Curriculum & Instruction

Standardized Assessments/Universal Screeners

Benchmark assessments are designed to measure critical skills shown to be strong indicators of student learning, growth and performance. Screening results provide a measurement against local and national criteria, and are one source of information to gauge a child’s level of proficiency. Students in grades K-8 will be universally screened two to three times per year, depending on grade and assessment type.

Academic:

• Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS)
• Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR)- English Language Arts & Mathematics (3-8)
• Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) (5 & 8)
• Measure of Academic Progress (MAP)- Reading and Mathematics (K-8)

Social-Emotional Learning:

• Panorama SEL Screener (3-8)

Formative/Classroom Assessments

Formative assessments are designed and used to inform instruction and track student learning during a lesson, unit, or course. These assessments help teachers to identify how students are progressing as learners in regard to mastering concepts or standards, pinpoint specific areas or skills that require reinforcement, and determine when students are ready to move forward with specific learning progressions. These are day-to-day forms of assessment that include completed student work, interactions between the teacher and students and teacher observations of students.

It is good practice for a district to be on a formal curriculum review cycle. A review does not need to be synonymous with a program adoption. In some cases, new materials are selected. In other cases, the district may just analyze its curricular resources, data, and teaching models. The goal of a review, no matter the path, is to ensure that instructional practices are maximizing outcomes for students. District 109 curriculum leadership teams, made up of teachers and administrators, are vital to the process. Cycles of review (with corresponding years) are shown in the "Formal Curriculum Review Cycle" graphic.