Progress Reports, Conferences, Early Access & Assessment

AXIS Family-Teacher Conferences

In mid-October around fall break, AXIS holds structured family conferences. These are 13-minute conferences where families can meet with one of their child's teachers (English or Partner Language) at the same time. Conferences will be held via Zoom or in person. AXIS works hard to meet with every family during fall family conferences.

Please see the agenda and additional details regarding conferences below. Because conferences are so brief, we encourage families to bring a list of questions to leave with the teachers, and the teachers can follow up via email or at another time if necessary.

Family Conferences Agenda

AXIS Trimester Reports

AXIS Trimester Reports
- Each trimester AXIS will share a trimester progress report with families (click here to view a sample progress report). This information that will be in the progress report will guide the conversation at family conferences. Please see below for the areas assessed.

- - Social Emotional Learning in English and Partner Language: Respect, Relationships, and Responsibility.

- - English Communicating, Reading, and Writing based on the Colorado Academic Standards taught through Core Knowledge Language Arts (primarily Core Knowledge Language Arts, CKLA, Skills strand).

- - Math standards proficiency in English and Partner Language using the Singapore Math method.

- - Partner Language Acquisition in Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing (see Rubric and Annual Language Proficiency Targets).
    - Click here to view a great little video for parents about your child's partner language proficiency and how we measure this at AXIS.

- - Mastery of Core Knowledge: literacy, social studies, and science content integrated with language arts into units in both English and Partner Language.

- - Art, Music, and Physical Education standards in English

- Benchmark and Interim Assessments
  - Renaissance Learning STAR
  - Administered during beginning, middle and end of year benchmark windows (more frequently for students who score below benchmark).
    - Reading* (Grades 2-6, and 1st grade students who score above benchmark on the Star Early Literacy assessment)
    - Early Literacy* (Grades K-3 students in the fall and ongoing for students who score below benchmark on the Star Reading assessment)
    - Math (Grades 1-6)
    - These assessments are used in English and Spanish for some Spanish learners.
    - A Family Report will be shared at the end of every trimester.

*Used for READ Act and READ Plan determination (see below)

- End of Year Assessments (shared with families in following August)
  - - CMAS Colorado Measures of Academic Success state standards-based communicating, reading, writing, and math assessment in March/April administered annually for grades 3-6. Science is added for grade 5.

- - - AAPPL (ACTFL Assessment of Performance Toward Proficiency of Language) administered annually in March/April to students in grades 4-6

AXIS Trimester Report Rubric

Understanding Percentiles

Often in education you will see or hear your child's assessment results described in percentiles. This is one indicator that every assessment typically uses, so you can use it to compare your child's performance on one assessment to the next. Percentiles range from 0-100 and expresses a student's achievement at a single point in time compared to national norms. For example, a student with 50th percentile status performed precisely at the mid-point (average) of similar students across the United States. Please see the table below.

Understanding Percentiles Table

Other State-required Assessments and Student Plans: Kinder Readiness, READ Plans, and EL (English Learner) Plans

Per State statutes, other assessments and student plans may be required for some students, including School Readiness Plans for all Kinder students. These will be shared at family conference.
- KINDER PLANS WILL LOOK DIFFERENTLY IN THE 20-21 SCHOOL YEAR
- Kindergarten Student School Readiness Plans
  - State statute CAP4K requires all kinder students in a publicly funded school be assessed using a state-approved school readiness assessment to assess readiness across six domains: Social-emotional, Physical, Cognitive, Language, Literacy, and Math. The purpose of school readiness assessment is to inform the development of an individual school readiness plan in order to provide a responsive learning environment for each child.
  - As a charter school, AXIS received a waiver in regards to the specific assessment used. We sought this waiver to allow our teachers to use more efficient measures better aligned with and embedded in our school evidence-based curricula.

- Student READ Plans
  - In alignment with the Colorado statutory READ Act, AXIS composes and implements READ Plans for students who are identified as having significant reading deficiency in grades kinder through 3rd grade. Although not required, AXIS also implements plans for students in 4th and 5th grade who are reading below grade level.

- Student EL (English Learner) Plans

- - Federal and state statutes require the administration of the Home Language Survey for all students. If this survey indicates there is a language of influence spoken in the home other than English, the child is given an assessment screener to determine the child's level of English language proficiency. If the child's English proficiency is below a specific level then the child is identified as an English Learner, and additional supports will be provided to the child to grow their English proficiency.
  - These assessment results and supports are included in the child's English Language Learner Language Development Plan. Students identified as ELs will also be assessed annually with the ACCESS test.
  - The research strongly supports dual language immersion schools as the best program option for ensuring academic success for students identified as English Learners. We highly encourage families of English Learners to choose their native language for their child at AXIS. An additional language can be added in middle or high school.
  - Over 35% of AXIS students speak a language other than English at home, and we view this as an asset to our school community.

Assessment Information / Parent Refusal

AXIS is a public school, and Colorado public schools are mandated to administer the annual CMAS test. AXIS International Academy will administer CMAS online during the testing window set by the state (April-May 2021) to students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. Parents may choose to opt-out of state-required CMAS testing. Specific paperwork documenting a parent’s reason for testing refusal must be submitted to the school. Please request an opt-out for from our School Assessment Coordinator, Kristen Williams (kriwilliams@axiscolorado.org), as she collects and maintains these documents.

While we highly encourage that students participate in state testing, students and parents are guaranteed no negative consequences of making the choice of opting out. This policy does not apply to ACCESS, WIDA Screener, or school-selected assessments. Students may not be opted out of ACCESS or READ act testing as per state guidelines.

