Measuring Student Growth
Education is the art of growing and developing minds. It allows individuals to expand their capacity, growing in confidence & competence as their comfort zone, understanding, and abilities expand. When parents come to us looking to partner in their students' education, we view it as the highest of honors.
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We want to measure up to the trust parents place in us, and that looks like transparency and accountability by providing clear, accurate communication of where students' fall academically in regards to their education goals.
Student Assessments
Student assessments fulfill two goals at Collective Academy. First, the development of a lifelong learner. Second, accountability, partnership and transparency with parents.
Assessments teach our students the skills, tools, and processes that will help them become life-long learners. Instead of typical tests that teach students to cram information the night before and then promptly forget everything they studied, assessments help our students get a clearer understanding of their abilities and growth. As students grow in passion and curiosity, they are often eager to learn as fast as they can. Assessments help us give them a personalized path towards mastery that can adjust for each student’s individual pacing and growth.
Internal assessments bring accountability & unite parents and teachers by providing clear, accurate communication of where students' fall academically and their path forward towards accomplishing their academic goals.
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While we do not administer any official Utah State testing, we do have our own internal student assessments. Our assessments allow us to clearly and accurately determine which skills and topics a student has mastered in a subject, and which skills and topics they are still developing.
Our initial assessments done at the beginning of the school year are our most in-depth assessment by design, starting with the most basic skills and concepts of a subject & building to the most advanced. Our goal is to ensure that we have the most accurate picture of the student's capabilities, including any gaps they may have missed.​
How Assessments Look in the Classroom
Assessments are introduced by the teacher, letting the student know the goal is not perfection, but investigation. We are curious as educators to know what a student has already learned so that they are not bored in the classroom, and what they don’t yet know so they can continue to grow. Students are not to feel any undue judgment or pressure to reach unrealistic expectations, as their assessments are motivated & informed by a student’s individual academic goals, not a school’s official grade level goals.
Regarding our initial assessments, students will be given one core academic assessment a day for the first two weeks of school. 90 min are blocked out for each assessment out of an abundance of caution, but it is expected that individual students will end at various times. Upon completion of their assessments, students leave the classroom and participate in one of our fun Assessment Days traditions.
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As we progress throughout the school year, we continue to have periodic evaluations to make sure our instruction is keeping pace with the student's learning.