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Dear Parents & Guardians,

This coming week your child will take the Iowa Assessments™. I wanted to let you know about the tests so that—with your support and encouragement—your child will do his or her best on the tests.

The Iowa Assessments help determine how students are performing on nationwide standards and measure achievement in several important content areas including Reading, English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. These scores are also used to create our district wide report card, which is issued by the State of Iowa each year.

The tests help teachers identify a student’s strengths and areas that may need additional emphasis. The Iowa Assessments also measure student growth and progress in the content areas assessed from year to year and may provide information about college readiness for older students. The assessments produce information that enables sound decision making and provides a focus for teachers to evaluate instruction.

A student who is well rested and well fed and has a positive attitude about testing is best prepared for testing. You can help your child do his or her best by considering these tips:

*Make sure that your child is in school and on time on test days.
*Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep and eats a healthy breakfast before each day of testing.
*Remind your child that these tests are only one measure of what he or she has learned. Emphasize that you have confidence in his or her ability to do the best job possible.
*Remind your child to listen to the directions and read each question carefully during testing.
*Encourage your child to ask the teacher for help if he or she does not understand the directions.

The school will receive test scores in about 6-8 weeks and parents will receive an individual student score report for the Iowa Assessments. These scores will indicate how your child performed on the tests compared with students across the nation in the same grade. Thank you very much for encouraging and supporting your child during testing. If you have any questions please contact me at 641-829-3234 ext. 1204.

Thank you in advance for your support,

Tracy Peterson
2 – 8 Principal Rockwell Campus
West Fork Community School District