Student Assessment

    IVMS views assessment as the process of measuring a student's progress toward a goal. At the elementary level at the end of each 9-week period, students and parents will receive an academic evaluation report. Every two weeks, parents receive a report evaluating the student's performance in the classroom. In the early childhood program, there are three evaluations and two scheduled parent conferences per year.

    Island Village Montessori School> administers all countywide tests, including the FCAT, the Degrees of Reading Power (DRP) at least twice per year, and the Kindergarten Readiness screening. Outcomes will be congruent with the Sunshine State Standards, which identify state standards about what Florida public school students should know and be able to do. Regular education students are expected to perform at the end of each grade level as outlined in the benchmarks of the Sunshine State Standards.

    IVMS has purchased a curriculum called Morning Routines which serves to prepare the students for standardized testing . Developed by two Montessori teachers and owners of a company called Montessori Made Manageable, the curriculum was developed for public Montessori magnet schools in Broward County. This curriculum was implemented at IVMS in the spring of 2002.

    In addition to the required standardized testing, other methods of evaluation used include, but are not limited to: progression with the Montessori educational materials, performance assessments such as oral presentations and demonstrations; product assessments like science projects, art exhibits, design projects, and portfolios; and process-focused assessments including interviewing, work plans, and observations.

    We no longer have mandatory conferences due to time constraints. Conferences, observations, and ongoing communication between school and home are highly encouraged after the first month of school. Portfolios will be sent home at the end of the year summarizing highlights of student work.

    Students are continuously assessed by the teacher in order to determine their readiness to advance in the curriculum. The Montessori materials themselves are devised with a "control of error" in which the children discover and correct errors on their own independent of or with little adult intervention. Knowledge of the materials and whether or not a student can teach a particular concept to a younger student are also important diagnostic and assessment tools.

    As the Florida Department of Education develops new assessment tests driven by the benchmarks in the Sunshine State Standards, the faculty will work with the D.O.E. and The County School District on the implementation of these assessments.