Independent School
District
Cannon Falls Area Schools
Todd Sesker, Superintendent of Schools
Phone (507) 263-6800 * Fax (507) 263-2555
Date: March 31, 2008
To: All Students and Parents
in grades 7-12
Re: Upcoming Academic Assessments for Students in
grades 7-11
We want to take this
opportunity to inform parents and students about the upcoming assessments that
all students in grades 7-11 are involved in taking as part of our school
curriculum and in accordance with state and federal regulations.
Students will be taking the
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment/GRAD (Graduation-Required Assessment for
Diploma tests. These tests are designed to measure the effectiveness of existing
school programs. Assessments, like
these, are part of the federal No Child Left Behind Law and require
95% or higher student participation.
This means all students must participate. MCA are administered to all students, grades
3 through 8 in Math and
To be eligible for a diploma
from a Minnesota public high school, students enrolled in grade 8 in the 2005-06
school year or later will be required to
pass the grade 9 GRAD Test of Written Composition, the grade 10 reading
GRAD/MCA-II, and the grade 11 mathematics GRAD/MCA-II.
The schedule for these test
is as follows:
Date Testing
Area Who
Tuesday,
April 15 Math Grades
7 & 8
Written
Composition Grade
9
Reading
Parts 1 & 2 Grade
10
Math
Parts 1 & 2 Grade
11
Wednesday, April 16 Reading Grades
7 & 8
Reading
Parts 3 & 4 Grade
10
Math
Parts 3 & 4 Grade
11
May 1 & 2 Science Grade
10
May 5 & 6 Science Grade
8
The assessment is untimed and
in reading and math, administered at the beginning of the school day (8:05 AM)
in various classrooms. Students will be
notified the day prior to the test of the location for their test. Students on office release will need to
report to school at 8:05AM on their testing day.
We anticipate and expect our
students to do well on these tests. A
few suggestions that may help are:
Ø
Get plenty of
sleep the night prior to each test.
Ø
Eat a nutritional
breakfast on the morning of the test.
Reminder, breakfast is available for students at school for a cost of
$1.10.
We are asking that parents
support this effort, by encouraging their student to participate and do their
best. Any questions regarding the
assessment can be directed to Kay Sabin by calling (507) 263-6800, extension
1461 or E Mailing: sabin.kay@cannonfallsschools.com
Steve Fredrickson Beth Giese Kay Sabin
Principal Asst.
Principal District
Assessment Coordinator