Reflections & Assessment Reports
Students spend time at the end of each day reflecting on what they have learned or experienced throughout the day. These reflections are sent home along with a teacher’s observation at the end of each week. Please review the reflections with your child, sign and return to school. Reflections are kept in your child’s portfolio as another means to chart progress.
Assessment Reports at La Puerta are carefully designed to provide accurate feedback to students and parents regarding the progress and success of meeting learning targets and goals. Letter grades are not given on Assessment Reports; rather a detailed description of a child’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. Each child’s progress is looked at individually based on how they are meeting the standards for a specific topic. It is our goal for students to fully understand where their level of understanding is regarding a particular skill. Learning happens on a continuum that never ends – therefore students will always be given the time they need to fully grasp a skill or concept.
Other Forms of Student Assessment
Means of assessment vary from project to project and at times from student to student. Students are involved as much as possible in the assessment of their own work. However, the instructional personnel are responsible for maintaining a high standard of accomplishment. A student may be asked to revise a project until it attains an acceptable level of achievement. Rubrics are developed for many projects, with older students often involved in the development of the rubrics for their projects.
Portfolio Assessment
Our major means of recording the development and performance of an individual student is through an outcomes based portfolio. Student portfolios contain samples of the student’s work that show growth over time. Portfolios may also contain pictures of projects, videos of speeches and presentations, lists of books read, performance programs, as well as many other items that demonstrate what the student has learned and/or accomplished. Student self-assessment is an important part of the portfolio process as well. Additionally, teachers place the results of other types of student assessment in the portfolio. These may include checklists of skills and standards, teacher and peer evaluations, scores from other assessments, and anecdotal records (student and teacher observations). Students will work with their teachers and parents in reviewing their portfolios based on learning targets that each child set for themselves and goals defined by teachers and parents. Students will also be required to review portfolios with family members on a regular basis.