NWEA Information Night Feedback

Dr. Sean Enright hosted an informational meeting tonight regarding the NWEA results that parents are receiving.  I stopped for a portion of the meeting to see what questions parents had about the results and the comments were interesting.

First, I was very impressed by the questions.  Many had thoughts about what the scores meant, but also philosophical questions regarding the nature and necessity of the testing.  For example, is it appropriate for a 2nd grader to take a test on a computer?  How much does a child’s attention span play into the score?  How are teachers going to use this information?  There was a supportive tone that the data the district was receiving will be useful to staff and that as parents, they can use the resource to help their child.

Second, there were questions about our overall assessment calendar?  NWEA, MEAP, Plan, ACT, PSAT, End of Course Exams, etc.  How does it all fit together?  This was excellent feedback for use to receive. Based on these conversations, Dr. Enright will be distributing information soon to share how all assessments tie together (Trust me they do – except the MEAP, but that is another story).

The one point I do want to make to all parents is that this score – the RIT that your child scored on this assessment – is just one data point, one little slice in time.  It can be influenced by a number of factors.  Were they distracted?  Were they not feeling well that day?  Did they lose attention? I encourage parents not to over react to the results.  As a district we are excited to get this information, but we are more excited to watch the results over time.

If you have questions about your results feel free to send an email to Dr. Sean Enright at enrights@saline.k12.mi.us