4-Sight Benchmark Tests

North Schuylkill School District has been administering the PSSA aligned tests for the past four years. The 4-Sight tests provide our school district with valuable data pertinent to student progess in the subject areas of Mathematics and Reading. The Benchmark tests are given at regular intervals throughout the school year. The testing program provides the district with data to help provide direction and make appropiate modifications to our curriculum and mode of instructional delivery.

During the 2010-2011 school year, the district will again participate in the 4-Sight Benchmark testing program. This formative assessment serves our district in a number of ways. This assessment tool helps to inform instruction, provide a focus to professional development, and improve student achievement. Last year, the 4-Sight Benchmark assessments were administered in over 1,500 schools across more than 410 districts.

During the next few weeks we will release an assessment calendar to provide all of our stakeholders with information relating to the 4-Sight assessments and the PSSA assessments. If you need any additional information regarding our assessment programs, please feel free to contact our school buildings.

New Post as Supervisor of Curriculum and Federal Programs

Welcome to my newly created blog. I have assumed the position of Supervisor of Curriculum previously held by Mr. Paul Caputo. I welcome this opportunity to work with the students, parents, and staff here at North Schuylkill.

One of our very first efforts deals with the midpoint review of our Strategic Plan-we hope to have this process completed by September 30, 2010. The midpoint review requires all of the stakeholders to participate in an in-depth analysis of our strengths and weaknesses of our current program.

I will be asking your help in this endeavor. We will need to collect data, evaluate our current programs, build on our strengths, and work to eliminate our weaknesses. This requires a team effort. If you have any opinions regarding our current programs, please do not hesitate to contact me regarding your concerns.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned in my many years of involvement in education is that we perform a valuable service to the community in our school buildings. We provide a launching pad to our families for future success and developing strong citizenship skills that are life-long attributes. The most important aspect of this mission is the ability and desire to work together to a common goal. We can accomplish so much by working together.