When are students tested? 1
4th grade
5th grade
7th grade
8th grade
10th grade
11th grade
What subjects are tested? 1
Language Arts
Reading
Writing
Mathematics
What types of questions are used? 1
Multiple choice
Extended constructed response
How are test results used? 1
Curriculum planning
Improvement of instruction
School performance reporting
What tests are used? 1
California Achievement Test (fifth edition)
(grades 4, 8, 11)
Alaska Writing Assessment (grades 5, 7, 10)
Are students with disabilities exempt?
2, 3
Exemptions given to students whose IEP teams determine that test results
would be meaningless, even with the use of accommodations.
What accommodations are available so
that students with disabilities can participate? 2
List of accommodations approved by state Department of Education.
How are scores of students with disabilities
reported? 2
School, district, and statewide reports both combine ("aggregate")
and separate ("disaggregate") scores of students with and without disabilities.
Footnotes:
1 Source: PEER Project Survey to expand and update information from Annual Survey of State Student Assessment Programs: Data on 1995-96 Statewide Student Assessment Programs. (Fall 1996). Council of Chief State School Officers.
2 Source: PEER Project review of state policy documents. Documents provided by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO). Information confirmed and updated by the PEER Project through direct communication with state officials.
3 NOTE: The IDEA Amendments of 1997 require that all students be included in statewide assessments.