As a part of the 1003 grant, the Flandreau School Board heard from Megan Severtson on the STAR assessment testing at the regular monthly meeting September 9.
The STAR assessment test will be given to all K-12 students this week and is a comprehensive literary and math universal screening for students except seniors who are not in a math class this year. The program replaces the MAP testing formerly used.
“The test is computer adaptive which means it will provide teachers with current, reliable and valid data to target instruction, monitor progress, provide students with appropriate instructional materials and intervene with our at-risk students,” said Severtson.
One program used to target those practice skills is called Freckle. This is an online tool that is connected to the STAR assessment that allows students to practice math and language arts at their level.
“The program continually adapts to each student’s individual skills so that students get the appropriate challenge whether they are working at, above or below their grade level,” she explained.
Teachers can also use Freckle to assign other practices they feel a student should practice more often.

After interpreting the data from this test, the staff will be able to find student groups that either struggle or excel in specific learning areas.
“When the testing is completed this week, we’ll have a starting point for our students relative to their achievement level,”
Since the district doesn’t have a measure of each student, they will be tested two more times this school year showing their growth with each test.
Severtson added that one advantage to the STAR assessment compared to the MAP testing, is that it is a shorter test and should take about 20-30 minutes and is a 34 question test. As students get questions correct, it increases the difficulty level for them. And vice versa if they get a question wrong, it decreases the level so staff can identify those areas.
The Homework Help program will again be held after school on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays and is open to all students in grades 5-12. Elaine Stephens will lead the program in the high school lunchroom.
The South Dakota State Library recognized Lori Williams, middle and high school libarian, as one of the awardees of the 21st Century School Library Award.
The board approved Dale Harden to fill the Industrial Arts program and the FFA Chapter has an advisor now. Meetings have begun and Jill Fedders-Ellefson will lead the group.
The board also approved the hiring of Fernando Trujillo as an ELL paraprofessional and interpreter and Beth Kayner as a paraprofessional.
Lane changes were given to the following staff, Chelsea Greenfeild, Kari Lena-Helling, Jennifer Rieff and Severtson.
The board approved a change in the school year calendar. October 30 was to be a 1:30 dismissal time but given the board has now set November 1 as an in-service day, the students will have a regular 3 p.m. dismissal time on October 30.
Approval was given to business manager Josh Cleveland to pay credit cards that come due just before or after the board meeting in order to avoid late fees and also approved the Data Retention policy.
This policy outlines the procedure for retaining the securely managed data related to students and staff members.
It mostly has to do with emails and documents that staff and students have on their school issued computer. The district is now allowed to delete these items five days after the student or staff leave the district.