Weekly Eagle Update

Every Monday afternoon, forty Newhall Elementary School children in had the opportunity to work hand in hand with twenty art students from California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in the after-school program known as Art Pilots. Earlier this week we had the opportunity to see their art work publicly displayed. It was a beautiful and proud moment for Newhall Elementary School and our families to witness these students' effort and talent posted along the walls of the college. It was wonderful to hear the students praising each others work and artistic talent.

Today we had our PTA sponsored Gingerbread house decorating event. It was exciting to see all of those who registered be creative and have fun. There were many surprises, including a visitor from the North Pole and his elves! Thank you to all the volunteers and our PTA for making this event possible. This event is a cherished tradition for Newhall Elementary School for all of us Eagles and a beautiful way to kick off the holiday season!

There are many ways to measure academic performance, and annual state tests are only one of them. These tests are not meant to tell the whole story. They are meant to be combined with other measures, including teacher feedback, classwork and projects, and report card grades. Together, these measures can give families a more complete picture of a student’s performance so they can better support learning at home and advocate for their child.

Existen muchas maneras de evaluar el desempeño académico, y los exámenes anuales de los estados son una de ellas. Estos exámenes no tienen como fin brindar el panorama completo, sino más bien se combinan con otras evaluaciones, como los comentarios de los maestros, las calificaciones del boletín, el trabajo en clase y los proyectos. En su sumatoria, estas evaluaciones ofrecen a las familias una imagen completa del desempeño del estudiante, de modo que puedan respaldar el aprendizaje en el hogar y abogar por sus hijos.

Unlike other tests, Smarter Balanced is focused on grade level material and is aligned to the state standards. The test questions match what students do and learn in the classroom everyday throughout the year, which are the skills that are most important for students to learn in order to move on to more challenging content.

A diferencia de otros exámenes, Smarter Balanced se centra en los materiales del nivel de grado y se alinea con los estándares del estado. Las preguntas del examen se correlacionan con lo que los estudiantes han hecho y aprendido en clase a diario, a lo largo del año, es decir, las herramientas más importantes que tienen que incorporar para avanzar hacia contenidos más exigentes.

The Smarter Balanced test is taken online and is computer adaptive, which means it adjusts the difficulty of the questions based on the student’s responses.The test includes a variety of different types of questions, including traditional multiple choice, ones that ask students to show their work and explain their answer, and questions that ask students to analyze text and write a well developed essay. California teachers have worked closely with the state to write and review test questions.

El examen Smarter Balanced se presenta en línea y está informáticamente adaptado, es decir, que adecua la dificultad de las preguntas en función de las respuestas del estudiante. La prueba incluye distintos tipos de preguntas, como preguntas de opción múltiple, unas que piden a los estudiantes que justifiquen su trabajo y expliquen su respuesta, y preguntas que les piden que analicen textos y escriban ensayos bien desarrollados. Los maestros de California han trabajado estrechamente con el estado para escribir y revisar las preguntas del examen.