Assessment
Student Assessment
Students at ASM show what they’ve learned in a multitude of formats that include working with Montessori materials, conducting labs and experiments, engaging in project based work, writing essays and discussing what they’ve learned in groups. Learning this way allows students to collaborate, create and problem-solve, and are all forms of assessment even though they may not look like the familiar quiz or test. Learning outcomes that require higher order thinking can’t be assessed in a multiple choice testing format, which measure student achievement based upon small bits of information that are easily scored.
The skills that students need to acquire as they journey down their path of education are the ability to critically think and analyze, and apply the information they’ve learned to real-life problems. At ASM, your child will be assessed through daily teacher observations, discourse, essay writing, and by using project rubrics, as well as traditional testing that includes quizzes and tests.
Standardized Tests
Beginning in Lower Elementary (grades 1-3), students take the standardized Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT) which measures math and language skills. The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) standardized test is administered to students in grades 4-8. In addition, students in grades 5-8 take the ERB WrAP, once in the fall and once in the spring, a test that measures a student’s progress in writing over the course of a year. In addition to the work the students do with their teachers during the year, the results from WrAP provide more information for the teachers to use to help individualize the writing curriculum for each student.