CPAA Assessments - Goddard School Curriculum

The Goddard School F.L.EX.® Learning Program is based upon the premise that each child is unique. Different students have different needs, and teachers need an effective formative assessment tool to discover those needs.The Children’s Progress Academic Assessment (CPAA) is an early childhood assessment system that helps teachers focus classroom instruction to achieve the greatest learning gains for each child.In contrast to summative assessments, which measure what a child has learned, formative assessments help teachers plan what a child will learn next.

CPAA software provides feedback about student progress, which gives teachers an indication of which concepts students have mastered and where they may still be struggling. This feedback allows teachers to make immediate adjustments in their instruction to help provide the maximum benefits for each student.

The CPAA is a computer-based assessment used in pre-k and kindergarten. This early literacy and mathematics assessment is given three times a year. The level of difficulty automatically adapts to your child’s performance. For the child, this engaging, colorful assessment feels more like a game than a test. As soon as children complete the assessment, the program supplies our educators with both immediate, detailed reports that align to state standards and recommended activities to use in the classroom or at home.

Talking Points for the Play-Focused Parent:

This assessment has been designed specifically for the youngest students. It takes just 15 to 20 minutes to complete and can be stopped and restarted at any time. It is such a stress-free, engaging experience for the child that students actually think of it as a game!

Talking Points for the Academic-Focused Parent:

The CPAA is a formative assessment. This means that its main focus is not to evaluate your child and deliver a number grade but to help teachers and parents pinpoint where each child is developmentally and then use that information to differentiate the instruction to meet his or her specific needs and learning level.

The CPAA is adaptive; the difficulty adjusts based on each child’s responses. It also includes scaffolding, so every time a child answers a question incorrectly, the question is presented again in a new way and the child has a second chance to get it right. This has two positive outcomes:

1. it actually provides children with the opportunity to learn while taking the assessment, and
2. it helps educators get better, more specific data about each child’s misunderstandings.