Promotion Standards for First Grade
The Houston Independent School District and Herrera Elementary School uphold the following standards for promoting First Grade students to the next grade level.
1. Success on the Stanford 10 standardized test for First Graders. This test is administered during the second semester of the school year and covers basic subject matter recognized by the Texas Education Agency.
2. Success on the High Frequency Word Evaluation. "High frequency words" are 100 "sight words" that are predictors of student success at reading both fluently and at grade level . Sight words are words that have been memorized and are recognized immediately by sight, without any effort. Students enter first grade with approximately 30 sight words and IF performing at grade level should exit knowing approximately 150 sight words. In the effort to make sure this is happening, HISD administers the HFW in both fall and spring semester,
3. A 70% grade average in all core subject classes.
Assessments
In addition to the above mentioned assessments which determine whether a student is ready to be promoted to the next grade level, there are ongoing assessments throughout the year which focus on Reading, Mathematics, and Science curriculum.
Language Arts - TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory)
Designed for students in grades K- 2, the TPRI is an early reading assessment that measures a student’s reading and language arts development. This assessment allows for teachers to identify students who are in need of additional reading/language arts instructional support and provide necessary objectives and activities to support the development of skills.
Mathematics - Assessing Math Concepts
These formative assessments use brief student interviews to find out what children understand. Assessing Math Concepts identifies the Critical Learning Phases and helps teachers to meet each child at their level of understanding with appropriate instruction.
Science - Campus Benchmarks
These tests are administered once per grading period and are designed to evaluate grade level progress and achievement towards the First Grade Science objectives.