The following is an important message for parents K-8 from Assistant Superintendent for Educational Programs David Hurst and K-5 Administrator for RtI and Instructional Technology Laurel Jones.
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Welcome to the 2017-18 school year! We are writing to tell you about some changes ahead that will help teachers provide more personalized learning and tailored instruction for Bethlehem students K-8.
Our elementary schools and middle school will soon be implementing a program called i-Ready Diagnostic, an innovative and adaptive online assessment tool for reading and math. i-Ready will replace AIMSweb at the elementary level and the Scholastic Inventory at the middle school. It is designed to be engaging for students and will help teachers quickly and effectively assess the individual needs of each and every student while allowing them to monitor a student’s progress throughout the school year.
You can learn more about i-Ready in this video: www.i-ready.com/tour.
Students in kindergarten through eighth grade will take the i-Ready Diagnostic assessment three times during the school year: in fall, winter, and spring. In grades 2-8, teachers will administer the first i-Ready Diagnostic in mid-September. Students in grades K-1 will take their first i-Ready Diagnostic in early October. The results of these adaptive assessments will provide teachers with a personalized instructional course of action for each student.
Individual student reports detailing results from the the fall i-Ready Diagnostic assessments will be provided to parents in late October or early November.
Please note that students will wear headphones or earbuds when using i-Ready. At the elementary level students will have access to shared headphones. Students may also bring in their own earbuds. At the middle school, earbuds are on the required supply lists. Students in grades 6-8 need to have their own earbuds for regular classroom use as well as for i-Ready.
Sincerely,
David Hurst
Assistant Superintendent for Educational Programs
dhurst@bcsd.neric.org
Laurel Jones
K-5 Administrator for RtI and Instructional Technology
ljones@bcsd.neric.org