent readers. These skills are measured using DIBELS, an evidence-based assessment tool. Kindergarten and grade one students are measured on how well they are fluent with initial sounds, nonsense word recognition, segmentation of sounds, letter recognition, and overall fluency. Grade two and three students are assessed for their fluency. These assessments, given three times a year, are nationally benchmarked.

more information on DIBELS.

Students in grades 9 take the EXPLORE and PLAN assessments. These assessments, developed by ACT, are designed to provide teachers, students, and parents with information about students' knowledge, skills, interests, and plans. Each assessment tests the areas of English, math, reading, and science. Students also complete a career inventory. The data from this assessment helps students, parents, and teachers plan high school coursework and prepare for the future.

MORE INFORMATION ON ACT

As part of BASD's curriculum development process, teachers have created district-wide benchmark assessments in math. These benchmark assessments are aligned to the skills in each grade level that students must know and be able to do by the end of the school year. These skills are called proficient skills. It is important to measure the progress of these proficient skills quarterly so that we can assure all students will achieve proficiency at the conclusion of the year. Measuring these skills quarterly also gives us time to intervene and enrich students as their needs grow and change throughout the year. Teachers will share results of these quarterly benchmark assessments with you through conferences, report cards and/or parent portal. We will also be creating district-wide benchmark assessments in writing and science.