Dear Parents: We have had a great year in AHISD, and we have much to celebrate. Our students have excelled in countless ways this year, and we couldnt do it without our outstanding teachers or you. Your childs STAAR and/or End of Course scores will be sent home soon. As a district, our students generally do quite well on standardized tests, and we always rank high on various rankings published about schools. We are required to give these tests, and they do provide a snapshot about how your child did on that day. While we can glean some helpful information about student performance in some areas, it is also important that we keep these tests in perspective. They cannot fully measure what we know about your child, nor all that your child knows. Your childs academic growth is important, which is why our teachers measure their growth throughout the year. Unfortunately, our state and nation have drifted toward an over-reliance on standardized test scores, which can distort classroom instruction. When schools teach to the test, they sometimes get higher scores in the short run, but they can potentially limit a childs love of learning and ability to succeed in areas that arent covered on the test. As a district, we try to de-emphasize standardized tests because they only attempt to measure a portion of what we try to teach and what children need to be able to learn for the future. By their very nature, standardized tests cannot assess concepts in much depth or complexity. Our children are growing up in the 21st Century. They need to be able to use their content knowledge to think critically, be creative, work collaboratively, demonstrate strong character, develop a strong work ethic, be entrepreneurial, show flexibility, utilize technology, persist through personal struggles, understand diverse cultures, and demonstrate many other skills and qualities that are manifested only in authentic ways not measured on multiple-choice tests. To teach these qualities and skills, we hire excellent teachers who provide engaging, personally challenging and relevant experiences that hopefully inspire learning for life. We teach a rich curriculum that cannot be fully assessed by a multiple-choice test. And, beyond academic success, we want our students to follow their passions in the arts, sports, leadership, community service and other areas of interest. We have seen tremendous academic growth this year, but whether your child excelled or struggled on a single test, I encourage you to focus your conversations on what was learned this year, how your child felt about the learning process and whether he/she put forth a strong effort. If you have any questions about your childs schoolwork or test results, feel free to contact your childs teacher or campus principal. Thank you for all you do to make this a special place to raise and educate our children, and have a great summer! Dr. Kevin Brown Superintendent of Schools
Posted on: Fri, 23 May 2014 19:52:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015