Assessment & Reporting

Each day we communicate with students what our learning targets will be. These learning targets are very specific skills that students can practice and improve on in order to master the proficiencies for our Humanities course (Reading, Writing, Speaking/Listening, Language, and Cultural Literacy). An example of a learning target in Reading might be "I can identify the main idea of a paragraph," while an example of a learning target in Writing might be "I can write an effective claim" for an argument writing assignment.

On a daily basis, students are completing in-class tasks and assignments that help us, as teachers, keep track of their growth. We provide them with regular feedback through these small-scale assignments, allowing them several chances to learn and grow before they are formally assessed on any particular skill.

After students have practiced a skill multiple times, they will be asked to apply that skill independently to the best of their ability. This formal or "summative" assessment will receive written feedback from the teachers that will be shared with both students and families (see example to the right). This feedback will indicate the progress that a student has made toward mastering a skill and offer specific suggestions for how the student can continue to grow.

Examples of summative assessments could be Badge Tests for independent workshop skills, formal research or writing assignments, and projects. Generally, the summative assessments in Humanities will not include traditional quizzes or unit-end tests.