The Glade Gazette

Now that students have begun learning in the virtual model, teachers will begin assessing students to determine their current performance levels. Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) staff made adjustments to the assessment program this year in order to have a comprehensive picture of student performance. This is very important after the spring Continuity of Learning and summer break.

At the elementary level this means the expansion of our adaptive assessment called Performance Series. Performance Series is a computer-based, adaptive math and reading assessment. We have been successfully using this assessment in FCPS in Grades 2-10 for several years, most recently in grades 2, 5, and 8.

This assessment is different from many of the assessments that are administered by their classroom teacher as it is computer adaptive. In adaptive assessments, students are assessed on a broad range of math or reading concepts to measure overall performance. We will use this assessment to measure student performance at the beginning, middle and end of the school year. It's a tool that is used to show academic growth; students are not graded on these assessments.

When taking an adaptive assessment, students are often presented with questions about topics that have not been covered in instruction, but that students may already have background knowledge in to answer successfully. The computer will continue to adapt the questions based on student responses. Questions may span content in multiple grade levels. This process continues until the assessment platform has enough information to determine a student's current performance level.

For our youngest learners this may be a new experience; it’s important to know how you can help to make the experience a positive one. First, let your child know that they may receive some questions on content or topics they haven’t learned before. Let them know it's okay to simply do their best on that question even if they don’t fully understand it.

Second, please do not assist your child with the answers on any of the questions in the adaptive assessment. Our goal is to have a good measure of your student’s performance at this one point in time. It is just one measure. Your child's performance information will be used by the teacher and school staff for the purposes of providing supportive instruction.

Thanks in advance for your support of this important process. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any questions or need assistance.