Assessment, Testing and Progress Monitoring Tools...

Information for parentsSavannah-Chatham County Public School System

Office of Accountability, Assessment, & Reporting

Office of Accountability, Assessment, & Reporting @ SCCPSS | 208 Bull Street, Room 220 | Savannah, GA 31401912.395.5735 (office) | 912.201.5879 (fax) | www.sccpss.com (web) | [email protected] (email)

Assessment, Testing and Progress Monitoring ToolsUnderstanding Your Child’s Assessments

During your child’s time in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS), he/she will participate in standardized testing in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Technology. This informational guide describes various assessments administered in SCCPSS and Georgia. For more information on the assessments included in this guide, please visit our district website at www.sccpss.com and/or the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) website at www.doe.k12.ga.us.

contents pg

State AssessmentsACCESS, GKIDS 2

GAA, NAEP 2

CRCT, CRCT-M 3

EOCT, GHSGT 3

Georgia Writing 4

College ReadinessACT 4

SAT, PSAT, AP, IB 5

Progress MonitoringDIBELS, mCLASS:Math 6

SRI 6

MAP, OAS 7

SCCPSS Assessment Matrix, pg. 8

GaDOE ACCESS website:

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-

and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/

ACCESS-for-ELLs.aspx

GaDOE GKIDS website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/

Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/

Pages/GKIDS.aspx

GaDOE GAA website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/GAA.aspx

GaDOE NAEP website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/NAEP.aspx

Assessment, Testing & Progress Monitoring Tools: Understanding Your Child’s Assessments2

State Assessments

Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State (ACCESS) for English Language Learners (ELs). ACCESS for ELs is administered annually to all English Language Learners (K-12) in Georgia. ACCESS for ELs is a standards-based, criterion-referenced English language proficiency test designated to measure ELs’ social and academic proficiency in English. It assesses social and instructional English as well as the language associated with Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies within the school context across four language domains: (1) speaking, (2) listening, (3) reading, and (4) writing.

ACCESS for ELs provides SCCPSS with information that will help evaluate the effectiveness of our district English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) programs. It also provides information to enhance instruction and learning in programs for ELs.

Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS). The Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) is the designated kindergarten assessment for all Georgia public schools. The primary focus of GKIDS is to provide ongoing diagnostic information about kindergarten students’ developing skills in English Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Personal/Social Development, and Approaches to Learning. GKIDS also provides a summary of student performance in English Language Arts and Mathematics at the end of the kindergarten school year. GKIDS should serve as one indicator of 1st grade readiness. GKIDS will serve both a formative and summative role in assessing kindergarten students.

Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA). Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) all students, including students with disabilities, must participate in the state’s academic content standards and curriculum. The GAA is designed to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided access to the state-mandated curriculum and given the opportunity to demonstrate their progress toward achievement of the knowledge, concepts, and skills inherit in the curriculum. Students with disabilities must participate in either the regular assessment (with or without accommodations) or the alternate assessment. The GAA may only be used in cases where a student is unable to participate in the regular assessment, even with maximum accommodations, and the student meets participation guidelines. This test should only be recommend for a small number of students. The GAA is given in grades 3-8 and 11.

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a congressionally mandated project overseen by the National Center of Education Statistics, a branch of the U.S. Department of Education. Commonly known as the Nation’s Report Card, NAEP has collected nationally representative data since 1969 about what American school children know and can do in a variety of key subject areas. NAEP shows patterns of student achievement over time in core content areas, such as Reading, Writing, Mathematics, and Science. NAEP is the only ongoing study that tracks trends in student achievement at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. NAEP is administered to a small sample of students in grades 4, 8 and 12.

GaDOE EOCT website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/EOCT.aspx

GaDOE CRCT website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/CRCT.aspx

GaDOE GHSGT website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/GHSGT.aspx

Office of Accountability, Assessment, & Reporting @ SCCPSS | August 2013 3

Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT). Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) is designed to measure student acquisition of the knowledge and skills set forth in the Common Core Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS). Students enrolled in grades 3-8 are required to take the CRCT in the content areas of Reading, English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.

The CRCT serves two purposes: (1) provide a diagnosis of student and program strengths; as well as identify areas of improvement for instruction of the CCGPS; and (2) measure the quality of education at the state level.

Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests Modified (CRCT-M). The CRCT-M is a grade-level alternate assessment designated for a small group of student who receive special education services and who meet specific eligibility criteria. The CRCT-M measures student acquisition of the knowledge, concepts, and skills set forth in the same state-adopted curriculum as the general Criterion-Referenced Tests (CRCT) in the content areas of Reading, English/Language Arts, and Mathematics in grades 3-8.

End-of-Course Tests (EOCT). The End-of-Course Tests (EOCT) program is currently comprised of eight content area assessments: Ninth Grade Literature and Composition, American Literature and Composition, Coordinate Algebra, Analytical Geometry, Mathematics II, U.S. History, Economics/Business/Free Enterprise, Biology, and Physical Science. Each EOCT is directly aligned with the standards in the state-adopted curriculum as mandated by law.

GaDOE administers the EOCTs three times annually to accommodate students completing coursework in the winter, spring and summer. To accommodate varying school schedules, mid-month online assessments are available in August, September, October, November, February, and March.

Each EOCT may be administered by paper/pencil or online. Paper/pencil assessments are only made available during the winter, spring and summer administrations. Online assessments are available for all administrations.

Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT). The Georgia High School Graduation Tests (GHSGT) are currently being phased-out and will be replaced by the EOCTs. Georgia’s graduation tests provide valuable information about student strengths and areas of improvement for students, educators, and parents. Students seeking a Georgia high school diploma, who entered high school prior to July 2011, must pass the GHSGT in four content areas (English/Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies) as well as the Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT). The main administration of the GHSGT is given in the spring of the 11th grade year. These tests cover only a sample of concepts and skills that constitute a complete high school education. Results of these tests are used to identify students who may need additional instruction in academic content that is considered essential for a high school diploma.

A Georgia high school graduate will have had opportunities to learn—and is expected to have mastered—much more than these tests can address. The GHSGTs are administered several times annually so that students enrolled in 11th grade could have up to five opportunities to take each of the tests before the end of 12th grade.

GaDOE Writing website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/

Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/

Assessment/Pages/Writing-Assessments.aspx

GaDOE GHSWT website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/


Pages/Georgia-High-School-Writing-Test.aspx

ACT Test Prep website:www.actstudent.org


Georgia Writing Assessments. Georgia’s performance-based writing assessments are administered to students in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11. Student writing samples are evaluated on an analytic scoring system in all grades to provide diagnostic feedback to teachers, students, and parents about individual performance. Georgia writing assessments provide information to students about their writing performance and areas of strengths and challenges. This information is useful for instruction and preparation for future writing assessments. A passing score on the GHSWT in 11th grade is required to receive a high school diploma.

Grade 3 Writing Assessment - consists of teacher-evaluated student writing using an analytic scoring system. This means that teachers collect writing samples by providing many opportunities for students to produce the various types of writing throughout the year. The Grade 3 Writing Assessment covers three genres: (1) narrative, (2) informational, and (3) persuasive.

Grade 5 Writing Assessment - consists of an evaluation of each student response to an assigned prompt. Students are assigned a topic from a prompt bank representing three genres: narrative, informational, and persuasive. Students are allowed 120 minutes to write their essays. Student writing will be assessed analytically in four domains: (1) Ideas, (2) Organization, (3) Style, and (4) Conventions.

Grade 8 Writing Assessment - consists of an evaluation of each student response to an assigned prompt. Students are assigned a topic from a prompt bank representing two genres: expository and persuasive. Students area allowed 100 minutes to write their essays. Student writing will be assessed analytically in four domains: (1) Ideas, (2) Organization, (3) Style, and (4) Conventions.

Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT) - Students in the 11th grade participate in the Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT) and must pass the GHSWT to earn a Georgia diploma. Students are asked to produce a response to one on-demand persuasive writing prompt. The writing test requires students to produce a composition of no more than two pages on the assigned topic. Students are allowed 100 minutes to write their essay. The test is administered three times annually (fall, spring and summer) so that students have multiple opportunities to take the test before the end of the 12th grade. The main administration of the GHSWT takes place in the fall of the 11th grade year. Student writing will be assessed analytically in four domains: (1) Ideas, (2) Organization, (3) Style, and (4) Conventions.

