Beginning of the Year Assessments
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in DoDEA schools providing instruction remotely to meet the academic and socio-emotional needs of students. Although DoDEA has provided exceptional instructional services remotely, students may require additional supports or acceleration upon schools reopening, in order to meet the expectations of the CCRS. As a result, DoDEA has developed a plan for the use of Beginning of Year (BoY) assessments to support the development of student-centered instruction to match instruction with students' strengths and needs, which will ensure all DoDEA students can master grade-level standards.
The BoY assessments provide teachers, administrators, students, and parents with the necessary data required to develop deliberate and intentional academic decisions, strategies, and supports that ensure all students can master grade-level standards. In addition, BoY assessments enable building-level administrators to develop strategies for supporting teachers' instructional practice as they monitor student learning. Data obtained from BoY assessments allows schools to provide evidence-based instruction and interventions that address the needs of all students.
The BoY assessments are designed from curriculum-based resources and include materials that are familiar to students and teachers, and the assessments can be used easily to inform instructional practice. BoY assessments take a short amount of time to administer. All BoY assessments, with the exception of the K-5 English Language Arts (ELA) assessments, can be completed within one instructional period (20-50 mins). The K-5 ELA assessments are designed to be completed within a literacy block.
| Content Area | Grade Level | Assessment | Testing Mode | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELA/Literacy | K | Reading Proficiency Tool (Oral Reading Record) |
In-person Teachers of virtual students may use the digital Benchmark Advance curriculum-based assessments to monitor student progress on early literacy skills. |
To be completed within the Literacy Block |
| 1–3 | Reading Proficiency Tool (Oral Reading Record) |
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| 4 and 5 | Reading Proficiency Tool (Level Screener/ Oral Reading Record) |
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| 6–10 | ELA/Literacy Practice Assessment Unit 1 | Digital (Available for both In-person and Remote Learning) |
One instructional period | |
| Mathematics | 1–5 | HQ-developed Unit 1 Check-ins | Digital/Paper (Available for both In-person and Remote Learning) | One instructional period |
| 6–8, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 | Math BoY Assessments (Edulastic tests) | Digital/Paper (Available for both In-person and Remote Learning) |
One instructional period |
For more information on the BoY assessments, please visit the Assessment for Learning page.
Remote Learning
If local HPCON levels prevent in-person classes, all students will engage in remote learning with their classroom teachers, similar to what schools provided at the end of SY 2019/20. In this case, students may continue to participate in select BoY assessments (noted in the above chart) and other curriculum-based assessments that are already available for remote learning.
Tests that are only administered via in-person testing mode will be cancelled until further notice. Parents may contact their principal or school test coordinator for more information.
Virtual School Students
Virtual school students will not be required to take the BoY assessments or College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) interim assessments as their curriculum already includes aligned assessments.
Sponsors of virtual students may choose to have their student(s) participate in specific in-person testing events such as ESOL, Advanced Academics, and Special Education screening, and PSAT/NMSQT. Schools will provide notice for these tests to all students in advance of the scheduled testing event. Virtual school parent or sponsor will be responsible for notifying the school test coordinator of their intent to have their student participate in the specific in-person testing event. Parent or sponsor will be responsible for accompanying their student to the school site for testing at the designated time as well as picking up the student immediately after testing is complete. They will need to follow the Operational Guidelines (temperature check, etc.) for this event.
