At the Scholars' Academy, none of us breaks out in a rash when the words "standardized tests" are used, and that may because we do so many other types of assessments in the classroom that traditional tests are only a small part of our battery of evaluation instruments. But the "testing season" begins in a week or so and here is what's old(er) and what's new on the testing scene for 2009/2010:

 

What's Old - North Carolina Writing Tests at grades 4 and 7 on March 17. North Carolina Writing Assessments take two forms (began in 2008/2009.) There are four, yes FOUR state required writing exams at this level. Two are content based writings. The prompts for content based writing are formulated around a content area such as math, art, etc. Content based writings are completed as an overnight assignment. Seventh grade students are required to complete their writings on the computer and submit them to a secure place on our server. The test scheduled for March 17 is a content based prompt. The other two writings are done with on-demand prompts. Students complete these assessments with a timed writing exercise that is completed at school. Again, seventh grade students are required to complete the test online. Fourth and seventh graders will complete the final on-demand writing in May.

 

What's Old(er) Yet - Terra Nova testing begins Monday March 22 for students in grades 3 - 8. The Terra Novas are nationally normed tests of achievement that we use to compare our student achievement levels against students across the nation (as compared to the EOG/EOC's which compare us only to NC students.) We administer the Terra Novas one year above the grade level for which they are designed - because the classroom content at the Scholars' Academy is at least one grade level above that in traditional schools. This is called out-of-level testing because our students are being compared to student norms that are of students one year older. The testing schedule is Monday - Reading and Language, Tuesday - Mathematics, Wednesday - Science, and Thursday - Social Studies. Please remember that TESTING BEGINS AT 9:20 EACH MORNING. Students who arrive at school after 9:15 will not complete testing on that morning. Please have students at school rested, well-breakfasted, and on time. There are no make-up days for Terra Nova testing. Students in K, 1, and 2 will complete Terra Nova testing in May.

 

What's New - Item try-outs for EOG tests that will be operational in 2011/2012 (if all goes according to the plans at NC Department of Public Instruction.) Items that are evaluated as good questions, based on research of the responses after the try-outs, will then be included in field tests in 2010/2011, with new operational level tests making the scene in 2011/2012. New test design is required to correlate with the new Core Standards and Essential Standards of curriculum in NC. These standards replace the state curriculum guide formerly called the NC Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS). Our fourth graders will be doing item try-outs in online mathematics. We have these scheduled for April 13 and April 19.

The traditional EOG's and EOC's are scheduled for the weeks of May 25 and June 1. More information will be forthcoming on this later.

 

If you have any questions about testing, don't hesitate to give me a call.