College Readiness

College Admissions Placement Tests

American College Test (ACT). The ACT is designed to assess understanding and higher-order thinking skills in English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science reasoning. The ACT reflects students’ skills and achievement levels as products of their high school experiences and serves as a measure of their preparation for academic coursework beyond high school. ACT results are used by postsecondary institutions across the nation for admissions, academic advising, course placement, and scholarship decisions. Students who take SAT or ACT preparation courses tend to perform better on college placement tests.

SAT Practice website:www.sat.collegeboard.org/

practice

GaDOE PSAT website:http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/

Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/

Assessment/Pages/PSAT-Information-for-Students-

and-Parents.aspx

GaDOE AP website:www.collegeboard.org

IB website:www.ibo.org/


Acceptable performance on the ACT will be determined by each institution of higher learning. Currently, all public four-year colleges and universities in Georgia require either the SAT or ACT college entrance examination. Students may register for the ACT using a paper registration form available from their school counselor, or online at www.actstudent.org.

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). The SAT is designed to evaluate critical Reading, Writing, and Mathematical reasoning skills students have developed overt time, and what they need to be academically successful. SAT scores may be used as a tool to predict the academic performance of individual students in college-level classes. Currently, all public four-year colleges and universities in Georgia require either the SAT or ACT college entrance examination. Students may register for the SAT using a paper registration form available from their school counselor, or register online at www.collegeboard.com.

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test / National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The PSAT/NMSQT is a program co-sponsored by the CollegeBoard and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation. The Preliminary SAT (PSAT) is published by the CollegeBoard as a practice instrument for students planning to take the SAT. All 10th grade students can take the PSAT during the Fall (or first) semester. The top 10% of 11th grade students taking the PSAT/NMSQT may be eligible to compete for national merit scholarships based on their PSAT score. The PSAT/NMSQT provides all test-takers with access to MyRoad, the CollegeBoard’s online college, majors and career exploration program, allowing them to begin college and career planning. All PSAT test-takers also receive free access to My College QuickStart, a personalized college and career planning kit.

Advanced Placement (AP) Exams. The AP program is designed to provide students with opportunities to earn college or post-secondary credit, and/or to determine appropriate placement in post-secondary programs. Scores on AP exams range from 1 to 5, with “5” indicating the examinee is “extremely well qualified.” A score of “3” or higher is usually considered a qualifying score on the exams. SCCPSS has experienced a tremendous increase in the percentage of students who complete AP courses and take AP exams. These students are better prepared to successfully begin their post-secondary education. In addition, AP students are more likely to graduate from college than students who do not take AP courses. AP courses are available at all SCCPSS high schools and eligibility is determined by the school counselor.

International Baccalaureate (IB) Exams. The IB exams are only offered to students enrolled in the IB Diploma Programme. Students pursuing a full IB diploma will take six IB subjects. Of these six subjects—a minimum of three subjects, and a maximum of four subjects—are taken at the higher-level (after a minimum of 240 teaching hours). The remaining two or three subjects are taken at the standard-level (after a minimum of 150 teaching hours). IB students are expected to take their examinations at the conclusion of the two-year Diploma Programme. However, the IB allows students to take one or two standard-level examinations at the end of the first year of the Diploma Programme. Higher-level exams can only be taken at the end of the second year. Each IB school in SCCPSS decides whether to offer the standard-level exams at the end of the first year.

DIBELS information website:www.amplify.com/dibels

SRI information website:www.scholastic.com/sri

mCLASS:Mathinformation website:

www.amplify.com/math


Progress Monitoring ToolsDynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS). Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) is a set of measures used to assess early literacy and reading skills for students in kindergarten and 1st grade. DIBELS is designed to be an efficient, cost-effective tool to help teachers provide support early and to prevent the occurrence of later reading difficulties. DIBELS also evaluates the essential skills that every child must master to become a proficient reader.

Basic Early Literacy Skills:

• Phonemic Awareness: hearing and using sounds in spoken words.

• Phonics: the system of letter-sound relationships that serve as the foundation for decoding words in print.

• Accurate and Fluent Reading of Connected Text: reading stories and passages easily and confidently with few mistakes.

• Reading Comprehension: understanding what is read.

• Vocabulary and Language Skills: understanding and correctly using a variety of words.

mCLASS:Math. The mCLASS:Math system is an integrated screening, progress monitoring, and diagnostic assessment system that aids in the evaluation of students in grades K-1 to determine their understanding and application of mathematical skills and concepts.

Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI). The Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) is used as a formative assessment to help teachers acquire the reading comprehension levels of the students in their classes, and to prepare instruction to facilitate success for all students. The SRI score is reported in Lexiles. A student’s Lexile is determined by their reading ability, not grade-level. The most important factor for readiness is a student’s ability to read and understand texts of steadily increasing complexity as they progress through school. The Lexile® Framework provides valuable insights into student readiness by measuring both the complexity of texts and a reader’s ability to comprehend these texts.

The Lexile® Framework has been realigned to match the Common Core Standards’ text complexity grade bands. These Common Core “stretch” bands of the Lexile® Framework show an upward trajectory of reading comprehension development throughout the grades to indicate that all students should be reading at the college and career readiness level by the end of high school. A student’s Lexile can range from 100 points below to 50 points above his/her score. The Lexile bands (Table 1) help teachers and parents determine what text is appropriate for each grade and what text that will “stretch” the students and help them increase in literacy skills. Parents can use this information to help their students select library books for reading pleasure and/or challenge. SCCPSS students in grades 2-8 participate in the SRI.

GaDOE Lexile information website:

http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/Curriculum-Instruction-

and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Lexile-

Framework.aspx

MAP information website:www.nwea.org

GaDOE OAS website:www.georgiaoas.org


Table 1. Lexile bands

Grade Band

CurrentLexile Band

of TextsCommon Core

“Stretch” Lexile Band*

K-1 N/A N/A

2-3 450L - 725L 420L - 820L

4-5 645L - 845L 740L - 1010L

6-8 860L - 1010L 925L - 1185L

9-10 960L - 1115L 1050L - 1335L

11-CCR** 1070L - 1220L 1185L - 1385L

*Grade Bands reflect the 2012 Revised Appendix A of the Common Core Standards for English Language Arts.

**CCR - College and Career Readiness

Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®). (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress® (MAP®) Math is a computerized adaptive assessment that allows teachers to see their students as individuals—each with their own base of knowledge. As the student responds to questions, the test responds to the student, adjusting up or down in difficulty. The result is a rewarding experience for the student that helps the teacher pinpoint specific strands where they are ready to advance, and where additional help is needed. This formative assessment data is used by teachers to monitor the progress of their students in mastering the state’s mathematics curriculum. SCCPSS students in grades 2-8 participate in MAP®.

Online Assessment System (OAS). The Online Assessment System (OAS) (formerly known as the CRCT Online System) enables students in Georgia’s public schools to access tests that consist of the same types of questions that appear on four of Georgia’s end-of-year assessments: the CRCT, EOCT, GHSGT, and Georgia Writing tests. The OAS is available throughout the school year so that teachers can integrate testing on CRCT, EOCT, and GHSGT subjects with their teaching of those subjects.

The OAS provides immediate feedback regarding individual student and group performance on two types of tests called Student Tests (created by the OAS), and Teacher-Created Tests (created by teachers). Student Tests are designed for students to self-check their mastery using items aligned to state standards. Teachers are able to use the OAS to create and assign Teacher-Created Tests. Teacher-Created Tests are designed to assess students’ progress toward achievement of state standards.

Students can access pre-constructed tests simply by logging on using a login ID and password provided for them by their teacher. Students can access the OAS at www.georgiaoas.org. Grades 3-12 participate in the OAS.

Office of Accountability, Assessment, & Reporting @ SCCPSS | 208 Bull Street, Room 220 | Savannah, GA 31401912.395.5735 (office) | 912.201.5879 (fax) | www.sccpss.com (web) | [email protected] (email)

SCCPSS Assessment Matrix

ASSESSMENTS ELEMENTARY MIDDLE HIGH

STATE K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

ACCESS ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

GKIDS ✪GAA ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

NAEP CRCT ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

CRCT-M ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

EOCT ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

GHSGT ✔ ✔

WRITING ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

COLLEGE READINESS K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

ACT ✔ ✔

SAT ✔ ✔

PSAT ✪ ✔

AP ✔ ✔ ✔

IB ✔ ✔

PROGRESS MONITORING TOOLS

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

DIBELS NEXT ✪ ✪

mCLASS:Math ✪ ✪

SRI ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

MAP ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

OAS ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪

✪ All students tested | ✔ Selected students tested | Selected students and schools tested

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