Testing/Assessments
The Testing/Assessment Department provides leadership and support to schools for the implementation of state mandated and system level assessments. Assessment is a distinct and integral part of learning and thus, works in tandem with instruction and planning to ensure that schools have the knowledge and resources needed to be effective. The department supports schools, as well as other departments, with data analysis, assessment use and assessment strategies.
The purpose of the Georgia Student Assessment Program is to measure student achievement of the state-adopted academic content standards and to use assessment results to improve teaching and learning. Results from the assessment program are utilized to identify the extent to which students have mastered the state's academic content standards, to provide teachers with feedback about instructional practice, and to assist school districts in identifying strengths and weaknesses to establish priorities in planning educational programs.
Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS)
The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is designed to provide information about how well students are mastering the state-adopted content standards in the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Importantly, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide students with critical information about their own achievement and their readiness for their next level of learning – be it the next grade, the next course, or the next endeavor (college or career).
Informing parents, educators, and the public about how well students are learning important content is an essential aspect of any educational assessment and accountability system. Parents, the public, and policymakers, including local school districts and boards of education, can use the results as a barometer of the quality of educational opportunities provided throughout the state of Georgia.
As such, Georgia Milestones serves as a key component of the state's accountability system – the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI).
Georgia Alternative Assessment (GAA)
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) and the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) require that states ensure all students, including those with significant cognitive disabilities, have access to challenging academic standards and participate in the state’s assessment program.
For students with disabilities, each student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) team determines how the student shall participate in Georgia’s student assessment program. If a student’s IEP team determines that a student cannot meaningfully access the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, even with maximum appropriate accommodations, then the student must participate in the GAA 2.0.
The GAA 2.0 is designed to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided access to the state academic content standards and given the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the knowledge, concepts, and skills inherent in the standards.
This assessment will provide meaningful information about classroom instruction and help identify students’ areas of strength and improvement through standardized tests. Unlike the original GAA, GAA 2.0 is not a portfolio-based assessment. Thus, it will measure students’ achievement and not progress. The GAA 2.0 will be administered to all eligible students in the following areas:
Grades K, 3-8, and 11 will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics.
Grades 5, 8, and 11 will also be assessed in science and social studies.
Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS)
GKIDS 2.0 is a progression-based formative assessment, integrated into classroom work, that is aligned to Georgia's state content standards. GKIDS 2.0 is organized around big ideas and learning progressions.
A big idea describes the integration of concepts and skills from the kindergarten standards that are most important for success in first grade.
A learning progression shows where the student is in the learning continuum of content and reasoning development regarding the big idea from the standard.
Learning progressions provide the big picture of what is to be learned across the year, relate increased reasoning of standards within the grade and across grades, and support instructional planning.
GKIDS 2.0 provides teachers with one source of real-time information to adjust instruction, by identifying what a student already knows, what the student needs next, and by allowing the teacher to monitor growth. For more information, please visit the GKIDS website.
ACCESS
ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Language Learners) is administered, annually, to all English learners in Georgia. ACCESS for ELLs is a standards-based, criterion referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English learners’ 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 the four language domains. ACCESS for ELLs meets the federal requirements that mandates require states to evaluate EL students in grades K through 12 on their progress in learning to speak English.