SBE Parent Information
Standards-Based Education Parent Information
Developing a standards-based curriculum and shifting toward standards-reflected grades requires changes in the way teachers teach and in the way schools view education. The shift to standards-based education is perhaps one of the most comprehensive and complex endeavors the public educational system has experienced in over 100 years.
Because change is challenging and because the education field requires constant reflection and revision, the documents and practices that exist today could very well change throughout the years. Please be assured that any changes are based on reflection, research, and effective practices, leading to a greater understanding of how students learn, and are always made with the best interests of students in mind.
“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change.”
-- Heraclitus --
Assessment Explanation
How will my child be assessed?
A student’s learning is assessed using a variety of formative and summative assessments. These tools include formal assessments such as traditional paper-and-pencil tests, projects, written papers, lab reports, or verbal assessments, but they may also include informal assessments such as classroom discussions or teacher observations. Essentially, everything that a student does in a standards-based class provides the teacher with evidence of the student’s learning.
Formative Assessment
The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:
- help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
- help teachers recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately
Formative assessments are assessments of learning and are a powerful means of determining growth and understanding.
Summative Assessment
Summative assessments are used to evaluate student learning progress and achievement at the conclusion of a specific instructional period—usually at the end of a project, unit, course, semester, program, or school year.