FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Fort Campbell students will participate in an infrastructure trial of the new College and Career Ready Standards summative assessments Feb. 9.
The College and Career Ready Standards summative assessments are computer-based tests. Students enrolled in third-sixth grade and those enrolled in Algebra 1, Geometry and Algebra 2 courses will be assessed. Students in sixth-eighth and 10th grade will be tested in English language arts and literacy.
This is the first year Department of Defense Education Activity students will complete the College and Career Ready Standards summative assessments. This test will replace the TerraNova third edition multiple assessments test that third-eighth grade students have completed in the past.
Raquel Rimpola, chief of assessments for DoDEA, said the summative assessments were developed by the Partnership for Assessments of Readiness for College and Careers Consortium, of which DoDEA is now a member.
"The questions on [the summative assessments] really do ask the students about things they have learned throughout the school year. The assessments are aligned with what is being taught in the classroom," Rimpola said.
DoDEA shifted away from the TerraNova assessment because it is a norm-referenced test. This means that students' scores reflect their achievement in comparison to all students who completed the test nationally, Rimpola said. Typically this is expressed as a raw score, which is then converted into a percentile ranking. "We wanted to assess what the teachers are teaching when it comes to college and career readiness standards, and what the students are learning," Rimpola said.
TerraNova tests are multiple choice questions that are answered with bubble sheets. The new assessment will include multiple choice, short essay, and technology-enhanced questions. Each assessment will be three to four sections. Elementary school students will have 60 minutes to complete each section, while secondary school students will have 80-90 minutes.
"Students will see technology enhanced items [on the assessment]," Rimpola said. "Items that will require them to drag and drop certain responses, to graph online or to select multiple answers instead of one."
The purpose of the infrastructural trial is to perform a simulation exercise that will allow schools to assess performance capabilities, level of readiness of the network infrastructure and technology assets for the successful administration of the spring 2018 College and Career Ready Standard summative assessments, said Hugh McKinnon, Barsanti Elementary School principal, in a letter to parents Sunday.
This exercise also will give students and staff an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the online tools on the Pearson AccessNext platform and prepare them for managing logistical actions that are needed for the official College and Career Ready Standard summative assessments.
The trial will take about one hour for elementary school students and 90 minutes for secondary students. The data generated during the trial will not be used for reporting student performance. Parents will not receive a student score report based on this trial.
The official College and Career Ready Standard summative assessments will begin in the fourth quarter. The assessment window spans April 9-May 26.
Through this assessment, students will receive feedback based on how well they mastered the assessments, Rimpola said. Teachers will be able to improve their lesson plans by receiving feedback from the assessments.
DoDEA implemented the College and Career Ready Standard standards as a way to provide their students with the best education possible.
"We want to have excellence in education for every student, every day, everywhere," said Jade Fulce, DoDEA public affairs specialist. "Our focus at DoDEA is to make sure that all students are ready for a dynamic world outside of the classroom once they graduate from our system or whenever they transition out."
"The main goal of implementing these standards and following that up with an assessment is to ensure that our military-connected students transition well into the public or private school system," Rimpola said.
"The main goal of implementing these College and Career Ready Standards is to ensure that our military-connected students transition well in and out of DoDEA schools," Fulce said.
To prepare for the summative assessments, students and parents are encouraged to visit http://dodea.edu/assessments for information on practice tests, tutorials and other resources.
Related Links:
Fort Campbell Courier on Twitter
Social Sharing