REVISED
10- 30-13
A Guide for All Educators:
Making the Right Assessment Decisions that are Student Centered and Learning Focused
Section 1 - Required Assessments
Name
1. NAEP
Required by
state statute
2. WESTEST 2
(including online
writing assessment)
Required by
state statute
Focus
Purpose and justification
Assessment administered
to grades 4, 8, and 12
utilizing a stratified
random state sample of
2,500 to 3,000 students
per grade, per subject.
NAEP fulfills federal
requirements and allows
the state to qualify for
federal funds.
A national assessment, also known as
the "Nation’s Report Card,"
administered every year in the
content areas as determined by the
National Assessment Governing
Board. State level results are provided
in mathematics and reading every
other year. In addition, state results in
science and writing are typically
provided every four years. It is part of
West Virginia Measures of Academic
Progress (WV-MAP).
WESTEST 2 measures student
performance in the content areas of
mathematics, reading/language arts
writing, science, and social studies. It
is aligned to the state’s 21st Century
CSOs. Data from WESTEST 2 provide
information on a student’s academic
strengths and weaknesses in each
content area within each grade level.
An annual summative
assessment required to
report proficiency rates
for ESEA. WESTEST 2 is
administered on-line in SY
2013-2014 to students in
grades 3-11 and includes
an online writing
assessment.
Capacities: Tools/Support needed for
effective use
• Instruction in Rigorous Core Content
•
areas with embedded 21st Century Skills.
NAEP is administered by a contractor of
the federal government. School
personnel are asked to assist in the
preparation of materials about the
students, such as necessary
accommodations. Support to help
schools fulfill the necessary tasks is
provided by the NAEP state coordinator.
• Time for collaboration among teachers to
•
•
•
•
examine student data school-wide,
across grades and among content-area
teams.
Access to data available in WESTEST 2
reports.
Training to examine data to drive
programmatic decision making.
Access to Acuity Platform that provides
Benchmarks of WESTEST 2 and a bank of
test items to support classroom
assessment.
Appropriate planning to administer the
assessments online
•
•
•
•
Benefits - How does it inform
instruction?
NAEP allows comparison of state
progress over time and with other
states and the nation.
Requires only 90 minutes of testing
time.
Scores are reported as scale scores
and achievement levels.
WVDE NAEP coordinator supports
schools to fulfill the required tasks to
administer the NAEP assessment.
• Provides educators with diagnostic
•
•
•
information of student learning on the
state's 21st Century CSOs.
Data-driven information that supports
instructional needs.
Identification of specific strengths and
weaknesses disaggregated by CSO and
DOK level.
Provides information on students'
writing ability in the analytic traits of
Word Choice/Grammar Usage,
Organization, Development, Sentence
Structure, and Mechanics using a 6point rubric.
1
Name
Focus
Purpose and justification
Capacities: Tools/Support needed for
effective use
3. Smarter
Balanced
Assessment
Will be required
by state statute in
SY 2014-2015
An annual summative
assessment that will fulfill
ESEA requirements to
report proficiency rates.
The Smarter Balanced
assessment will be
administered online in SY
2014-2015 to students in
grades 3-8 and 11, with
additional assessments
for students in grades 9
and 10.
The Smarter Balanced assessment will
measure student knowledge and
ability in the content areas of
mathematics and English/Language
Arts. It is aligned to the WV Next
Generation CSOs. Additional
assessments will be available to assess
the content areas of science and social
studies.
• Time for collaboration among teachers to
4. WESTELL
Required by
state statute
An assessment
administered to students
in grades K-12 who are
not native English
speakers or who have a
home language other
than English.
Annual summative
alternate assessment
required to report
proficiency rates for
NCLB. APTA is
administered to students
in grades 3-8 and 11.
Fulfills requirements to qualify for
federal technology funds.
Online standardized
assessment targeting
students in health classes
in grades 6 and 8 and high
While not an end-of-course test, it is a
health assessment comprised of
questions that align with the WV K-12
Health Education CSOs. HEAP is used
5. APTA
Required by
state statute
6. HEAP
Required by
state statute
Provides an alternate assessment of
ESL that measures understanding of
core CSOs.
