The teachers and staff at Ferndale Schools use a variety of assessments to decide how to best help our students achieve.
Northwest Evaluation Assessment (NWEA)
This year, we are instituting NWEA testing in grades 2-10. NWEA testing is performed three times a year - in the fall, winter, and spring - and it shows students, parents, and teachers the growth that an individual student makes in math, reading, and language skills. Teachers receive a report for each student based on their testing, which is all computer-adaptive. This means that each test a child takes is constantly adapting to the student's skill level based on the answers they provide. This allows NWEA to find out students' exact strengths and weaknesses in certain areas.
For more information on NWEA, visit their website at NWEA.org .
Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA)
The DRA is given to elementary school students to gauge their reading level. DRA is typically administered 2-3 times during the school year - once in the fall and once or twice later in the year to judge growth. Teachers give the DRA one-on-one to students. The University of Nevada - Las Vegas Department of Teaching and Learning has put together a comprehensive overview of DRA. Click here to access it.
Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI)
The QRI is used in the middle- and high-school grades to assess older students' reading abilities in narrative and informational reading. Primarily, Ferndale uses it for placement in AARI, or Adolescent Accelerated Reading Initiative classes at University High School, University Middle School, and Ferndale High School. Like the DRA, this assessment is given one-on-one twice a semester - once at the beginning of AARI and once at the end to show growth. To read more about AARI, click here.