February Newsletter 2020

Happy Valentine’s and Presidents’ Day!
We are excited about all of the positive experiences our students are having and the learning that is happening every day. Likewise, we want to thank our school district for all the interest and support of our students and their educational experience.

State Testing Information

We are preparing for the state testing schedule for the CMAS tests. Our students from third
through eleventh grade have tests that are taken in several sessions. In the opinion for the Federal and State Department of Education, these are required tests for all of our students.

The Challenge of State Testing

The Briggsdale School Board passed a resolution concerning the state tests: the time it takes to take the state tests, the time it takes to get results, the validity of the state testing results and the disruption to the learning during the day are a part of the challenges for our students taking the state tests. All year, our teachers and students are working with the state standards and preparing for the state tests. We also test our students three times a year on standards based tests. The results of these tests can be a valuable part of knowing what are students are learning and can help with instruction, evaluations, and adjustments in the educational program. However, the PSAT 9/10 and SAT tests do have value for the students preparing for college entry scores. The PSAT is a pre-test that prepares students for their junior year SAT test. The SAT is a college ready test, which is a given free to our students in the spring of their junior year in high school.

Briggsdale School DATA System

Our students are required by state law to be tested on a standardized test each year. The Ed Performance Test is the test that we use with our students from 1st through 10th grade while our kindergarten students TS Gold for their assessments. Our 9th and 10th graders take the PSAT and the 11th graders take SAT. All of these assessments are nationally normed, and we receive the results from these tests in a reasonable amount of time to share with our students and staff. Additionally, we use other assessments through-out the year to evaluate our students' achievement and growth which include pre and post-tests, chapter tests or quizzes. We use these results for the Briggsdale School Data System and provide the information that we need to follow the other state requirements for teacher evaluation, student achievement, and student growth.

Briggsdale School

A Letter from the Superintendent

Morning Notes