Alternate Performance Task
Assessment (APTA) is an assessment
for students taught on alternate
academic achievement standards in
the content areas of reading/language
arts, mathematics (grades 3-8 and 11)
and science (grades 4, 6 and 11). APTA
is specifically designed for a small
number of students having significant
cognitive disabilities whose
performance could not otherwise be
adequately assessed on the general
assessment even with
accommodations. This assessment is
used in the determination of AYP.
Benefits - How does it inform
instruction?
• Provides educators with summative
examine student data school-wide,
and diagnostic information of student
across grades and among content-area
learning on the state’s NxGen CSOs.
teams.
• Data-driven information that supports
• Access to data available in upcoming
instructional needs.
Smarter Balanced reports
• Identification of specific strengths and
• Training to examine data to drive
weaknesses disaggregated by claim
programmatic decision making.
and by standard.
• Access to Smarter Balanced interim
• Provides information on students’
assessments and digital library of tools to
writing, research, and inquiry abilities
support classroom assessment and
using student essays against the
assessment literacy.
Smarter Balanced writing rubric.
• Appropriate planning to administer the
assessments online.
• Support for collaboration between
• Provide data for the continuous
schools (elementary, middle, and high
improvement of English Language
school) and ESL teachers.
Proficiency. (This test measures social
and academic language proficiency
• Professional development that focuses
skills.)
on administration, analysis of data and
how to use the data to make curriculum • Determines students to be targeted for
decisions.
continued program services.
• Professional development activities to
• Informs instruction.
assist school personnel in the individual
• Assists in the development of
APTA data analysis including:
individualized educational plans
• performance and progress of mastery of
including emphasis on specific
the extended content standards
extended standards and provide
documentation on levels of prompting
• depth of knowledge and levels of
and independence.
independence
• Integrates technology in the
• integration of technology in meeting
instruction and assessment of the
the unique needs of the population
extended standards to develop 21st
• formative assessment training for the
century learning skills.
Extended Standards Acuity items and
• Increases opportunities for learning by
Boardmaker platforms
meeting the diverse communication
needs of the population through
technology.
• Professional development that focuses
on administration, analysis of data and
how to use the data to make curricular
decisions.
• Provides data for the continuous
improvement of health education
programs at the school/district level.
2
Name
Focus
Purpose and justification
Capacities: Tools/Support needed for
effective use
school required by Policy
2520.5.
A fitness test required in
Grades 4 through 8 and
high school by Policy
2520.6.
to measure student knowledge and
program effectiveness.
Assessment designed to measure
student knowledge of the five fitness
components and the components of
the F.I.T.T. principle exercise.
8. Educate WV CTE
Required by
federal regulation
Students in grades 9-12
who complete a career
concentration.
•
9. ACT EXPLORE
Required by
WVBOE policy
EXPLORE is part of the
West Virginia Measures of
Academic Progress and is
administered to students
in grade 8.
An assessment targeting
career/technical education students.
Fulfills the Federal Carl Perkins Act
Requirement.
Assessment designed to measure
Grade 8 students’ general educational
development and their complex,
critical thinking skills. The test covers
the content areas of English,
mathematics, reading and science.
10. ACT PLAN
Required by
WVBOE policy
PLAN is part of the West
Virginia Measures of
Academic Progress and is
administered to students
in grade 10
• Mirrors the capacities needed by ACT
EXPLORE
11. ACT COMPASS
Required by
WVBOE policy
All grade 11 students and
grade 12 students who
are enrolled in Transitions
Math or English 12 CR
An assessment designed to measure
Grade 10 students’ attainment of
knowledge and complex critical
thinking skills acquired in the early
years of high school. The test covers
the content areas of English,
mathematics, reading and science.
A computer adapative assessment
designed to adapt to students’ ability.
The test measure mathematics and
writing.
7. Fitness-Gram
Required by
state statute
• Professional development that focuses
on: administration, analysis of data and
how to use the data to make curricular
decisions.
Intensive technical assistance and
professional development at the school
level
• Time for collaboration among elementary,
middle and high school teachers to
examine student data school-wide, across
grades and among content-areas
• Access to all data, reports and training
available.
• Professional development to analyze and
interpret the data to support
programmatic decision-making, support
college and career awareness, inform
students when developing/revising their
Individual Student Transition Plans (ISTP).
• Mirrors the capacities needed by ACT
EXPLORE and Plan
• Appropriate planning to administer the
assessment online
Benefits - How does it inform
instruction?
• FITNESSGRAM should be used for the
continuous improvement of physical
education programs.
