JumpRope Grading and Reporting System

September 21, 2017

Dear Parents & Guardians,

As part of our work toward Proficiency Based Learning, for the past three years Gorham Elementary Schools have been piloting an online grading and reporting system called JumpRope.  This year, report cards will look differently as we have fully transitioned to using JumpRope.  We believe that you will find this new format to be much more informative than in the past.

You will receive your child’s JumpRope report card at the end of each trimester via email.  The email address(s) utilized for this purpose will be the one(s) that were provided to the school during opening days and are now listed in Infinite Campus.  These are the same email addresses that are used to send home Blackboard messages.  If you need your email address updated, please contact your school’s secretary as soon as possible.  If you have requested hard copies of school notices, then your child’s report card will be printed and sent home.  

Teachers will be prepared to walk through an example of a JumpRope report during the Parent/Teacher Conference window later this Fall.  Additionally, we will be offering a parent/guardian informational session on November 13, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. @ Village Elementary School Library.  In addition, online tools to assist parents in interpreting and understanding these reports will be located on our Gorham Schools website under the Proficiency Based Learning tab.  

Sincerely,

Becky Fortier, Great Falls Principal

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Formative assessments play an important role in education. A formative assessment is a tool for evaluating student learning during teaching in order to gauge whether students are understanding material at that identified time. It is a learning tool, not a final evaluation of mastery. Formative assessment helps teachers alter their approach to the learning objectives if students are struggling with or exceeding grade level standards.

Over the next few weeks, we will be using Star 360 as a formative assessment in grades 1 through 5. The Star 360 assessment will provide more intuitive information that will help to plot the course for what each student needs in their learning. This assessment is only one of several methods used to monitor progress and achievement over the year.

Star 360 assessments are computer adaptive and automatically adjust each question based on how the student answered the previous prompt. This reduces testing time and limits frustration and boredom. We encourage students to try their hardest and do their best, while recognizing that any assessment is an in-the-moment snapshot and not the final word on a child’s understanding or skill. Certainly a good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast will go a long way toward minimizing test anxiety and we appreciate your support in this regard.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the Star 360 assessment.

Sincerely,

Becky Fortier, Principal