Pleasant Valley Primary School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Tis the season for assessment. In the coming weeks, students in grades 1-4 will partake in the i-Ready Diagnostic. A good many others will also be given the Fountas and Pinnell reading benchmark assessment and ELPA21. Below is a short summary of each assessment. Results of each assessment will be shared with parents upon completion.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your child’s needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on his or her answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade, but instead to determine how best to support your child’s learning.

The Fountas and Pinnell benchmark assessment is a series of texts that can be used to identify a student’s current reading level and progress over time. The word “benchmark” means a standard against which to measure something. The Fountas & Pinnell Benchmark Assessment Systems evaluate student reading and comprehension ability. The Fountas and Pinnell assessment is used to determine each child’s instructional level for guided reading and independent reading. It helps students to know what level of text to choose so that they can advance their confidence and skills without struggling.

The English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA) is a criterion-referenced and performance-based English test. The ELPA21 is given to students whose primary language or language of the home is other than English and who would require additional English language support to develop reading, writing, listening and speaking skills.

What can parents do to help?

To help prepare your child, please encourage them to:

·         Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.

·         Try their best on each question and try not to rush.

·         Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.

What happens next?

All 3 assessments provide results that help identify what your child already knows and determine next steps for instruction. We look forward to sharing these results with you and to providing a learning experience that will attract and hold your child’s interest while teaching important skills and concepts.

Illness, attendance, etc.

Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success—both in school and in life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous behavior and have a better chance of graduating from high school.

But when kids are absent for an average of just two days of school per month—even when the absences are excused—it can have a negative impact. These absences can affect kids as early as Kindergarten.

We are taking every precaution in keeping kids healthy while at school. We are encouraging hand washing, monitoring daily attendance and have increased disinfecting efforts. You have undoubtedly heard about the recent measles outbreak in Clark County. Please understand that this situation is rapidly evolving, and we will provide updates when we get new information. If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s immunity status, please contact the school nurse.

Overcrowding/Boundaries

As you are aware, the school board has approved boundary changes that will impact our families who live north of NE 179th Street. Beginning Fall 2019, families who live north of NE 179th Street will attend Daybreak schools. More information will be sent to these families from the district, and we are working on spring and fall events at Daybreak so that our families can get comfortable with their new school. We recognize that changing schools is difficult, and we will support our families every step of the way.

As always, thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning! It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Mike