• Improved student performance
• Credentialing opportunities for
students
• A research-based measure of college
and career readiness
• Information about students’ academic
strengths and weaknesses in English,
mathematics, reading and science
• Student performance by test item; the
correct answer is provided for each
wrong answer on the student score
report
• National comparisons identifying
students not on track to be collegeand-career ready after graduation
• Information on whether students are
on track to qualify for the PROMISE
scholarship
• Prediction of performance on PLAN
• Mirrors the benefits offered by ACT
EXPLORE
• Prediction of performance on ACT
• Information about students’ academic
preparedness in mathematics and
writing
• Assists in determining potential course
schedules for Grade 11 students
• It is aligned to HEPC’s Series 21 and
may be used by post-secondary
institutions to place students into
3
Name
Focus
Purpose and justification
Capacities: Tools/Support needed for
effective use
12. ACT Work Keys
Required by
WVBOE policy
CTE completers who are
taking career/technical
education courses and are
working toward receiving
the WV Work Readiness
credential.
Assessment used to determine
whether students are acquiring the
skills in the career/technical education
concentrations in the areas of applied
mathematics, reading for information,
and locating information. Fulfills the
Federal Carl Perkins Act Requirement.
• Professional development for test
administration
• On-site technical assistance to improve
student performance, including access to
Key Train remediation software
13. Early Learning
Scale
Required by
WVBOE policy
Data Reporting on the
Early Learning Scale (ELS)
developed by the National
Institute of Early
Education Research
(NIEER) is required of all
children in PreKindergarten, including
children with special
needs, beginning in 2011
for school readiness
indicators a minimum of
three times per year, per
WVBE Policy 2525.
The Child Outcome
Summary Form is
currently required of all
Pre-Kindergarten special
needs children to comply
with OSP regulations
concerning child
outcomes reporting.
An ongoing, performance-based
assessment tool for the classroom that
allows teachers to observe children’s
development over time, informs
intentional teaching, and is userfriendly to facilitate parent
communication.
• Ongoing support for collaboration
between WV Universal Pre-K agencies,
including special education directors,
Head Start directors and child care
directors implementing WVBE Policy
2525.
• Professional development focused on
administration, analysis of data and how
to use the data to make curriculum
decision.
• Access to data and reports for partnering
agencies, parents and transitions.
• Provides information for data driven
decisions pertaining to instruction,
development and ongoing progress on
school readiness standards.
• Provides reporting mechanism for
parent- teacher communication.
• Provides information on kindergarten
transitions and ongoing progress
monitoring.
Provides an early childhood
assessment system that helps
teachers accurately pinpoint where
children are in their development and
learning.
• Provides information for data driven
decisions pertaining to instruction,
development and ongoing progress on
school readiness standards.
• Provides a reporting mechanism for
OSP child outcomes reporting and
ongoing progress monitoring.
Students in grades 9-12
who complete the NCCER
applicable CTE
concentration
Perkins federal requirement
• Time for collaboration between universal
pre-k agencies, including special
education directors, Head Start directors
and child care directors working to
implement Universal Pre-K.
• Professional development needs to be
provided that focuses on administration,
analysis of data and how to focus on
correct data entry and reporting
requirements.
• Intensive technical assistance and
professional development at the school
level
14. Child Outcome
Summary Form
Required by
federal regulation
for students with
disabilities only
15. CTE NCCER
Credential
Assessment
Required by
federal regulation
for CTE
Benefits - How does it inform
instruction?
credit-bearing courses
• Students can earn the WV Work
Readiness Credential
• Improves student literacy and
numeracy skills
• Improved student performance
• International Credentialing
opportunities for students
4
Section 2 – Non-Required Assessments
The assessments in this section are not required by state policy or statute and therefore do not require a waiver for the WVBOE.
Any of these assessments required by county policy would be eligible for a waiver at the county level.
Name
Focus
Purpose and justification
Capacities: Tools/Support needed for
effective use
• Time for collaboration among
elementary, middle and high school
teachers to examine student data schoolwide, across grades and among contentareas
• Access to all data, reports and training
available.
• Professional development to analyze and
interpret the data to support
programmatic decision-making, support
college and career awareness, inform
students when developing/revising their
Individual Student Transition Plans (ISTP).
1. ACT
Local discretion
ACT is not part of the
West Virginia Measure of
Academic Progress and
covers the content areas
of English, mathematics,
reading and science. The
writing test is optional.
