All of our students will complete assessments in May. Our students in grades k-2 will complete two assessments in a 1:1 setting with their teacher: Fountas & Pinnell Reading Benchmark Assessment and the Primary Number Operations Assessment (Math). Your child’s teacher will have substitutes on the days when these tests are administered since they have to be completed 1:1. These assessments are part of the Hartford School District’s local assessment plan and they provide us very valuable information that allow us to know which of the standards your child has mastered as well as the standards that your child still needs to learn. Teachers use the data from these assessments to create an instructional plan that will help your child learn the needed skills. 

Our students in grades 3-5 will complete local and state assessments. All of our 3rd-5th graders will take the STAR assessments that provide teachers and students information on their progress in reading and mathematics. The STAR assessments also inform teachers’ decisions about what your child needs to learn and practice to continue to grow as readers and math thinkers. 

The state assessments are as follows: 
Grades 3-5: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) These assessments measure individual students’ proficiency in meeting the Common Core State Standards in the English/Language Arts and Mathematics. You can learn more about the SBAC by following this link 

Grade 4: FitnessGram: This new assessment will be piloted in Vermont Schools this year. Follow this link to learn more 

Grade 5: Vermont Science Assessment: This is a brand new assessment that will be administered for the first time this year. This is also a pilot year. To learn more about the VT Science Assessment follow this link 

The very best way you can support your child as they prepare to take these assessments is to ensure that he/she is getting adequate sleep! I know this sounds simple and possibly silly but I’ve told so many over the years, lack of adequate sleep and sleep hygiene is our greatest barrier when trying to teach students. Recently our fourth grade teachers, Mike Duguay and Maryann Driscoll shared this article about what time to put your kids to bed. While we want our students to always have adequate sleep so that they can do their best thinking and learning, it is very important during assessment periods since students sometimes become anxious about these assessments. If your child expresses these feelings, please contact her/his teacher and alert the teacher to your child’s feelings.