Assessments at NCCL

Instead of letter grades, NCCL offers conferences twice yearly and a yearly written report. The yearly report consists of an overview of the class activities and specific sections on your child’s development, both academic and social. A parent may request a conference at any time convenient to both teacher and parent/s. A portfolio of your child’s work is available for you to enjoy at any time. Classroom meetings for parents are planned several times a year for the purpose of group discussion of child development, school philosophy, and NCCL curriculum.

"At NCCL assessment is seen as a valuable means of knowing how best to help students progress academically. For this reason we carefully observe the children as they work and mindfully listen as they speak. We consider not only the final product of their work but the means by which it was accomplished. This informal evaluation is done continually as the students go about their daily activities.

Assessing a student's understanding is very complex. There is no way to simplify it to one letter or numerical grade despite what many would have us believe. In fact, such systems often result in the grade replacing learning as the goal. It can become a symbol for what a student is or is not.      

Instead, here at NCCL, we talk much about how the students approach their school work: Are they curious? Persistent? Attentive? Organized? Reliable? Independent? Where do new understandings come easily? Where are there struggles? Is a student progressing in relationship to others her age and most importantly in relationship to herself?      

This type of evaluation allows us to see each student as an intriguing, multi-faceted human being. It helps us to stay with a child as he struggles to gain understanding and to continually set new challenges as he progresses. This approach supports our philosophy that learning is an on-going endeavor rather than one prescribed and evaluated at any one point in time.      

We meet frequently with the students to discuss how they are doing and over the years help them learn to self-evaluate. We assist them in setting both short and long-term goals. Twice a year we meet formally with parents and end the year with a written progress report."

— Marilynn Magnani, Educational Director, Group 3 teacher