Oyster Proficiency Test

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oyster is a mess. Easiest to take the test and move on. It’s not hard.

I think the teachers are generally good (some great). However, the principal is a disaster. If there are any behavioral problems that aren’t as bad as what he witnessed at JR, he thinks things are fine. He will also dismiss your concerns and act like you’re bothering him.

I would second all of this except to say the teachers we have had are excellent.

[Anonymous]

If you are in bounds, they will assess the child, but it won’t matter. It’s very haphazard.

I would talk to parents and teachers. I’ve heard it’s a bit chaotic. Problems with the parent association, problems with the principal and problems with teacher retention.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What sort of annual assessments are done for Spanish at Oyster. Do they do an oral proficiency exam like the ACTFL uses? Do they give you a rating card? I’m trying to understand what is normal from school to school, because our school gives zero to no data, making it difficult to chart growth.

My chidkren are at Oyster and have 3 assessments each year (beginning, middle and end) to assess their Spanish reading level and make sure they’re on track. It’s a 1:1 assessment with the teacher, not written.

No asssessment for speaking or written Spanish proficiency tests at that age, to my knowledge. I’m not sure about older grades.

[Anonymous]

Quoted the wrong post: there are computer based Spanish and English reading/comprehension assessments starting in 3rd.

[Anonymous]

We're at a different bilingual DCPS and started computer based reading assessments in Spanish (Lectura vs. Dibels for ELA) in second. Beginning, middle, and end of the year. They're used for small reading group placements, and feedback during parent teacher conferences. They're not "proficiency" tests, but the same kind of testing you get in ELA. I found it helpful, particularly to compare with the ELA scores. DC is weaker in comprehension in Spanish as in English, but testing on grade level in Spanish (and ahead of grade level in English). That tracks what I was observing at home, and also was good to see that since DC was lower in comprehension in both languages, it is an actual area that needs work and not just a testing issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oyster is a mess. Easiest to take the test and move on. It’s not hard.

I think the teachers are generally good (some great). However, the principal is a disaster. If there are any behavioral problems that aren’t as bad as what he witnessed at JR, he thinks things are fine. He will also dismiss your concerns and act like you’re bothering him.

Drag him!