ACT is administered to
students interested in
attending college.
A college entrance exam designed to
measure students’ general educational
development and their ability to
complete college-level work.
2. PSAT
Local discretion
PSAT is not part of the
West Virginia Measure of
Academic Progress and is
administered to students
in grades 10 and 11.
The PSAT measures critical reading,
mathematics and writing skills for
students in Grades 10 and 11.
• Professional development related to
types of data/reports available
• Familiarity with College Board PSAT
resources and research
3. SAT
Local discretion
SAT is not part of the
West Virginia Measure of
Academic Progress and is
administered to students
interested in attending
college
A college entrance exam that measures
critical reading, mathematics and
writing skills that students have
developed over time and that they
need to be successful in college.
• Time for collaboration between high
schools and institutions of higher
education.
• Professional development of
data/reports
• WVDE SAT website provides stakeholders
Benefits - How does it inform
instruction?
Provides:
• A research-based measure of college
and career readiness
• Information about students’ academic
strengths and weaknesses in English,
mathematics, reading and science
• Student performance by test item; the
correct answer is provided for each
wrong answer on the student score
report.
• National comparisons identifying
students not on track to be collegeand-career ready after graduation
• Information on whether students are
on track to qualify for the PROMISE
scholarship
• Identifies students not academically
prepared for college-level courses or
careers
• PSAT identifies students with AP
potential
• PSAT has college readiness
benchmarks for Grade 10 and 11
• Provides education with information
about students' academic strengths
and weaknesses in critical reading,
mathematics and writing
• Provides national comparisons and
entry into national Merit Scholarship
Corporation competitions
• Provides educators with information
about students' academic strengths
and weaknesses in critical reading,
mathematics and writing
• Provides national comparisons of
student performance
5
with trend data
• College Board offers SAT resources and
research
• Awareness of types of data available
• Awareness of types of AP course
curricular requirements
• Familiarity with WV Virtual School, AP
teacher training and College Board AP
resources and research
4. AP Exams
Local discretion
Students enrolled in AP
courses
AP exams measure course specific
content
5. Smarter Balanced
Field Test
Local discretion
Students in schools and
grades who are identified
as part of the scientific
sample
The Smarter Balanced Field Test
provides an opportunity for West
Virginia to be appropriately
represented when Smarter Balanced
establishes cut scores for the
operational test in SY 2014-2015
• Participation in webinars and training to
administer the tests securely
• Determine technological readiness prior
to the operational administration
• Communicate with the Office of
Assessment and Accountability to
establish an appropriate testing window
for the online administration of
assessments
6. TechSteps
Local discretion
TechSteps is a technology
literacy and assessment
tool focused on infusing
technology skills into core
instruction, while
generating data for
authentic performancebased assessments
TechSteps is used to document that
students are technology literate by
eighth grade as required by NCLB and
to document that all students are
educated annually on cyber safety
awareness and response as required by
the Children’s Internet Protection Act
(CIPA).
• Time for students to work on selfdirected and group-based assignments
and projects
• Professional development to prepare
teachers for utilizing the lessons which
are aligned to WV Next Generation CSOs
and interpret the reports showing
student progress to meeting technology
literacy
Districts which elect not to utilize
TechSteps are required to provide
documentation to the WVDE showing
what alternate method was used to
meet these requirements and showing
which students were trained on cyber
safety and which students attained tech
literacy by 8th grade
• Provides educators with information
about students' mastery of course
specific content
• Provides students opportunity to
receive college credit for AP courses
based on AP exam score and college
policies
• Schools will have an early opportunity
to administer an online test prior to
WESTEST 2
• Administrators, teachers, and students
can experience what the assessment is
like prior to the implementation of the
operational test
• Schools can provide feedback to
WVDE and the Smarter Balanced
Assessment Consortium regarding the
assessment experience
• Provides a clear measure of student
progress toward technology literacy
• Infuses technology skills into core
instruction with lessons at each grade
level aligned to WV Math, ELA, Social
Studies and Science CSOs
• Includes rigorous and relevant student
centered projects that promote
inquiry and higher-order thinking
• Student-centered formative and
summative tools used to inspire
learning and assess competence
• Using technology in meaningful ways
promotes rigor and improves learning
outcomes in all subject areas
• Teaches students to use common
technology tools to solve real-world
math, science, and engineering
challenges
6