October 5, 2020
Dear Parents of Arlington Students:
Given the changes made to students’ schooling beginning last March, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Chris Reykdal, has mandated that all students participate in assessments in reading and math so that parents, students, teachers, and districts have an understanding of current levels of performance in these two key academic areas.
Arlington has selected the STAR assessment to fulfill this need and will begin implementing this week for all K-12 students.* The STAR test is computer adaptive, adjusting the difficulty level of questions according to the answers provided by the student. It takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and will be proctored by your child’s teacher or support staff.
In order to support your child’s assessment sessions, we ask the following:
- Keep the camera on during the testing session. Teachers observe students carefully during assessment in order to maintain understanding of how a student is progressing and feeling about the test. Facial expression is the best way to observe and support students during this time.
- Ensure that your student has a quality testing environment: good lighting, a quiet work space free of distractions, and _____
- Avoid the temptation to help your child determine the answers. It is important that we get an accurate measure of your student’s skills, and any additional support from you might skew the results.
STAR testing will occur two more times this year—in the winter and in the spring. This collection of data over time provides an excellent picture of learning and progress. It is important to note that these assessments are not used for grading purposes. Rather, they help teachers tailor their instruction to keep your students’ learning progressing.
More information regarding the assessment is available Here
*Students attending the Stillaguamish Valley Learning Center, Weston High School, the Arlington Online Program via Continuous Distance Learning, and middle school Math students (with the exception of students in 8th grade Algebra) will participate in iReady testing rather than STAR.
Thank you,
Kari Henderson-Burke
Executive Director of Teaching and Learning