Assessments

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is administered, annually, to all English learners in Georgia. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 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 2.0 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.

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is used to determine the English language proficiency levels and progress of ELs in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 serves five main purposes.

Pubic Test Resources   

• The Test Demo is a series of videos that explain how students will take the online test and interact with the test platform.
• The Sample Items provide students, parents, and educators with a better understanding of the ACCESS for ELLs Online assessment that is based on the WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards. These are not items that will appear on the operational test, but they provide a close proximity to the items that students will see on the test. To access and view the Sample Items, a Chrome browser must be used.
• The Test Practice items are designed to allow students to experience taking the assessment online and to experiment with the features available to them during the actual assessment. The above link provides access to the Test Practice items for ACCESS for ELLs Online and WIDA Screener Online. To access and view the Test Practice Items, a Chrome browser must be used.                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is a recently developed, individually administered test. It is intended only for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities that are severe enough to prevent meaningful participation in the ACCESS for ELLs assessment. Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is not intended for ELs who can be served with special education accommodations on ACCESS for ELLs. Decisions regarding a student's participation must be made by an IEP team.  

Participation Criteria:

1. The student has been classified as an English Learner.
2. The student has been classified as a special education student and is receiving special education services.
3. The student has a significant cognitive disability.
4. The student participates in the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA).

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education. 

ACT

The ACT examination assesses high school students’ general educational development and their ability to complete college level work. All colleges and universities in Georgia accept scores from the ACT for admission purposes. ACT determines the national testing dates and testing sites for the ACT exam. Students may register online for the ACT at www.actstudent.org. ACT offers fee waivers for students meeting certain financial criteria.  ACT Online Registration and Test Dates | ACT Practice Resources

Advanced Placement

Advanced Placement (AP) courses are college-level courses offered by trained high school teachers in the regular high school setting. Assessments in these classes require sophisticated critical thinking skills. In May of each year, AP students take the AP exam(s). Students who score at the 3, 4 or 5 level may be able to earn college credit for these courses taken in the high school.  AP Exam Dates

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is the most widely used multiple-aptitude test battery in the world. As an aptitude test, the ASVAB measures your strengths, weaknesses, and potential for future success.

PSAT

This examination is an excellent opportunity for students to understand the requirements of the SAT, which is a critical reasoning exam used as a criteria in college admissions. The PSAT/NMSQT examination is given annually. The 2020 PSAT administration dates are Wednesday, October 14, 2020 and Thursday, October 29, 2020. The State of Georgia will pay for the PSAT for all sophomores enrolled in GA public schools. For more information see your school counselor.  PSAT Practice Resources

SAT

At the links below, school personnel may enhance their awareness of the SAT and assist students and parents in understanding the features of the SAT, identifying test-taking strategies, using free resources, including PSAT/NMSQT and the SAT Preparation Booklet, completing SAT registration, and valuing a rigorous curriculum.  SAT Online Registration and Test Dates | SAT Practice Resources

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:

The GAA 2.0 will include standardized items with multiple access points. The intent is to reduce the teacher’s burden related to selecting or developing tasks; bring greater standardization to the administration; improve scoring reliability; and introduce an online task submission system.

GAA 2.0 Parent Flyer English| Spanish

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.

•  Grades 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.
   

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) is a comprehensive summative assessment program spanning grades 3 through high school.  Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.  

Features of the 2020-2021 Georgia Milestone Assessment System include:

• English Language Arts & Mathematics
  • All constructed response (CR) items will be replaced with technology enhanced (TE) items in Math.
  • Some CR items will be replaced with TE items in ELA.
    • Section 1-Reading & Evidence Based Writing and Narrative Writing Prompts will remain unchanged.
    • Section 2 & 3 - Two-point CR (which assess reading comprehension) will be replaced with technology items.
• Science & Social Studies
  • These content areas will remain all selected response in 2022-2023.

High school students take an end-of-course assessment for each of the eight courses designated by the State Board of Education.  Students at the high school level will take an end-of-course assessment in the following eight courses: Language Arts (American Literature and Composition), Mathematics (Algebra I), Science (Biology), Social Studies (United States History).

Middle school students who are enrolled in one or more of these courses are required to take the associated end-of-course (EOC) measure. If enrolled in a mathematics and/or science EOC course, these middle school students will not take the corresponding content area end-of-grade (EOG) measure.  Each school district selects a local testing window, based on their local school calendar, from within the state-designated testing window.

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.

EOC Resources:

• Test Blueprints have been updated for all grades and content areas/courses. The blueprints for science and social studies reflect the reporting categories, content weights, and number of items/points recommended by committees of Georgia educators for the new assessment. The blueprints for other content areas have been updated to include the approximate number of points for each reporting category. 
• Assessment Guides are provided to acquaint Georgia educators and other stakeholders with the structure and content assessed on the End of Course (EOC) measures.
• Study Resource Guides serve as a resource for parents and students.  
• Understanding the Georgia Milestones Achievement Levels - the four achievement levels on Georgia Milestones are Beginning Learner, Developing Learner, Proficient Learner, and Distinguished Learner.  

The Georgia Department of Education offers the updated Experience Online Testing Georgia website - a demonstration test for each content area: English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. The primary purpose of this website is to provide exposure to the online platform that students will utilize when taking the Georgia Milestones tests.

This practice site lets students see what testing online is like. Parents and educators are welcome to try it also. The items on the demonstration tests are general and represent multiple grade levels. The items do not necessarily represent the specific grade-level content that students learn daily in their classrooms. The primary purpose is to let students experience, firsthand, the functionality of the online testing platform. The sample tests are not graded, so have fun!

—Experience Online Testing Georgia website

It is important to understand the items that comprise the demonstration tests are general in nature and reflect multiple grade levels. Given the purpose of this site is to acquaint students with the navigation of the online testing process, the items are generic and do not necessarily reflect the range of content or challenge students will experience when taking the actual Georgia Milestones tests. In addition to the four content area demonstration tests, three short accommodated demonstration tests are available including High Contrast, Large Font, and Screen Reader.

Please be aware that Flash is needed to access the demonstration tests and therefore the site cannot be viewed from iPads or other devices that do not support Flash. This should not be interpreted to mean that this limitation of the demonstration tests applies to the operational Georgia Milestones tests.

Again, these opportunities are provided to ensure students have familiarity with the testing platform prior to a live administration. 

We hope you find the Experience Online Testing Georgia website helpful!

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America’s students know and can do in various subject areas. Assessments are conducted periodically in mathematics, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history.

NAEP provides results on subject-matter achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment for populations of students (e.g., all fourth-graders) and groups within those populations (e.g., female students, Hispanic students). NAEP does not provide scores for individual students or schools, although state NAEP can report results by selected large urban districts. NAEP results are based on representative samples of students at grades 4, 8, and 12 for the main assessments, or samples of students at ages 9, 13, or 17 years for the long-term trend assessments. These grades and ages were chosen because they represent critical junctures in academic achievement.

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.