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Dear Families,
PYP Grade 5 Exhibition
After eight weeks of hard work and lots of scaffolding, support, and encouragement from their groups, teachers, staff, mentors, outside experts, and families, the Exhibition showcased all the students had learned and the actions they wanted to undertake as a result.
It was a wonderful day; many parents told me how proud they felt. The opening ceremony, which showcased collaborations with specialist staff, notably Music and PE, and the summary of the process the students had undertaken, were fantastic ways to open the event.
The High Seas
The countdown for our outstanding musical production, The High Seas, with two performances on Friday, 17 May, at 1.30 pm -2.30 pm or 5.30 pm - 6.30 pm, is nearly here. Thursday will be the full-dress rehearsal, with our younger classes being the audience.
Please check below to ensure you know which time your child’s class will be performing.
The 1st performance at 1:30 pm will be led by: 3A, 3C, 4A, 4C, 5B, 5C
The 2nd performance at 5:30 pm will be led by:3B, 3D, 4B, 4D, 5A, 5D
Those students performing in the 5.30 pm show, remain at school, attend CCAs or other activities as usual, eat dinner in the cafeteria, and then will be dressed and ready to go on stage at 5.30 pm. Staff, with parent help, will be supervising them after school.
Thank you to the parents who offered to assist in a range of roles, including make-up, costume dressing, and helping staff with students as they wait to perform. We appreciate your support! It is going to be a great event!
NWEA Grade 2-5
Our NWEA testing period will commence Monday, 27 May, and end Tuesday, June 4. Make-ups will be from June 5 to 12.
Please share the link below with your child and undertake some practice tests. https://warmup.nwea.org/index.html
Further questions were answered about the Map test.
What is MAP Growth, and what does it measure?
Unlike paper-and-pencil tests, where all students are asked the same questions and spend a fixed amount of time taking the test, MAP Growth is a computer-adaptive test. That means every student gets a unique set of test questions based on responses to previous questions.
As the student answers correctly, questions get harder. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions get easier. By the end of the test, most students will have answered about half the questions correctly, as is common on adaptive tests. The purpose of MAP Growth is to help educators understand where a student is on their academic journey, if they are growing over time, and where a student’s strength and opportunity areas are.
MAP Growth is designed to measure student achievement in the moment and growth over time.
MAP Growth tracks students’ individual growth over time, wherever they are starting from and regardless of the grade they are in. For instance, if a third-grader is actually reading like an average fifth-grader, MAP Growth will be able to identify that. Or, if a fifth-grader is doing math like an average third-grader, MAP Growth will identify that, too. Both things are incredibly important for a teacher to know so that they can plan instruction efficiently.
Is MAP Growth a standardized test? How is it different from “high-stakes” tests?
No, MAP Growth is not a standardized test because it doesn’t give all students the same, standard set of questions every time it’s administered. Instead, it adapts based on a student’s answer, asking a more difficult question when they answer correctly and an easier question when they don’t. Students are expected to answer questions correctly only about 50% of the time.
MAP Growth is also an interim assessment, that is, it is given periodically during the school year, so that educators and families can see a student’s growth over time.
When we talk about high-stakes tests, we are usually talking about a test designed to measure what students already know, based on what is expected at their grade level. High-stakes tests are also often used as a way to measure grade-level proficiency. MAP Growth is designed to measure student achievement in the moment and growth over time, regardless of grade level, so it is quite different.
By the end of the test, most students will have answered about half the questions correctly, as is common on adaptive tests. The purpose of MAP Growth is to determine what the student knows and is ready to learn next.
Another difference is the timeliness of the results. While states often return information in the fall after the state summative test is taken, MAP Growth gives quick feedback to teachers, administrators, students, and families. Teachers receive immediate results with MAP Growth that show how each student is performing and where there might be common learning opportunities for the class. One similarity is that MAP Growth aligns to the same standards in a given state as the state test, so both measure similar content.
https://www.nwea.org/blog/2024/12-common-questions-parents-ask-map-growth-assessment/
Have a great week, and remember that CCAs will continue with the High Seas productions this Friday.
Note that the last day of the CCA this semester is Thursday, 13 June. There are NO CCA's on Friday, 14 June, as it is GRADUATION.
Warm regards,
Lynn
Lynn Pendleton
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