March 26, 2025
Dear Parents/Guardians:
Every year, students participate in state assessments to help our district understand how to support our students and your child(ren) as individual learners. This spring, your child will be participating in the RICAS, the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System. This assessment will be broken into two parts, with two sessions for ELA and two sessions for Math. Each session will last between approximately 90 - 120 minutes, however, any student can have as much time as they need to complete.
The RICAS assessment will test skills based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The CCSS set consistent expectations in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics for every student. The RICAS tests provide a valid and reliable evaluation of each student’s progress towards the CCSS. All students in grades 3 through 5 participate in RICAS testing, and to ensure our state and federal funding, we need to have participation rates of 95% or higher.
The results of these assessments will be shared with you next fall to give you an idea about the progress your child is making in school. The results provide valuable information that helps us improve classroom instruction and identify areas where students may need some extra support.
Our testing schedule is as follows:
ELA | ELA | Math | Math | |
Grade 3 | 4/3/25 | 4/4/25 | 5/8/25 | 5/9/25 |
Grade 4 | 4/9/25 | 4/10/25 | 4/29/25 | 4/30/25 |
Grade 5 | 4/1/25 | 4/2/25 | 5/6/25 | 5/7/25 |
We would appreciate any efforts that you could make to ensure that your child is present and punctual each day and that she/he is healthy enough to be in school during the testing window. A good night’s sleep and a healthy breakfast go a long way! Thank you for your support during this important time of the school year.
You will find helpful tools below to support your child, and notes of encouragement are always welcome and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Sabrina Antonelli, Ed.D
Principal, Norwood School