Frequently Asked Questions

 Why do I need to do assessments? Assessments are a vital part of the educational process that will help us help you make the right curricula choices for your child. To achieve our educational goals we need to know where we are starting from as well as where we want to go. It is a general principle in education that you meet the student where he is intellectually and go forward from there, since no two children are in exactly the same place. The assessment process has many steps all of which are ordered to make sure that our students are making satisfactory progress toward their individual and our school-wide goals. It is very important that you as the parent are familiar with this process.

 What is my consultant’s role in the assessment process? The consultant will review your student’s work throughout the year, as she has always done, but will have the additional benefit of a MODG assessor’s feedback in her consultant review. Your consultant will discuss the assessment results with you, the parent, both to verify parent grades and to set goals for further academic progress.

How are assessment assignments selected? Assessment assignments are determined by the courses each student is taking. The parent and consultant work together to determine the appropriate courses, and your consultant will assign the corresponding assessment assignments in planning each academic year with the parent. Throughout the year, your consultant will have access to your student’s assessment assignments as they are completed and uploaded to the family site.

Who are the assessors? Our assessors are active MODG teachers and consultants who are knowledgeable in MODG’s methodology, content goals, and rubrics. Our assessors have years of experience reviewing MODG student work and can provide the parent and consultant with an objective evaluation of the work.

 What if my student doesn’t test well? We have a variety of options for our students. There will be easily accessible online tests. Also, parents may request a paper copy of the online test and have the student complete that in a traditional test setting. Students also have the option to upload an alternate sample of work in lieu of an online test, or to provide additional documentation alongside an online test. We do encourage students to try the online tests; they can be previewed in advance, can be retaken, and can be replaced with sample work at any time.

 How does this process work for Special Services students? Assessment assignments and tests are determined by the course being completed. Students working above or below grade level will be provided with assessment assignments based on the content and skills they are using. Students in Special Services can provide additional documents outlining any modifications made to the assignment. These modifications will be incorporated into the assessment.

 What if I modified an MODG course? Students can always submit alternate assignments for any assessment assignment. We have selected assignments that highlight key skills in each stage of learning, but alternate assignments are acceptable, as they always have been. Your consultant can help you determine what assignments to submit for any modified courses.

 What if I am doing a non-standard course, that is, a course for which there is not an MODG syllabus? If you are using materials that do not correspond to an MODG syllabus, at the start of the year your consultant will upload a non-standard syllabus which will provide recommendations and directions for both the course itself, and to determine what types of assignments to upload.

 What if I have an old syllabus? At any time during the year you can review your personalized lists of assessments on your family site. You can go through a paper syllabus to highlight what will be an assessment sample or keep this list handy to select comparable assignments. Your consultant can help you choose the best items to submit.

 Do these assessments have to be completed quarterly? Students in K-2^nd Grade will be provided with a single paper test to complete at the end of the year. Parents can upload a scan themselves or mail it to our office. Students in 3^rd-12^th Grade will be given a list of assignments or tests to be uploaded or completed either quarterly or semesterly. We do encourage students to upload assignments once completed, or to complete the online tests at the times assigned, so that we can provide parents and students with regular feedback throughout the year. However, there are no mid-year deadlines for our assessments. Assessment assignments can be completed and uploaded at the end of the year, if that is more convenient for the family.

 Won’t this be more work? We think that this will be less work than our previous system. Once an assignment is completed, the student can upload it to the family site. There is no need to save up a stack of papers to mail to your consultant at the end of the year. You won’t have to go through a year’s worth of files trying to find the right assessment samples. In our new system, assignments can be uploaded as they are completed and crossed off the list. In most areas we are not asking for more work from the student than in the past. We had always asked for quarterly assignments in 6^th-12^th Grade; now you can submit them earlier! In 3rd-5th Grade we have divided up the big tests from the end of the year into 4 smaller tests, allowing the student to complete these in smaller chunks.