The CogAT or Cognitive Abilities Test is given each year to all 2nd grade students. New students may also be given the CogAT if their records do not include prior CogAT or equivalent assessment results. Click this link to learn more about the CogAT assessment.

For details about our testing policy and all testing that is done at AXIS, please refer to our Assessment calendar on the School Calendar section of our website. Parent input was used in writing and implementing this policy.

School-Family Partnership

We know that when schools and families work together, kids do better. Please see below for the variety components of School-Family partnership at AXIS.

"Families and school staff work together to support and improve the learning, development, and health of students. Family engagement with schools is a shared responsibility of both school staff and families. School staff are committed to making families feel welcomed, engaging families in a variety of meaningful ways, and sustaining family engagement. Families are committed to actively supporting their child’s learning and development. This relationship between school staff and families cuts across and reinforces student health and learning in multiple settings—at home, in school, in out-of-school programs, and in the community. Family engagement should be continuous across a child’s life and requires an ongoing commitment as children mature into young adulthood." Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/wscc/components.htm

School-Family Communication

We encourage ongoing school-family communication at the school and classroom level. Each week AXIS families receive a weekly school-wide newsletter posted on our special updates webpage for enrolled families only. During remote learning teachers will communicate with children and families via email. To ensure you are signed up to receive these emails families should make sure their email addresses are updated in Infinite Campus, our student information system.

Connecting Directly with Teachers

We encourage families to reach out to teachers via email, via Microsoft Teams and connect with teachers during structured times, see office hours. We kindly ask families to not interrupt our teachers during the school day or right at dismissal when onsite learning is happening, as teachers are focused on safely getting kids where they need to go after school. It is helpful if you can email the teacher ahead of time to coordinate a time to meet, which ensures she does not have morning duty or another meeting or commitment.

School-Family Events

AXIS hosts an array of events, which are opportunities for School-Family engagement. During the COVID pandemic we are working to hold these events virtually or socially distanced in alignment with Larimer County Health Department practices.

Get Ready for School Ice Cream Social (August)
- This event is held the week before school starts to support families and students in getting ready for the first day of school: meet teachers and peers, visit classrooms and learn the physical space, get AXIS family badge for entering the building each day, learn about other important procedures, and have fun.
Back to School Night (September)
- This event is held a couple of weeks into the school year and offers a chance for families to hear directly from AXIS administration and teachers about more specific details happening at the classroom and schoolwide level.
Family Conferences (October for all kids and April for some kids)
- See details below.
Winter Festival (February)
- At this event we celebrate kids' Carnival and Chinese New Year with festivities and a showcase of student musical performances and a student art gallery.
End of School Celebrations (last week/days of school)
- 5th Grade Graduation and Partner Language Presentations
- Kindergarten Continuation
- Preschool Continuation

Kinder Readiness

AXIS School Readiness

Exceptional Children: What is Early Access?

What is Early Access?

To meet the needs of "highly advanced" children who have not yet entered kindergarten or first grade, AXIS Interational Academy does have the Early Access process available. These highly advanced gifted children who must have a body of evidence that is at or above the 97th percentile. The students selected for Early Access must be academically, emotionally, and behaviorally ready to fully participate in all aspects of public school. This process is not for typical children who are ready for kindergarten, but they miss the October 1 kindergarten/first grade entrance date. Rather, this process is really for the top 3 percent or less of the gifted population.

The determination as to whether a student qualifies for the AXIS Early Access Program is solely within the discretion of AXIS staff. “Highly-advanced gifted child” means a gifted child whose body of evidence demonstrates a profile of exceptional ability or potential compared to same-age gifted children. To meet the needs of highly-advanced development, early access to educational services may be considered as a special provision for the highly-advanced gifted child who exhibits exceptional ability and potential for accomplishment in cognitive process, academic areas, and behavior.

Please see additional details below.

Exceptional Children Early Access at AXIS

EarlyAccess

Gifted Programming at AXIS

The referral process:

Parents and school staff (to include any contracted support staff) can refer a student for evaluation for gifted services. Individuals reach out to the gifted lead to make a referral.
The timeline from the receipt of a referral to a determination by the Gifted Education Review Team is 30 days. Sometimes, more information or assessment is needed and that timeline needs to be extended.
The following sources of data are collected to gather a robust body of evidence: CogAT full assessment universal screening in grades 2 and 6; STAR benchmark assessments; CMAS assessments (if applicable); classroom formative and summative assessments; teacher assessment of classroom performance; current progress report grades; parent and teacher behavior observation scales, SIGS; ACCESS assessment (if applicable); AAPPL assessment (if applicable).
AXIS will require at least 1 qualifying data point that is supported by the student’s BOE. AXIS utilizes a talent pool for students who do not meet the gifted criteria with their body of evidence.

Screening:

AXIS participates in universal screening at grades 2 and 6. Students entering AXIS without screening information may also be screened during the screening window for grades 2 and 6. A full CogAT assessment is used as the universal screener.

Determination and ALP development:

The Gifted Education Review Team communicates determination results via physical mail. The team has ongoing communication with the parents or guardians to ensure that families understand the outcome and process of the evaluation. Gifted_Determination_DoesNotQualify template.docx Gifted_Determination_Qualifies-template.docx
The development of the ALP begins within 2 weeks of the determination.

Programming:

Programming occurs mainly in the general education classroom. Emphasis is placed on the partner language in the development of the ALP goals and with the gifted programming.
Gifted students will be given differentiated work to support their ALP goals.

Please reach out to the Gifted Lead, Jason Cell, at [email protected] with any questions.