The following is a response from a teacher under a post titled: A Parent’s Question, What Did Smarter Balanced Scores Tell Us?
As a teacher with 15 years of experience in both regular and special education, as well as being a certified Reading Specialist, I can confidently answer this question with the following:
The Smarter Balanced Assessment scores WILL NOT help your child to improve over the next school year. What will help your child to improve? With an 11th grader, if the student is having trouble with a particular subject, I think that it is best if that student reaches out to the teacher for help first. Teachers love when the student is responsible for his/her learning and is autonomous in this endeavor. However, if that doesn’t work, then the parent would have to open up a line of communication.
If the student isn’t having any trouble, and the question is being asked about general improvement during the next school year, the ONE thing that will help a child with their progression is teacher-made assessment and feedback. Just like a doctor, the teacher is constantly giving check-ups in the classroom with quizzes and tests. Pay close attention to the grades and feedback that come back on those.
That’s how private schools work. They use teacher assessments and don’t rely or even use standardized testing. They are successful because they emphasis is on learning not testing.
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