Testing Information
2014-2015
PTA Presentation
January 14, 2015
Kindergarten Readiness
Assessment (KRA)
The KRA provides a framework to assess
what kindergarten students should know and
be able to do when they enter kindergarten
to ensure they are ready to learn. It provides
data that teachers can use to individually
instruct students and ensure quality early
learning opportunities for children by
building on the strengths of every child.
August 25 – October 31, 2014
Primary Reading Assessment –
Grades Pre-K – 2
• An assessment tool designed to help teachers
determine a student’s reading performance in
terms of meeting benchmarks.
• Fall
September 2 – October 3
• Winter
January 5 – January 30
• Spring
May 5 – May 29
Pre-K Primary Reading Assessment
Fall
September 15 – October 16
Winter
January 5 – February 6
Spring
May 4 – June 5
MAP-P
Measurement of Academic Progress for
Primary Grades Gr. K-2
• A computer-adaptive achievement test which assesses
student’s skill level on different math concepts.
• Measures academic growth over time.
• Administered to grades K-2 in the fall, winter, and spring.
• MAP-P results identify the skills and concepts students
have learned and diagnose instructional needs.
• MAP-P is the newest MCPS assessment tool under
Curriculum 2.0.
• Fall Window
September 8 – October 30
• Winter Window
January 5 – February 27
• Spring Window
March 30 – June 10
MAP-R and MAP-M
Measures of Academic Progress Assessment
in Reading & Math
Gr. 3-5
• A computer-adaptive achievement test which assesses
to student’s skill level in the different reading and
mathematics achievement areas.
• Measures academic growth over time.
• Administered to grades 3-5 in the fall, winter, and spring.
• MAP-R and MAP-M results identify the skills and
concepts students have learned and diagnose
instructional needs.
• Schools can use this info to implement interventions to
increase the likelihood of students’ scoring proficient or
advanced on PARCC.
• Fall Window
September 8 – October 30
• Winter Window
January 5 – February 27
• Spring Window
March 30 – June 10
Gifted & talented
Grade 2 Global Screening
New Student Screening Gr. 3-5
• The purpose of Global Screening is to:
• Recognize those students whose performance,
motivation, or potential ability indicates the
needs for accelerated and enriched instruction.
• Match student strengths with instruction and
programs that will support and extend these
strengths.
• 5 subtests administered: Sequencing, Analogies,
Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning
(Words & Context)
In View
December 3 - 16
Gifted & Talented
Rescreening
(GR 3-5)
• Take another look at a student who has already been
screened.
• Recognize those students whose performance,
motivation, or potential ability indicates the needs for
accelerated and enriched instruction.
• Match student strengths with instruction and programs
that will support and extend these strengths.
• 5 subtests administered: Sequencing, Analogies,
Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning (Words &
Context)
In View
December 3 – December 16
MSA SCIENCE – Grade 5
MSA provides national norm-referenced and Maryland
criterion-referenced data. The norm-referenced items
provide national percentile ranks to describe how well a
student performed in science compared to his/her peers
nationally. The criterion-referenced items provide
proficiency scores (expressed as Basic, Proficient, or
Advanced proficiency level) to describe how well a student
has mastered the science content specified in the Maryland
Content Standards.
MSA Science Grade 5
April 13 – May 1 (Online)
April 20 – April 24 (Paper/Pencil)
Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers (PARCC)
The PARCC assessments are aligned with the Common
Core State Standards (CCSS) and will measure the
essential literacy and problem-solving skills that students
need to be successful in college and careers. PARCC
will test writing skills and critical thinking and problem
solving skills in depth. These critical thinking skills are an
integral part of the MCPS Curriculum 2.0.
PARCC Performance Based Assessment (PBA)
English/Language Arts/Literacy and Math
Grades 3-5
March 2 – 26, 2015
PARCC End of Year (EOY)
English/Language Arts/Literacy and Math
Grades 3-5
April 20 – May 15
PARCC Testing Schedule
(PBA)
PARCC Reading
• Grades 3 & 4
• Grade 5
March 2 - 4
March 6, 9 - 10
PARCC Mathematics
• Grades 3 & 4
• Grade 5
March 11, 13
March 16 – 17
PARCC Make-Up Tests
March 18 - 26
MSA Science
• Grade 5
April 13– May 1 (Online)
PARCC Testing Schedule
(EOY)
PARCC Reading
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
April 22
April 28
May 4
PARCC Mathematics
• Grade 3
• Grade 4
• Grade 5
April 24 & 27
April 29 & May 1
May 5 & 6
PARCC Make-Up Tests
May 7 - 15
PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS
FOR
COLLEGE AND CAREERS (PARCC)
• PARCC is an alliance of states working together to develop common
assessments serving approximately 23 million students. PARCC’s
work is funded through a four-year, $185 million dollar grant from the
U.S. Department of Education. Partners include about 200 higher
education institutions and systems representing hundreds of
campuses across the country that will help develop the high school
component of the new assessment – and then put it to good use as
an indicator of student readiness. PARCC is led by its member
states and managed by Achieve Inc., a nonprofit group with a 15year track record of working with states to improve student
achievement by aligning K-12 education policies with the
expectations of employers and the postsecondary community.
PARCC’s ultimate goal is to ensure all students graduate from high
school college- and career-ready.
The PARCC summative assessments in English
Language Arts (ELA)/Literacy and Mathematics
will include a rich set of performance-based tasks
which will enable teachers, schools, students and
their parents to gain important insights into how
well critical knowledge, skills and abilities essential
for young people to thrive in college and careers
are being mastered.
