Standardized achievement tests such as ERB tests provide useful information to both the school and families, but it is important to understand the implications of this type of testing. At SFDS, we believe that a comprehensive assessment must include a variety of techniques not limited to standardized testing alone*, but also including an analysis of a student’s portfolio of his/her actual school work, direct observation of teaching and curriculum reviews benchmarked against state and national standards.
For the past two years, our Upper School math teachers have been working with a math consultant to refine and enhance the math curriculum and instruction. Their work has included 1) a definition of philosophy and approach, 2) an observation and supervision of instructional methods and design, 3) a revision of curriculum from a “mile wide and inch deep” structure to specific, in-depth content units and student objectives, and 4) an assessment that is congruent with the curriculum and instructional methods. To this end, we have enclosed links to the following documents centering on both ERB and critical thinking assessment.
Click here to read Exhibit A: ERB Skills Testing and Exhibit
- Overview (p. 1-2)
- Sample test questions (p. 3-4)
- Summary of SFDS math scores for grades 5, 6, 7 (p. 5)
Click here to read Exhibit B: Critical Thinking Tasks and Assessment
(6th and 7th grade math students)
- Overview (p. 1)
- Sample tasks (p. 2-4)
- Example of student work with teacher assessment (p. 5-10)
- Rubric for grading critical thinking tasks (p. 11)
These documents demonstrate very high performance on both the ERB skill test and the complicated critical thinking assessment tasks. We should be very proud of both our teachers and students. This represents outstanding academic excellence in the most authentic definition of that aspiration.
*High school admissions are another assessment tool, and we are proud to announce that once again, our High School admissions yielded outstanding results: 84% SFDS applicants were admitted to their first choice schools and 91% were admitted to first or second choice schools. Congrats to our Class of 2011!
