Assessments​

​

​Why does my child have to be tested?

​

Few people enjoy taking tests. So why must all students participate in state and school testing and assessments? Regular assessments measure two very important things:

     •  The teachers’ effectiveness in helping their students learn;
     •  The students’ level of mastery in subject areas they are likely to need to succeed.

Ultimately, testing and assessments give students, parents, and teachers the timely feedback and tools necessary to adjust the learning experience in a manner that improves performance and helps all students achieve their maximum potential.

​

          Where learning performance is measured, learning improves.
          Where learning performance is measured, reported, and acted upon, the rate of learning accelerates.

​

At VHS, we want to ensure that assessments and tests achieve their intended purposes. To do so, we focus on the four P’s of performance measurement:

​

1. Potential

The potential of each child is measured through meaningful assessments. Knowing exactly what kind of progress your child is making helps us set learning goals together.



2. Precision

Because VHS’s four benchmark assessments are precise in both content and timing, we can pinpoint exact needs and prescribe additional instructional supports or advanced enrichment opportunities in a timely manner.



3. Progress Reporting

VHS measures general progress between benchmarks to help our students, families, and teachers stay on course and customize our efforts to the unique needs and personal goals of your child. In addition to issuing quarterly progress reports, VHS teachers conference with parents at least once every three weeks to discuss your child’s work and to make modifications to enhance your child's learning experience.



4. Practical Local Testing

Annual local testing based on state and national learning standards helps us monitor grade-level learning expectations while providing a basis to validate our quarterly benchmark assessments.

​

All students in grades 2 to 10 participate in testing administered by the State of Arizona.  Students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 10 take the AIMS tests (beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, AIMS will be replaced by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers test or PARCC) and students in 2nd and 9th grades take the Stanford 10 tests to assess annual growth.