ASSESSMENT and EVALUATION PHILOSOPHY

Assessment is the practice of measuring learning for the purpose of determining whether students have achieved standards and/or mastered desired skills. Assessment assists teachers in providing remediation, offering enrichment, adjusting curriculum, reinforcing learning, and re-teaching concepts when required.

Assessment at BLH is constant and ongoing, and occurs both formally and informally through varied strategies that allow students to demonstrate mastery of learning targets.

Evaluation differs from assessment in that it measures student progress against a predetermined standard (e.g. percentage grade scale, grade level norms). BLH teachers use a combination of assessment and evaluation in measuring student learning and progress.

BLH is committed to collaborating with parents to receive missing work rather than failing students for incomplete assignments. However, when teachers have exhausted other options, the school reserves the right to fail a student in a course or at a grade level due to incomplete work.

STANDARDIZED TESTING

BLH administers the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP Growth) standardized test published by the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). Students in grades 3 through 8 are tested in the fall, and again in the spring a second time in the areas of mathematics, reading, and English skills. Students take the MAP, which is not timed, on Chromebooks. Fall testing establishes a baseline to which the spring testing can be compared to track annual student growth.

MAP tests generate norm referenced data in the form of grade-level percentile ranks and Rasch Unit (RIT) scores. A student’s RIT score should increase over time as a reflection of the student’s increasing academic achievement. RIT scores generally range between 100 and 300.

BLH faculty and administration use MAP results to measure individual progress, to evaluate grade level achievement, and to make curriculum and other program decisions. Aggregated MAP results are published and regularly updated on the school’s website. Individual student reports are sent directly to parents / caregivers. BLH begins testing in Gr. 3 to gather achievement data from the early grade levels and to familiarize students with the testing process so that data is as valid and reliable as possible.

HOMEWORK

Students at BLH can expect to have homework, and this amount gradually increases as students progress through the grade levels. The philosophy of BLH is that homework is the unfinished portion of the work students have not completed in class. During class students should have acquired the skills and knowledge necessary to finish work assigned for completion outside class time. They should not be expected to learn new material as part of homework assignments. All classroom schedules are designed to include time for students to work on assessments both for teacher-guided and independent practice, but because individuals work at different paces, students can expect to complete portions of their daily studies and/or of special projects (e.g. book reports, Grandparents Day projects, extended reading) at home. Whereas BLH encourages parents / caregivers to support and encourage their children, students benefit from completing their own homework assignments.  

In regard to homework, children attending BLH and their parents / caregivers have the right to:

1. The highest quality education BLH can offer, with the understanding that quality education does include reasonable, regular, purposeful, individualized homework.

2. Balance time required for homework with other activities, family time, free time, weekends, holidays, and proper sleep.

3. Complete homework that they have been taught the skills to complete, and if not, be entitled to reteaching or modified assignments.

4. Earn grades reflective of their learning rather than reflective of homework compliance.

5. Communicate and collaborate with the teachers regarding homework concerns.

Research consistently supports about 10 minutes per grade level as an amount of homework that supports learning, particularly for junior high grades and above. For example, a seventh grader can expect an average of about 70 minutes of daily work. However, BLH recognizes that families have many evening and weekend activities. Thus, should parents become concerned about the amount of time a child spends on homework, BLH recommends the following courses of action:

• Contact your child’s teacher to share the concerns.

• Document the exact days and amount of time students are actually doing homework. Take into account whether this is a one-time event or whether it is happening regularly.

• Encourage the child to work in short bursts of 10 or 15 minutes with 5 or 10 minute breaks.

• If it becomes late but the child, though working, grows frustrated or the parents / caregivers are concerned about bedtimes, they may allow the child to cease working, sign the homework with the date and time, and inform the teacher the next day, adding helpful notations.

CAMPUS-WIDE GRADE SCALE

Teachers at BLH use various methods for measuring and reporting student mastery of concepts (e.g. rubrics, percentages, letter grades, point values). It is prudent, however, that teachers use a consistent school-wide percentage-to-letter grade scale when documenting report cards that become part of cumulative records. BLH applies the percentage-to-grade scale recommended by the College Board.

BLH teachers record student evaluations using SchoolSpeak web based software to which parents / caregivers and upper grade students have 24/7 access. Teachers will “publish” SchoolSpeak records at least once weekly, typically on Friday afternoon, though parents / caregivers may request updates at any time, typically by emailing the teachers.

NOTE: BLH does not calculate grade point average on a 0 to 4.0 scale. If however there is a need for GPA to be calculated, the following scale will apply. Each core academic (English, social studies, science mathematics, literacy, international language) grade is assigned a point value that is then averaged using equal weighting among courses.

The following percent-to-letter grade scale is for use in grades 1 through 8.