In order to promote improvements in curriculum and instruction and
support various forms of accountability, the PARCC assessments are
designed to measure the full range of the CCSS and full continuum of
student abilities, including the performance of high and
underperforming students. To effectively carry out the PARCC design,
assessments in both content areas will be administered in two
components:
•
A performance-based assessment (PBA) component,
administered after approximately 75% of the school year, and
• An end of year assessment (EOY) component, administered after
approximately 90% of the school year.
PARCC ELA/Literacy Assessments
• The ELA/Literacy PBAs at each grade level will include
three tasks: a research simulation, a literary analysis,
and a narrative task. For each task, students will be
asked to read one or more texts, answer several short
comprehension and vocabulary questions, and write an
essay that requires them to draw evidence from the
text(s). The ELA/Literacy EOYs at each grade level will
include 4-5 texts, both literary and informational
(including social science/historical, scientific, and
technical texts at grades 6-11). A number of shortanswer comprehension and vocabulary questions will
also be associated with each text.
PARCC Mathematics Assessments
The mathematics PBAs at each grade level will include
both short- and extended-response questions focused on
applying skills and concepts to solve problems that require
demonstration of the mathematical practices with a focus
on modeling, reasoning, and precision. The mathematics
EOY assessments will be comprised primarily of shortanswer questions focused on conceptual understanding,
procedural skills, and application.
WIDA (Worldclass Instructional Design &
Assessment
ACCESS for ELL
Under the No Child Left Behind legislation, states must
measure the development of the English language
proficiency skills of their English language learners (ELL) in
grades K-12 on an annual basis within the domains of
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Members of the
WIDA Consortium use ACCESS of ELLs to fulfill the
requirement. Therefore, the primary purpose of ACCESS
for ELLs is to measure English proficiency growth tied
to the criteria of the WIDA Consortium’s English language
Proficiency Standards, which are aligned to the academic
content area standards of every WIDA state.
January 12 – February 14
Make – up dates: February 17 - 25
Gifted & Talented
2014-2015
Testing and Programming
Fall 2014
The GT Screening Process
Magnet and Choice Programs
Grade 5
• Applications mailed to all 5th grade students in
September 2014.
• Parent Meetings held October 2014.
• Deadline for applications was November 7,
2014.
• Magnet testing was in December 2014.
• Recommendations due to MCPS office by
December 12, 2014
Highly Gifted Center
Grade 4 & 5
• MCPS sent applications to all Grade 3 homes in
September 2014.
• Parents return applications directly to DCCAPS – NO
applications accepted after November 7, 2014.
• GT Committee & Grade 3 met to complete school
recommendation and teacher surveys December 2014.
• Student Folders due in DCCAPS by December 12, 2014.
• Testing for HGC was January 8, 2015 @ SMES.
• Decisions made March 14, 2015.
• HGC Open Houses – March 26 – April 2, 2015.
• Deadline for accepting decisions – April 4, 2015.
Gifted & talented
Grade 2 Global Screening
New Student Screening Gr. 3-5
•
•
•
•
InView Test: December 3 - 16, 2014
Parent, Teacher and Staff Surveys
GT Committee decisions in May 2015
Parents notified about decisions by June
5, 2015.
Gifted & Talented
Rescreening
(GR 3-5)
• Take another look at a student who has already been
screened.
• Recognize those students whose performance,
motivation, or potential ability indicates the needs for
accelerated and enriched instruction.
• Match student strengths with instruction and programs
that will support and extend these strengths.
• 5 subtests administered: Sequencing, Analogies,
Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning (Words &
Context)
InView
December 3 - 16, 2014
Why do we screen the students?
Screen students to :
• Recognize students whose performance,
motivation, or potential ability indicates the
need for accelerated and enriched
instruction.
• Match student strengths with instruction
and programs that will support and extend
these strengths.
Multiple Criteria for GT
Identification
Parent Survey
Teacher Survey
Staff Advocacy
Reading and Math Levels
• InView― 5 subtests administered:
Sequencing, Analogies, Quantitative
Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning (Words &
Context)
Additional information
GT Committee
• Includes school administrator, classroom teachers, and
other staff in the building, such as ESOL teacher,
resource teacher, reading teacher, counselor
• Collects and analyzes student data
• Makes recommendations about instruction based on
data
• Makes decisions about identification based on data
Rigorous Programming at Every
School
Instructional Service Options
• Reading/Language
Arts
– Jacob’s Ladder
– William and Mary
– Junior Great Books
– Above level texts
•Mathematics
Curriculum 2.0
with enrichment
and acceleration
It is not about a label. It is about…
• Access to opportunity ― no gatekeeping,
no barriers
• Equity in high expectations for all students
• Quality of a challenging instructional
program
Access + Equity + Quality = Success
POTENTIAL
What educators and psychologists recognize as
giftedness in children is really potential
giftedness, which denotes promise rather than
fulfillment, and probabilities rather than
certainties, about future accomplishments. How
high the probabilities are in any given case
depends on the match between a child’s
budding talents and the kinds of nurturance
provided.
Tips for Easing
Test Anxiety
1. Reassure your child
Tell your child that the test will be used to
evaluate how well a school or school
district is educating its students. It's
important for kids to have a sense of the
broader context.
2. Put the test in perspective
Explain that test scores are looked at
along with many other pieces of
information in determining your child's
achievement level. Her grades and
progress over time, for example, are
also very important. This may be a big
test, but it is still just one test!
3. Take a deep breath
If your child is a very nervous test taker, have
her do deep breathing exercises before the test.
She can take a deep breath and count to ten.
Then have her take shorter deep breaths in
between passages or sections of the test -counting to three only. This exercise is fast and
simple, but it really works!
Finally…
remind your child to relax
and do his/her best!