How to Interpret Your Child’s Results

• What do the scores mean?
  3=Exceptional (above grade level), 2=Proficient (at grade level) 1=limited (below grade level), 0=Not Scorable (did not do-see Comments).
  
  
• Who will look at these results?
  Students, parents, and teachers. The students received a copy of their scores for each class before the end of the year. In addition, a copy of the Social Action Project Final Assessment Rubric is sent home to parents, another copy goes directly to the ninth grade teachers, and a third copy will be put in the student’s permanent file.
  
  
• How is this benchmark assessment useful to parents?
  This assessment provides a “snapshot” of your child’s ability to apply what he or she has learned in science, social studies, math, and language arts at the end of the eighth grade. Parents might ask: “How easily did my child approach this task?” “Was my child able to do this complex task with little or no frustration?” “How responsible was my child in meeting deadlines?” “How much did my child depend on others to motivate him/her?” Answers to these questions will provide parents with valuable insight into their child’s ability. Using this information, parents can help students in the transition from middle school to high school.
  
  
• How is this benchmark assessment useful to the teachers?
  A benchmark assessment is useful to teachers in several ways:
  1. it gives next year’s teachers an individual and group look at student performance,
  2. it gives this year’s teachers valuable feedback on the effectiveness of this year’s instruction, and,
  3. it gives the school district a look at the effectiveness of the K-8 curriculum.
  
  
  
• Why didn’t this project get averaged into my child’s grade on the report card?
  Grade level benchmark assessments across content areas are cumulative. Letter grades in course work are specific to content and process being taught in a unit of study. The grades cumulate into an average score. Benchmarks are designed to give an accurate picture of a student’s competencies in applying what has been learned to other subject areas. For example, this benchmark tested how well a student applies a math concept to concepts learned in social studies by using a graph to interpret information, and then how well the student can communicate the meaning of the graph through writing.
  
  
• Why did my child have to do this?
  District short term and long range goals established by the Board of Education require benchmark assessments in each of the content areas for each grade level. Pilots are to be developed this year with all grade levels having developed and implemented benchmarks by 2000-2001. Presently there are three grade level assessments: the fifth grade service learning for language arts, the sixth grade Island Project, and the eighth grade Social Action Project. A second grade and fifth grade math benchmark assessment are also currently being developed.
  
  
• What if this project was too hard for my child?
  The Michigan Department of Education has determined that there are certain things every eighth grader should be able to do upon completion of the eighth grade. This project is an indicator of how ready your child is for ninth grade. It was designed with assistance from the Michigan Department of Education and nationally recognized assessment specialists (through a special grant from the Council of Michigan Foundations, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Lilly Endowment) and is an accurate indicator of your child’s ability to do eighth grade work.