Riverview teachers use a variety of approaches to assess what students know and are able to do. Using multiple measures to assess students allows teachers to design instruction critically on behalf of each student and each class, and thus personalize learning.

Students Are Involved in the Process

Students attending Riverview have a hands-on role in the assessment process. It is important for children to learn how they learn in order to increase understandings. Teachers work with students to become meta-cognitively aware of their individual learning styles and processes and to empower students to become self-directed learners.

Types of Assessments

Riverview’s Report Cards provide specific information about a child’s progress throughout the year. In addition, they put the emphasis on learning, rather than on comparisons among students; separate academic performance from work habits and personal characteristics; and give information to assist the teacher and par-ents in understanding the child as a learner. Reports are summative evaluations that reflect the child’s progress toward grade level standards and concepts.

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) is an adaptive test that assesses students in math, reading, and writing for grades K-8. MAP can be used as a diagnostic, formative, and summative assessment measure. MAP tests are a series nationally normed computer based tests that identify a student’s level of academic achievement and also measures their progress in school. Each school year, students in K-8th grade take the MAP in the fall and spring. MAP tests are adaptive tests and the computer program adjusts the difficulty of the questions so that each student takes a unique test. The difficulty of each question is based on how well the student answers the questions up to that point. As the student answers correctly, the questions become more difficult. If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become easier. With this information RCS is able to monitor the growth of students of all abilities and differentiate learning.

The Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS) is administered to South Carolina public school students, including charter school students, in grades 3-8. PASS test items measure grade level student performance on the South Carolina Academic Standards and Common Core Standards. PASS test results are used for school, district, and federal accountability purposes.