Academics » Assessments/Testing

Assessments/Testing

As a public school in DC, we’ve committed to the following:

  • Ensuring the assessments we administer to our students are of high quality – rigorous, meaningful assessments that are a worthwhile investment of student and teacher time.
  • Improving the support we give teachers to analyze assessment results.
  • Improving communication to families about how their children are doing and how they can support learning at home.

 

In alignment with DC Council’s Addressing Dyslexia and Other Reading Difficulties Act of 2020, DC Public Schools added RAN (Rapid Automatized Naming) to our early literacy assessments starting school year 2023-24. Kindergarteners and first graders who score well below on their composite and well below on RAN are flagged as being “at risk” for reading difficulties. This can include difficulties related to dyslexia. Being identified as at risk for reading difficulties is not a diagnosis of reading difficulty. If you have questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher or email [email protected].

 

Report Cards

Report cards are distributed at the end of each quarter. In each area, teachers will communicate the expectations of each standard on the report card and will show your child’s progress in each concept. Parents will have opportunities to discuss students’ progress and work at academic parent teacher team meetings or parent-teacher conferences, which are scheduled twice a year, or at any time by contacting their child’s teacher.

 

DC CAPE

Beers' students in the 3rd through 5th grades take an assessment test in the spring knows as the DC Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (DC CAPE). The DC CAPE assessment is computer-based and matches the high expectations of the Common Core standards, requiring students to think critically and solve real-world problems. The DC CAPE test assesses what children are learning in school and helps teachers and parents know if students are on track for success in college and careers. For more information about the DC CAPE, including what to expect and how to prepare, please visit the DC CAPE Portal

 

We will continue to review our assessments with the help of teachers, schools and families to ensure we are fulfilling our commitments to you. Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, please talk with your child’s teacher.