{"id":9415,"date":"2016-03-23T11:22:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T17:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/?p=9415"},"modified":"2016-03-23T11:22:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T17:22:16","slug":"standardized-testing-in-april-for-grades-9-11-seeking-volunteer-proctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/2016\/03\/23\/standardized-testing-in-april-for-grades-9-11-seeking-volunteer-proctors\/","title":{"rendered":"Standardized Testing in April for Grades 9-11: Seeking Volunteer Proctors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Osprey Students and Families,<br \/>\nShortly after we return from Spring Break, we will administer testing to all 9th through 11th grade students, as mandated by the Colorado Department of Education.\u00a0 The PARCC, PSAT, ACT and CMAS tests are all designed to help students and schools assess college and career readiness.\u00a0 We use data from them to help assess our curriculum as a whole, identify potential areas of growth and determine how well we are preparing students for college and post-secondary success.\u00a0 We encourage our students and families to avoid scheduling appointments during these exams and to come to school on these days particularly aware of having gotten a good night\u2019s rest and a healthy breakfast.\u00a0 We want our students to demonstrate what they know, as these exams have implications for them as individuals and for our school as a whole.<br \/>\nPlease read on to learn more about which tests will be administered when for each grade level, and where we can use some volunteer support.\u00a0 All exams will be administered online and will take place on campus, during the school day, at no cost to individual families.<br \/>\n<strong><u>Testing Dates by Grade Level<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nOur <strong>9th grade students<\/strong> will take the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.parcconline.org\/\">PARCC<\/a> English Language and Math tests Monday, April 11 through Wednesday, April 13, with make-ups on April 14-15.\u00a0 The test will take a total of about 10 hours, and is scheduled for all 9th graders as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Monday, April 11: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a010:30 to 3:00 (during periods 3, 5, 6 and 7, with a break for lunch)<\/li>\n<li>Tuesday, April 12: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08:30 to 10:30 and 1:15 to 3:15 (during periods 1, 2, 6 and 7)<\/li>\n<li>Wednesday, April 13: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a08:30-12:30 (during periods 1, 2, 3 and 5)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All <strong>10th grade students<\/strong> will take the <a href=\"https:\/\/collegereadiness.collegeboard.org\/psat-nmsqt-psat-10\">PSAT<\/a> from 9:00 to 12:00 on Wednesday, April 20.<br \/>\nOur <strong>11th grade students<\/strong> will take the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cde.state.co.us\/assessment\/coact\">Colorado ACT<\/a> from 9:00 to 1:00 on Tuesday, April 19 and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pearsonaccess.com\/cs\/Satellite?pagename=Pearson\/QuickLink\/co\">CMAS<\/a> Science exam from 9:00 to 2:00 (with a break for lunch) on Thursday, April 21.<br \/>\nWe will not administer any standardized tests for our <strong>Seniors<\/strong>.<br \/>\n<strong><u>Benefits of Taking Standardized Tests<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\nTaking standardized tests can benefit students in multiple ways.\u00a0 Most colleges rely on SAT and ACT scores in determining college admission; many scholarships are determined at least in part by these test scores as well.\u00a0 Taking PARCC, PSAT, CO ACT and CMAS can help students improve their performance and scores on the ACT and SAT, as they become more familiar with testing formats and practice the skill of test taking.\u00a0 A large aspect of doing well on standardized exams is familiarity and since our students do not take a lot of traditional exams as part of our program, participation in the state-mandated exams provides important practice that sets them up for success when they take college entrance exams in their junior and senior year.<br \/>\n<strong><em>As a school, if we drop below a 95% participation rate on any test we could potentially lose our accreditation or at least have it downgraded.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0This would lead to additional oversight from outside agencies, at the expense of the school, thus potentially diverting money away from the classroom.\u00a0 Last year only, our accreditor, Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI), chose not to use the CMAS and PARCC scores in their determination of school ratings. \u00a0<strong>CSI awarded us their highest designation&#8211;School of Distinction&#8211;in 2014, and that rating was upheld for 2015.<\/strong> This year, CSI will once again use our test scores and student participation rate as part of the data that determines our designation.\u00a0 Being named a School of Distinction is important in that it shows that we are educationally and fiscally sound; only eight CSI schools currently have this honor.\u00a0 Being named a School of Distinction helps colleges understand that our academic program is rigorous and inspires donors to seriously consider our requests for funding.\u00a0 It is an important factor that helps to ensure the sustainability of our school.<br \/>\nWe recognize that some families have strong feelings around standardized testing and have chosen to opt out in the past.\u00a0 Last year was the first year for PARCC to be administered, and across the nation, families opted out to register their opposition to what they saw as too many tests at the expense of authentic learning in the classroom.\u00a0 One result of this opposition was that PARCC testing time was significantly reduced and testing was cut back at certain grade levels.\u00a0 We encourage you to follow and participate in this conversation as it continues, both locally and nationally, as it can often be part of a rich dialogue about public education.<br \/>\nWhile we feel it is important to share with you the potentially negative impact of opting out, we also want to be clear that no students or families will face negative consequences from the school for opting out of state-mandated assessments.\u00a0 We recognize and respect that this is a decision you will each make individually, and ask that you make an informed choice based on the impact to the school and your student. If you do choose to opt out, please submit a letter expressing your decision to the Main Office, signed by a parent\/guardian.\u00a0 Parent refusal notices will be gathered and maintained by Libby Cowles, Assistant Head of School.<br \/>\n<strong><u>Volunteering to Proctor<\/u><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><em>We are seeking volunteer support to help proctor these exams.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0Volunteers will meet briefly with Dusty beforehand, review the testing manual, actively monitor students while they test and keep track of time.\u00a0 A parent volunteer cannot proctor a test that is being administered to his\/her student.<\/p>\n<table width=\"624\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>Proctors Needed<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Test<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Grade Level<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Date<\/strong><\/td>\n<td><strong>Time<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>PARCC<\/td>\n<td>9<\/td>\n<td>April 11-13*<\/td>\n<td>see above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>PSAT<\/td>\n<td>10<\/td>\n<td>April 20<\/td>\n<td>9:00-12:00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>ACT<\/td>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<td>April 19<\/td>\n<td>9:00-1:00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>CMAS<\/td>\n<td>11<\/td>\n<td>April 21<\/td>\n<td>9:00-2:00<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<br \/>\n* Parents who volunteer to help with PARCC need not be available for all three dates of testing.\u00a0 If you would like to volunteer, please contact Dusty Grannis, our Assessment Coordinator, at <a href=\"mailto:testing@animashighschool.com\">testing@animashighschool.com<\/a>.\u00a0 Many thanks, in advance, to all who might be willing to help with this task!<br \/>\nAs always, please feel free to reach out with concerns and questions, about this assessment plan, or anything else.\u00a0 We appreciate your input and feedback and we\u2019re here to help in any way we can.\u00a0 Thank you for all you do!<br \/>\nCheers,<br \/>\nLibby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dear Osprey Students and Families, Shortly after we return from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9415\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/animashighschool.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}