Teachers and administration of West Palm Beach Jr. Academy use standardized test reports to help identify each student’s individual strengths and needs. The test results are studied carefully and assist teachers in planning differentiated instruction to maximize each students academic growth.
WPBJA utilizes several methods to assess student academic achievement including the following.
- MAP® (Measures of Academic Progress)
MAP is a nationally norm-referenced, computer adaptive, measure of student growth in Mathematics and Reading that provides detailed, actionable data about where each child is on his or her unique learning path.
In order to best track student growth during the school year, students in grades 1 through 8 are given the MAP assessment in the beginning (Fall), middle (Winter), and end (Spring) of the school year. By tracking student progress throughout a year and across school years, MAP assists teachers and administrators in identifying the instructional level of each student and providing context for determining where each student is performing in relation to local or state standards and national norms.
- WrAP (Writing Assessment Program)
WrAP is a direct measure of student writing achievement developed in collaboration with school personnel and writing experts across the country. The test uses both non-stimulus and stimulus writing prompts in three genres—Narrative, Informative, and Argument/Opinion to develop students’ critical analysis and writing skills.
WrAP is administered across five grade level bands, Elementary (Grades 3 and 4), Intermediate (Grades 5 and 6), and Middle (Grades 7 and 8) with higher performance expectations at each level.
WPBJA Teachers and Administration use the WrAP results as a tool to help pinpoint specific strengths and weaknesses of their students’ written expression.
- DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills)
DIBELS is an assessment system designed to assess and monitor each Kindergarten-Second Grade student’s reading ability and progress. This is an individually administered five part assessment that measures students’ Letter Naming Fluency, Initial Word Sound Fluency, Phoneme Segmentation Fluency, Nonsense Words Fluency, and Oral Reading Fluency.
As DIBELS is a reliable predictor of later reading achievement, WPBJA students are tested three times a year; Fall, Mid-Year, and Spring. Classroom teachers utilize test results and the systems progress monitoring feature throughout the year to help students acquire and grow crucial early literacy and early reading skills important to a student’s future reading and writing ability gains.