Student Assessments

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Providing a World Class Education requires the implementation of a formal student assessment system that will supply us with data regarding each child’s academic progress. Data collection allows for an objective perspective for making decisions regarding the instructional process for both individuals and student groups. Data driven decision making is not only a state and federal requirement, it is the key to effective school improvement and for monitoring students’ progress or needs.

District 31 administrators and faculty are committed to making data informed decisions to improve our core instructional programs and to identify appropriate interventions to assist students at risk of failure. The assessment program we have in District 31 is based on a triangulation system. This means that it includes three major categories - classroom assessments, local formal assessments and state mandated tests. The results from these three data sources assist us in making informed decisions about each student’s educational program.

You will learn more about classroom assessments from your child’s teachers throughout the 2009-2010 school year. Some may be designed by the teacher and some may be part of an adopted instructional program.

State mandated tests include the Illinois Standards Achievement Test and ACCESS. Local formal assessments include Curriculum Based Measurement, Measures of Academic Progress, InView and Terra Nova.

Our assessment newsletter (see links below) provides detailed information, in a question/answer format, about each of the assessments noted above. It is our hope that this information will assist you in understanding what the tests are and why they are administered. Additionally, a letter of explanation will accompany each set of test results you receive. If, however, you still need assistance in understanding and interpreting the results, we encourage you to contact your child’s teacher or school principal.

Professionally yours,
Dr. Alexandra Nicholson
Superintendent of Schools

Parent Newsletter Fall 2009 - District 31's Assessment Programs (Click link to download pdf copy of newsletter)

Parent Newsletter Fall 2009 - Korean translation (Click link to download pdf copy)

Updated September 2009