Evaluating Your Child's Midyear Progress During COVID School Year

As we enter the middle of the school year, the academic assessment period is beginning and after a time of distance learning, it is more important than ever to understand where your child is, identify areas of delay and find ways to help them catch up, if and where needed.

Across Barrington School District 220, children in grades 2-5 will take part in MAPS testing, a process that is designed to measure student achievement in the areas of Mathematics and Reading at a single point in time and to gauge growth over time. Individual student reports from these tests are prepared and sent home to parents. Prior to grade 2, students participate in FastBridge Assessment to evaluate progress in Early Reading and Early Math development. In grade 8-11, Barrington uses assessments from the College Board to benchmark growth each year.

“In Barrington 220, we have an assessment plan that takes place in the fall, winter and spring. The plan has had to be adjusted because of the logistics associated with the state of the pandemic. We are currently in the window of assessing all students in grades K- 8,” said Samantha Ptashkin, Communications Director at Barrington School District 220.

After the year we have had, many parents may be searching for additional, personalized benchmark programs to understand how their kids are doing academically.

Beth Meier of the Barrington Huntington Learning Center says that now is the time for parents to pay close attention to their children’s grades.

“We’re still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and it remains to be seen how students will be impacted long term by the spring 2020 school shutdowns and the remote/hybrid nature of school this past year,” said Meier. “But now that we’re in a new year and new semester, parents should take the time to evaluate where their children stand in school and make adjustments if needed for the rest of the year.”

Below are a few tips from Meier on how to best approach this midyear check-in:

• Take note of progress. Even though many students might be off course currently, there are still grade-level standards that teachers are striving to help students meet. Use your child’s report card and other metrics offered by your school to make sure your child is progressing as he or she should. Make note of places where your child is struggling or behind and talk with teachers about expectations.
• Ask the teacher about higher-level thinking skills. This year, many students are learning on their own more than normal and building their independence. This has pros and cons, but definitely means children have opportunities to strengthen those critical-thinking and problem-solving skills. Take note and talk to your child on how they approach homework and asynchronous learning. Talk with teachers about their perspectives too and focus on meaningful learning.
• Pay attention to study skills. Never before have study skills taken on greater importance than right now. Low grades could point to knowledge gaps, but they could also indicate problems with organization, time management, focus and neatness. If your child’s at-home days are unproductive and heavy on procrastination, study skills development should become a higher priority.

The best thing to do right now, says Meier, is have Huntington complete an academic evaluation of your child. “Academic evaluations are a great way to get a baseline of where students are in school as compared to where they should be,” Meier explains. “During this school year, even good students might need help because they’ve fallen behind or aren’t accustomed to this method of learning. The evaluation pinpoints strengths and weaknesses and helps Huntington’s tutoring team develop a personalized plan to help each student achieve his or her goals.”

If you suspect or know based on grades and other benchmarks that your child is struggling, Meier says to call Huntington at 847-382-3615. “We’ll assess your child and design a program of instruction that helps him or her catch up wherever needed.”