The Madrone Trail Public Charter School will utilize a wide array of assessment tools to evaluate capacities according to the goals of the charter to educate Heart, Head, and Hands. The teachers will observe the children in a variety of situations in order to evaluate their progress in these areas and in accordance with the expected student outcomes. Since non-academic and more qualitative outcomes (such as attentiveness, enthusiasm, involvement in class discussions, initiative, effort, judgment, good will, commitment etc.) are as integral to our mission as objective outcomes, the portfolio method of evaluation will be a most important method of assessment.

Included in the portfolios will be a sample of the child^s main lesson books, various pieces of art, practice papers, and evaluation rubrics. Examples of other reliable measures that will be used are oral recitations, performances, demonstrations, curriculum-based assessments, teacher observation, and student self-evaluation.

Furthermore, the school has benchmarks and performance goals that provide clear expectations for student/school achievement. Individual remediation plans are developed through a Student Study Team for students who consistently fail to demonstrate grade level progress.

Teacher observations become the essential ingredients in a bi-annual written report/evaluation for the benefit of students and parents. A shorter mid-year report will update parents on student progress and will be followed by a comprehensive year-end report. These reports are in a narrative format. They describe, first and foremost, what a child does well, and there is always mention of the overcoming of difficulties as well as the development of any new capacities.

These assessments shall be based upon a portfolio of student work, performance assessments, enumeration of subjects adequately completed, and a mention of areas needing additional focus. The report shall make reference to study habits, attitudes, and social abilities.

All students will demonstrate "academic mastery" in core academic areas. Portfolios are assessed according to school-wide rubrics with input from the class teacher and specialty teachers across all content areas. "Mastery" for special needs and Limited English Proficient (LEP) students are defined appropriately according to their Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and English proficiency levels.

Starting 2009-2010, the MTPCS will participate in all components of the Oregon Statewide Assessment program and that of the Adequate Yearly Progress assessment program. It will also participate in the yearly data collection effort as required by the state.

Back to Program