DATE:
Thursday, August 27, 2020
TO:
Elementary Principals
FROM:
Shelley Nordick, Ph.D., Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
Acadience Reading Administration Training for Instructional Coaches
Evaluation, Research & Accountability will be training instructional coaches during the Instructional Coaching Institute on Friday, September 4th at 11 am on how to administer Acadience Reading Benchmarks. There are several reasons why this training is important:
- By knowing how the test works – how individual literacy skills are assessed – instructional coaches can better assist teachers in understanding and analyzing the resulting assessment data and implementing interventions that strengthen literacy skills.
- Once trained and having gained some experience testing, coaches will then be able to train teachers and classroom aides to administer the benchmarks, which is especially beneficial as aides in particular are hired throughout the school year.
- Coaches will be able to assist the district testing team on the day of benchmark administration at your school if they are short-handed.
- In past years, the district testers have come back to schools on Fridays to test students who were absent on the day of testing. Since students will not be in schools on Friday, coaches can ensure that absent students get tested.
Due to limited space available and the need for social distancing, we request that principals send only one instructional coach to the training. It is recommended that the principal send the coach that will oversee Acadience Reading testing and absent testing for the school. Future trainings, including a self-paced Canvas course, will be available in the coming weeks for the other coaches.
Please contact Ben Jameson (801-567-8243) or Shannon Johnson (801-567-8873) with questions.
