Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment are intricately linked pieces of every educational program. It is impossible to separate them but for the purposes of providing information to our teachers, parents, and community members it is sometimes helpful to look at them as separate pieces of the larger puzzle. Assessment refers to how we measure if students know and are able to do what is outlined in our curriculum.

 

Our assessments fall broadly into two categories; formative and summative. These labels are based on how we use the assessment. A formative assessment is meant to inform our instruction; to guide the choices we make around how and what we need to teach in order to ensure learning continues. A summative assessment is often a summary or summation of learning; it is given at the end of a unit or course and allows the student to show what they know and are able to do. Our assessments make up the core of our reporting systems although not every assessment is graded. Many assessments are used by the teachers to evaluate both instructional effectiveness as well as student learning.

 

In addition to our locally designed assessments, we have state assessments that are powerful tools in helping us gauge both student progress and the effectiveness of our curriculum and instruction routines. The SAS (state assessment system), and the SAT were administered during the 2022-2023 school year. This is part of the assessment program linked to ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act).

Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment are key components of the Pelham School District educational program. It is our goal to provide a well-articulated curriculum to all K-12 students in the Pelham schools and to ensure that all students who graduate from the Pelham School District are Career and College Ready. To accomplish this task we have numerous curriculum committees comprised of teachers and administrators that continually monitor, write and revise curriculum to ensure that our expectations at each grade level are appropriate and the delivery of the curriculum is effective.

The NH Assessment Portal is a valuable resource for information related to the new statewide annual assessment. You can access the portal through this link.