In Woodland Public Schools our primary focus is on student learning. Serving student learning means we must keep a laser like focus on four questions that are essential to effective teaching and learning:

  1. What do we want our students to learn?
  2. How will we teach them?
  3. How will we know they learned?
  4. How will we respond to their learning?

What do we want our students to learn?

You may have heard about standards for student learning. Standards provide teachers, parents, and students with a set of clear expectations to ensure that all students have the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life upon graduation from high school. In Washington state our learning standards are developed through collaborative, public processes informed by educators, administrators, community members, parents and guardians, and stakeholder groups across the state and nation. Full descriptions of the standards in each subject area can be found below.

Parent Road Maps

Road maps help parents understand how to support their child in math and language arts. Each road map lets parents know what their child will learn, how to partner with the teacher, what skills and strategies students will use, and how to ensure learning continues outside of school.

English Language Arts Road Maps
Mathematics Road Maps
English
Spanish
English
Spanish
Kindergarten
 parent guide ela kindergarten image parent guide ela spanish kindergarten image parent guide math kindergarten parent guide spanish math kindergarten image
First Grade
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Second Grade
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Third Grade
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Fourth Grade
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Fifth Grade
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Sixth Grade
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Seventh Grade
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Eighth Grade
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High School
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How will we teach them?

In Woodland Public Schools we will:

  • Provide clear and intentional focus on subject matter, content and curriculum.
  • Center our instruction on high expectations for all students.
  • Demonstrate effective teaching practices.
  • Foster and manage safe positive learning environments.
  • Use multiple student data elements to modify instruction and improve student learning.
  • Recognize individual student learning needs and develop strategies to address those needs.
  • Communicate and collaborate with parents and the school community.
  • Exhibit collaborative and collegial practices focused on improving instructional practice and student learning

To ensure we meet the commitments above we use research-based effective instructional practices, referred to as our instructional framework. To learn what research says about each of these commitments you are welcome to review our instructional guide.

Woodland Public Schools Instructional Guide

If you'd like to review the instructional materials we use in our classrooms please visit the link below.

K-12 Instructional Materials/Curricular Resources

How will we know they learned?

Assessing student learning is an important component of the learning process.

Educators use students’ performance on multiple assessments/tests to make individualized data-informed decisions. Data can be drawn from pre-assessments, which provide baseline information to plan and design instruction; formative assessments, which provide teachers with information to help reteach or adjust instruction to ensure all students learn; and summative assessments, which help teachers, departments, schools, and our district analyze student performance on a larger scale. We use all these forms of tests/assessments in Woodland schools. A schedule of our commonly used assessments organized by grade is available below.

Assessment Name Grades Assessment Type Use of Data
Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA)

*Required State Test

Administered annually in the spring.		 3-10 Summative - measures students’ progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts/literacy and math at the end of each school year. Often used for decisions such as grading, program evaluation, tracking, or accountability.
English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA)

*Required State Test

Administered annually in the spring.		 K-12 English Language Learners Summative - measures students' English language proficiency, both knowledge and skills in reading, listening, writing, and speaking Results from this test determine which students are eligible to continue receiving ELL services. They are also used to determine the effectiveness of program services.
Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS)

*Required State Test

Administered during the first two weeks of school.		 Kindergarteners Diagnostic - reveals individual Kindergarten readiness skills. students’ developing skills in 6 areas (social-emotional, physical, cognitive, language, literacy, mathematics). The assessments are completed largely through teacher observation during the first weeks of school. Knowing more about children's skills and strengths upon entering Kindergarten helps teachers and parents work together to support student growth in the kindergarten year.
Data available through WaKIDS is also indicating a strong positive correlation between readiness at kindergarten entry and performance on 3rd-grade Smarter Balanced Assessments (SBA) English Language Arts (ELA) and Math tests.
Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS)

*Required State Test

Administered annually in the spring.		 5,8,11 Summative- measures the level of proficiency that Washington students have achieved based on the Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards. These tests measure multiple years of content at three points in time. The 5th-grade test assesses student mastery of content delivered in grades 3-5. The 8th-grade test assesses content from grades 6-8, 11th-grade test measures content from grades 9-11. Often used for decisions such as grading, program evaluation, tracking, or accountability.
Washington Assessment for Students with Cognitive Abilities (WA-AIM)

*Required State Test

Administered annually over the course of the year.		 3-10 Summative - an alternate assessment of student proficiency based on alternate achievement standards aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The test is specifically designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities. Educators use the Access Point Frameworks and associated Performance Tasks to determine individual student knowledge and skills and monitor the growth of each student over time.
Acadience

Administered three times a year and more frequently in cases where we need to monitor student progress.		 K-4 Diagnostic - measures foundational literacy skills including phonemic awareness, phonological awareness, letter-sound knowledge, reading accuracy and fluency.
Screener - helps identify signs of Dyslexia~ to also include Rapid Automatized Naming.		 The assessment has established reliability and validity standards based on National norms, that help us determine if students are making expected progress with foundational skills of literacy. Data helps teachers determine where student struggles are specifically occurring so additional supports or interventions can be implemented. The assessment also helps monitor the progress of students as these supports are put in place.
i- Ready Assessments of Math and Reading

