Assessment
To gauge student progress our teachers will employ a wide range of assessment tools: questioning, quizzes, tests, rubrics, reports, homework grades, presentations, projects, journals, interviews, essays, portfolio assignments, exhibitions, and research projects.
CIS will also participate in all the required statewide standardized testing, e.g., End-of-Grade reading and math tests (grades 3-8), the writing test (grade 4), the expository test (grade 7), and may administer other programs like the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills to diagnose student and school-wide progress.
Portfolios of Progress. Over the course of the year, each student will also compile a Portfolio of Progress. These folders will be used to collect representative samples of the student’s work to record successes and document progress in meeting performance standards and personal goals.
At the conclusion of the year students will be asked to write short essays on items in their Portfolio of Progress that reflect: something they learned, something showing their creativity, what was most enjoyable, what was most challenging, something that integrates two subject areas, and a comparison and contrast of two pieces or projects. The portfolios will be a component of students’ formative and summative academic assessments and will also be available to parents to review.
