Test Descriptions
Assessment
The ACT (R) test assesses high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science. The Writing Test, which is optional, measures skill in planning and writing a short essay. DoDEA administers the ACT (R), but parents pay for their students.
Advanced Placement (AP(R)) Exams
AP Exams are usually administered the first two weeks of May. College Board prepares the schedule for content area tested, dates, and times for administering the assessment. Over 30 exams taken each May by students all over the world, the AP Exam is the final step after a year of hard work in an AP class. These exams are designed to measure how well a student has mastered the content and skills of the course.
CCRS Summative Assessments in Literacy and Mathematics are criterion-referenced assessments that measure how well students have mastered the College and Career Ready Standards. The goal of the CCRS Summative Assessments is to ensure all DoDEA students graduate college and career ready. These assessments will also help DoDEA students be better prepared to compete with other students across the nation and the world.
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)
The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) assesses verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning skills. DoDEA will administer the online Screening Form to all grade 2 students to establish a wider net or pool of students who might qualify for higher levels of service, ensuring that no student falls through the cracks, such as culturally different students, English language learners, and twice exceptional learners. The intent of a universal screener is to find indicators of exceptionality in all groups of students.
DoDEA Alternate Assessment assesses Alternate Content Standards (ACS) that are aligned to the DoDEA College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS). This assessment is designed to build a bridge from the content in the CCRS to academic expectations for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Specific students in grades 3-8 and 11 enrolled in Literacy/English Language Arts and grades 3-6, 8, and 11 enrolled in mathematics will take this assessment.
English Language Proficiency Assessment
The English language proficiency assessments are used to accurately assess the academic and social language skills of English Learners (EL). The WIDA screener and ACCESS for ELL assessments provide detailed information on students' reading, writing, speaking, and listening abilities and skills.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
The International Baccalaureate(R) (IB) offers schools a continuum of four programmes of education. All IB programmes of education are philosophically aligned and consistent in their approach to teaching and learning. IB exams are administered in May.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been providing valuable information about the academic performance of elementary and secondary students in America since 1969. NAEP results are not only comparable across the nation and the states, but they also measure progress over time to capture the most accurate and representative picture of student performance. Without these NAEP reports (commonly called "The Nation's Report Card"), produced through the voluntary participation of those selected for the assessment, we would lack the common yardstick needed to measure student performance objectively. Schools and students are chosen through a sampling process that is designed to reflect accurately our nation's twelve million fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-grade students.
The PSAT 8/9 is a test that will help students and their teachers figure out what the students need to work on most so that they're ready for college when they graduate from high school. It tests the same skills and knowledge as the SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, and PSAT 10 - in a way that makes sense for the students' grade level.
PSAT/NMSQT - National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
PSAT/NMSQT is administered in October to students in grades 10th and 11th. The Preliminary SAT is the second assessment in this The College Board is a mission-driven not-for-profit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity. Founded in 1900, the College Board was created to expand access to higher education. Each year, the College Board helps more than seven million students prepare for a successful transition to college through programs and services in college readiness and college success - including the SAT(R) and the Advanced Placement Program(R). The Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) is cosponsored by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). It is administered for the College Board and NMSC by Educational Testing Service (ETS). The PSAT/NMSQT is the route of entry to the National Merit Scholarship Program, an academic competition conducted by National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). Requirements for participation, steps in the competition, and awards offered are explained in the Official Student Guide to the PSAT/NMSQT and on NMSC's website.
DoDEA is currently using is Benchmark Education's Digital Oral Reading Record Kit. This is a formative reading assessment comprised of high quality texts divided evenly between fiction and nonfiction. The assessment measures accuracy, comprehension, and fluency for students in kindergarten through 5th grade. The set of books, recording forms, and other materials serve as an assessment tool for teachers, literacy specialists, and others to use in determining students' developmental reading levels for the purpose of informing instruction and documenting reading progress. Students will be assessed using the Reading Proficiency Tool during the first 6 weeks of school for 1st through 5th grades, Kindergarten NLT January 31, and the last 6 weeks of school for grades Kindergarten through 5th. To learn more about this assessment, please visit https://benchmark.wistia.com/medias/fjraytvofo
The SAT (R) Reasoning Test is a globally recognized college admissions test that allows students to show colleges what they know and how well they can apply that knowledge. It tests students' knowledge of reading, writing and math - subjects that are taught every day in high school classrooms. Most students take the SAT (R) during their junior or senior year of high school, and almost all colleges and universities use the SAT (R) to make admissions decisions. DoDEA administers the SAT (R), but parents pay for their students.
The World Languages assessment is administered in late spring to middle and high schools students enrolled in Level II and IV foreign language courses. The ACTFL Assessment of Performance Toward Proficiency in Languages (AAPPL) is a web-based performance assessment of standards-based language learning as defined by the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages and DoDEA's adopted World Language standards. The AAPPL provides evidence of a language learner's proficiency level. The goal of the AAPPL is to provide actionable information to the learner, the teacher, and other stakeholders regarding language performance.
