Assessment

District Testing

• PSAT 8/9 (grade 8) and PSAT/NMSQT (grade 11) are provided free of charge to students in October during the school day. This provides equal access for all students and promotes college interest and dialog.
• SAT School Day (grade 11) is provided free of charge to students in March during the school day. This provides equal access for all students and promotes college interest and dialog.
• Advanced Placement (AP) tests are student purchased, and have subsidized fees as needed. Testing takes place in May. Tests are based on student course selections.
  *Students must create a College Board account to receive PSAT, SAT, or AP scores.
• CogAT: Highly Capable testing for second graders district wide. Parents receive score reports from their child’s school. Students in other grade levels are tested on an as-requested basis with paper-pencil materials.

State Assessments

Washington students are tested regularly by the state to assess their progress as they move through school. State tests include the following, and may be taken with or without tools, supports, or accommodations:

• Smarter Balanced: English language arts (ELA) and math tests (Practice & Training tests, Interims and Summative tests)
• Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS): Science test for grades 5, 8 and 11 (Practice & Training tests and Summative tests)
• Washington – Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM): ELA, math, and science alternate assessments for students with significant cognitive challenges documented in their Individualized Education Program (IEP).

Other State Assessments

• OSPI-Developed Assessments (formerly CBAs) and OSPI-Developed Performance Assessments (formerly CBPAs): The state develops classroom-based assessments based on the state's learning standards to help guide day-to-day instruction. State curriculum specialists create tasks and questions that model good assessments and provide them to local school districts.
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP): NAEP is a national assessment that allows educational achievement to be compared across states. Federal law requires every state to give the NAEP in reading and math at grades 4 and 8 every two years. States and school districts that receive Title I federal funding to aid educationally disadvantaged students in high poverty areas must participate in these assessments. Other subjects also are tested.
• WIDA™ ACCESS Screener: The WIDA™ screener assesses the reading, writing, listening, and speaking knowledge and skills of students whose families answer "yes" to questions #2 or #3 on the Home Language Survey. The WIDA™ screener is used to determine student eligibility for English language development (ELD) services.
• WIDA™ ACCESS: The WIDA™ is an online annual summative assessment of English language proficiency. Reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills are assessed and scores are used to determine continued eligibility for ELD services in school. Only students whose families answered “yes” to questions #2 or #3 on the Home Language Survey and placed into ELD services through a placement exam take this assessment.
• WIDA™ Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is the alternative WIDA™ test for students receiving ELD services and have significant cognitive challenges documented in their Individualized Education Program (IEP).
• Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Skills (WaKIDS): This program helps bring families, teachers, and early learning providers together to support each child's learning and transition into public schools.
• NWEA MAP® Growth™ is an online interim test that is taken by all Middle School students and High School Special Programs students (grades 9 & 10), two to three times per year. Students learn to goal set and create action plans for their learning based on their scores. Teachers use the scores to evaluate their students’ content mastery as well as reflecting on instructional practices and strategies.

Parents receive paper score reports for most of the tests listed above through their child’s school. Spring testing score reports will be received by schools in early Fall for distribution. Parents who do not receive a report can request one from the Assessment and Program Effectiveness department: 509.354.5942.