Assessment is an important part of every child’s education. Schools assess students throughout the school year for a variety of purposes including the ongoing monitoring of student progress in the classroom and as part of the overall district performance.
Historically, report cards have given parents and students the information they need to check on student performance. Legislation such as Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) formerly (NCLB), Individuals with Disability Act (IDEA), and Response to Intervention (RTI) all require additional layers of assessment. While we want to balance the number of assessments given to each child annually, having a variety of assessments will provide teachers, parents and students a much clearer picture of progress as no one assessment should determine a child’s educational programming.
MSAD 15 complies with State law and aims for 95-100% participation in the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA). The MEA annually assesses students in grades 3-8 in ELA and mathematics. In addition, science is assessed in grades 5, 8 and 11. Students in grade 11 will take the SAT during the month of April. As part of the District’s annual assurance to the federal and state government we must have a minimum of 95% participation in the MEA and SAT. Should our participation fall under the 95% threshold we jeopardize losing $1.8 million in federal funding.
Please join us in encouraging children to do their best on every assessment.