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 the 75 "sight words" that are the best predictors of a students success at reading both fluently and at grade level. This test is administered in April of each school year.
3. A 70% grade average in all core subject classes.
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 Language Arts, 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.