Administered in the Fall, Winter, and Spring.		 K-8 Diagnostic - this adaptive assessment measures student performance and growth. By adapting to student responses and assessing a broad range of skills—including skills above and below a student’s chronological grade—the i‑Ready Diagnostic pinpoints student ability level, identifies the specific skills students need to learn to accelerate their growth. The data offers teachers actionable information to help guide their students toward continued growth throughout the year. The reports help teachers make informed decisions about the whole class, small group, and individual instruction. If particular students demonstrate weak growth teams work together to discuss interventions and supports that will ensure each student meets the end of grade targets.
Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA)
Administered at various points in time as determined by each teacher.		 K-4 Dual Immersion Students Formative - measures a student’s reading level in Spanish and English texts. Helps teachers identify leveled texts for independent reading.
Woodcock-Johnson

Administered when a student is being evaluated or re-evaluated for disability and its potential impact on their learning.		 K-12 Students in need of Individualized Educational Plans Intelligence Test - (often referred to as IQ test). The comprehensive series of exams are designed to measure general intellectual ability, as well as academic achievement, scholastic aptitude, cognitive abilities, and oral language Results are often used to help determine if a student is performing up to their cognitive ability. If a student’s ability widely differs from their demonstrated performance individualized goals are set and specialized instruction is designed to close that gap. Often these goals and plans are outlined in a student’s Individual Educational Plan.
Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC)

Administered when extreme student behavior requires further investigation.		 K-12 Students Exhibiting Extreme Behaviors Functional Behavioral Assessment - a comprehensive set of rating scales to help teachers understand the behaviors and emotions of children and young adolescents. Results are used to help determine supports, accommodations, modifications, and/or interventions to help a student with an IEP succeed in their behavioral and academic achievement.
Classroom-Based Assessments (CBAs)

Administered at various points in time as determined by the teacher.		 K-12 Formative - assessments that monitor student achievement of skills and knowledge over the course of the school year. These are sometimes classroom assignments, chapter tests, or other informal classroom assessments. Often results are used to inform parents of student progress over the course of the year. These results are typically reported to parents in report cards or grades. Teachers also use the results to make instructional decisions, including where reteaching is required to ensure student achievement.
Common Assessments (Finals)

Administered at the end of an instructional unit or the end of a course.		 High School Summative - tests designed by groups of teachers who are assessing the same content at the conclusion of a unit or course. Results are most often used to inform grades. The data also helps principals identify if students across different classrooms perform similarly or different depending on the instructor.
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

Administered when concern for student lack of progress requires further investigation.		 K-12 Intelligence Test -the WISC essentially outlines students' intellectual strengths and weaknesses and provides insight into their overall cognitive abilities and potential. The test also compares children to peers of a similar age. In the most general terms, the goal is to determine the potential for a child to grasp new information. Results are often used to help determine if a student is performing up to their cognitive ability. If a student’s ability widely differs from their demonstrated performance individualized goals are set and specialized instruction is designed to close that gap. Often these goals and plans are outlined in a student’s Individual Educational Plan.
Cognitive Abilities Test

Administered annually in the fall.		 K-4 Diagnostic Screener- designed to measure a child’s academic aptitude. The test measures students’ learned reasoning abilities in the three cognitive domains most closely related to success in school: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and nonverbal reasoning. By measuring these three reasoning domains, CogAT provides a broad perspective on each student, identifying profiles of cognitive strengths and weaknesses critical for talent identification that single-score instruments would miss. Students who score in the 90th percentile qualify for evaluation and possible entry into Highly Capable programs, 

Current High School Assessment Requirements for Graduation

The state legislature passes laws that determine graduation requirements. Over the last several years there have been numerous changes to standards, assessments, and graduation requirements. With the passage of House Bill, 1599 students now have multiple pathways to meet the assessment requirements for graduation.  A student's expected year of graduation is four years after he or she enters the 9th grade. (For example, if a student enters 9th grade in the 2015-16 school year, he or she is in the Class of 2019.) State tests may be taken with or without tools, supports, or accommodations. Students take the WA-AIM only if it's documented in their IEP. 

You can learn more about the multiple avenues students can use to meet the assessment requirements for graduation on the Counseling Course Planner page.

**Other statewide graduation requirements (a High School and Beyond Plan and the required high school credits) are applicable, in addition to any locally determined graduation requirements.

Student Score Reports

The intent of state testing is to determine a student’s skills and knowledge based on our state learning standards in reading, writing, math, and science. The score on each test (see sample score reports) is a snapshot of a student’s performance. Overall academic performance, not just a student’s state testing scores, should always be taken into account.

How will we respond to our students as learners?

We recognize that all students develop and learn differently. It is our goal to empower each student with the educational tools necessary to learn and succeed. The Special Services Department is committed to providing excellence in education for all students. Special Services supports Basic Life Skills Program (BLSP), Partners in Transition Program (PIT), Center Based Learning Program (CBLP), English Language Learners (ELL), Highly Capable (Hi C), Learning Assistance Program (LAP) for Reading and Math, Occupational and Physical Therapy, School Nurse, School Psychologists, Special Education, Special Education Preschool, Speech and Language Services, and Title 1 Reading and Math.

For further information please visit WSD Special Programs

Should you have any questions related to teaching and learning please contact our Director of Teaching and Learning

Asha Riley
360-841-2700
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