Academics
Academics Overview
International Education
International Schools provide students with linguistic skills, higher-order thinking skills, and a global perspective that will help them to contribute to, and succeed in, a 21st century world. International Schools help students engage in intellectually rigorous schoolwork and prepare them for college, career and life. International Schools help close both the academic achievement gap as well as the “global achievement gap”.
More information about International Education in Seattle Public Schools
Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
The CCSS are academic standards that have been develop nationally and adopted by most states. They represent specific academic skills in reading, writing, communication and mathematics that students should learn at each grade level.
Assessments
At Concord International we use multiple measures to assess student performance in school. We believe a single test should never be the sole judge of a student’s academic skills.Some measures we use are teacher observation, class work, portfolios, running records and standardized and classroom based assessments. The state and district also require testing and an explanation of those tests appear below.
Smarter Balanced (SBAC)
The SBAC is the state’s exam for students in grades 3-5. Its purpose is to assess a student’s progress in certain subject areas. Third, fourth, and fifth graders are tested in math and English Language Arts. Fifth graders are tested in science, still using the MSP. The assessment window is from Mid-March to early June. We will be sending out a schedule as it gets closer.
More information about the SBAC.
Measures of Academic Performance (MAP)
The MAP is an online test given to all students in grades K-5. Its purpose is to assess a student’s academic growth in reading and math. The test is given three times a year: fall, winter, late spring. Progress reports for each student are generated and are available on the Source. Scores from the MAP test are also included in the student’s report card and available at Parent-Teacher conferences.
WA Kids – Kindergarten
The WA kids assessment is started during Kindergarten Jumpstart and completed throughout September and October by the kindergarten teachers. Students are assessed in a variety of areas: social/emotional, physical, cognitive, language, literacy and mathematics. This information helps teachers tailor their instruction to meet the individual needs of the students in their classes.
Fountas and Pinnell Reading Assessment
This reading assessment is a one on one assessment given to students to assess their reading and comprehension level. It allows teachers to individualize instruction for students. This is done several times a year to monitor student growth.