PARENTAL NOTIFICATION OF STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT INFORMATION
Please see the attached letter for additional information regarding standardized assessments.
Dear Parent or Guardian,
In accordance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the newly enacted Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, each state is required to assess all students according to its state adopted academic learning standards. In New Jersey, students are assessed based on mastery of the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS). The information below will help you learn more about state required assessments. In addition to this letter, you will receive notifications about each state assessment your student takes prior to the testing window. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Allison Evans
To find out more information regarding these assessments, please review the attached documents.
parental notification of assessments.pdf district and test assessments 18-19.pdf
Report Cards
Dear Parents and Guardians,
The Carlstadt Public Schools assess students using skills-based report cards in Kindergarten - 4th grades. This type of report card assesses the most important grade level skills for each content area. These skills align with the New Jersey Student Learning Standards and the district curriculum. This type of report card assessment is based upon the belief that every child can learn given adequate instruction and an individualized opportunity for practice and mastery.
The purpose of our skills-based report card is to track student growth throughout the year. The goal is for each student to meet each grade level skill by the end of the year. Students may begin the year beginning demonstration or progressing towards skills but will complete the year mastering and /or exceeding the skill taught.
With our new report cards and interim reports, you will be able to gain a more detailed picture do which skills and concepts your child knows, and the areas in need of additional growth. In addition, your child's teacher will be able to target those individuals areas in need of growth during small group and individual teaching sessions in the classroom. therefore, your child will be given personalized instruction based upon specific needs, fostering the growth necessary to successfully progress to the next grade level.
Be mindful of the shift in grading, as you will no longer receive a number grade on your child's assessments, but rather authentic feedback that puts the emphasis on learning and growth. this will portray a student's strengths of individual skills.
In a continued effort to strengthen the home and school connection, all interim reports and report cards will be available in the Genesis parent portal. Make sure you have an active account and check it regularly to view these assessments. Refer to the district calendars to know when report cards and interims are available. Students in grades Kindergarten-4th grade will now follow a trimester schedule.
We look forward to implementing these skills based report cards. These assessments will help teachers continuously communicate achievement of learning with you and your child in order to plan and drive future instruction. Please review the informational brochure to learn more about our skills-based report cards.
Sincerely,
Allison Evans
Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Fountas and Pinnell Independent Text Reading Levels
The attached chart shows target text reading levels for independent reading for students on grade level each month during the school year. Guided reading instructional levels would be 1-2 levels higher with shared reading instructional levels 3-6 higher.
Characteristics of Each Reading Level
Your child’s reading level will be assessed at various points throughout the year using the Fountas & Pinnell reading benchmark assessment. When assessing your child there are several factors we keep in mind. Your child has to receive a 95% or higher accuracy level for decoding and they must receive a score of satisfactory or excellent in comprehension. In the document below, you will find the characteristics of your each level and what skills they need to possess to move up to the next level. Please continue to read each night and work on these skills at home.
When your child moves up a level, your child's teacher will contact you to let you know of the change. Your child should be selecting just right books at their independent level to read at home and in school.