School Assessments

Classroom Assessments

• Assessment is used to monitor student progress. In the classrooms, teachers provide a variety of experiences that will help students practice the skills necessary to help them learn and apply their knowledge in order to demonstrate their understanding.

ASQ - Ages and Stages Questionnaire: K4, 1 time each year

• Participation Requirements: K4 students, no parental opt out

• Subject Matter:  Social emotions and developmental screening

• Implementation: 1:1 implementation with teacher and child

• Assessment Time: 15 minutes per child

• Assessment Frequency: 1x each year in the Fall (October-November)

• Dissemination of Results: Screening results distributed to families at Fall Parent-Teacher conferences

• Purpose: To determine if students are meeting developmental milestones and if there is a need for further referral or support services

• Requirement: Local UCC requirement, and required per Head Start

Teaching Strategies Gold: K4, 4 times each year

• Participation Requirements: K4 students, no parental opt out

• Subject Matter: Covers all early learning domains including; social emotional, physical, language, cognitive, literacy, mathematics, science and technology, social studies, arts, and english language acquisition

• Implementation: 1:1 implementation with teacher and child

• Assessment Time: 30 minutes per child

• Assessment Frequency: 4x a year (Fall, Winter, Spring Summer) - this is an ongoing assessment over the course of the entire year, 2 pieces of documentation must be collected for each objective in each domain, 4 times a year

• Dissemination of Results: Screening results are shared with families at each trimester, Fall, Winter, Spring and during the Summer

• Purpose: Kindergarten readiness assessment to determine if students are ready to progress to kindergarten. This is an ongoing observation based assessment, with teachers observing students during every day experience across the 6 domains of learning and development. Tracks development progress over time.

• Requirement: Local UCC requirement, and required per Head Start

Early Literacy Assessment - AIMS Web - ACT 20 - K4-3rd grade, 3 times each year

• Participation Requirements: K4 - 3rd grade students, no parental opt out

• Subject Matter: Reading Readiness - Early Literacy and Reading skills

• Implementation: K4, K5, and 1st grade (1:1 implementation with teacher and child), 2rd - 3rd grade (1:1 implementation, and computer based implementation)

• Assessment Time: 15-60 minutes per child

• Assessment Frequency: 3 times per year in the Fall, Winter, and Spring

• Dissemination of Results: Screening results are shared with families after each assessment is conducted

• Purpose: Wis. Stats 118.016(1) requires an early literacy screener to be administered to all 4 year old kindergarten to 3rd grade students enrolled in public school districts and charter schools.

• The purpose of this requirement is to:

  • Identify students who are struggling to learn to read

  • Find out what each student is ready to learn next, and

  • Check each student’s reading progress during the school year.

• The school board or operator of the independent charter school is responsible for ensuring fundamental skills screening and universal reading screening are administered in accordance with Wis. Stat. §§ 118.016. To accomplish this, each LEA will establish and implement a screening window for administering the fundamental and universal reading screeners.

• Requirement: State requirement, Wisconsin State Statute 118.016

NWEA Map Growth Assessments - 1st - 8th Grade, 3 times each year

• Participation Requirements: 1st - 8th grade students, parental opt out in limited circumstances

• Subject Matter: 1st-8th Grade (Reading and Mathematics), 4th-8th Grade (Science)

• Implementation: Computer based assessment, individual student devices, adaptive and personalized assessment

  • MAP Growth is a computer-adaptive test. If your child answers a question correctly, the next question is more challenging. If they answer incorrectly, the next one is easier. This type of assessment challenges top performers without overwhelming students whose skills are below grade level.

• Assessment Time: UNTIMED - Estimated 45-60 minutes per assessment, per subject area

• Assessment Frequency: 3 times per year in the Fall, Winter, and Spring

• Dissemination of Results: Results are shared with families at parent-teacher conferences (in the Fall and Spring), and are also available for families to review in Skyward Family Access

• Purpose: The NWEA MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) exam is to measure a student's academic growth and achievement over time by identifying what they know and what they are ready to learn next. It provides teachers with accurate, actionable evidence to help inform instructional strategies regardless of how far students are above or below grade level. MAP Growth uses a RIT scale to accurately measure what students know, regardless of their grade level. It also measures growth over time, allowing you to track your child’s progress throughout the school year and across multiple years. Once your child completes a MAP Growth test, they receive a RIT score.

• Requirement: Local UCC Requirement, and required per UWM Charter Authorizer Contract

WI State Forward Exam - 3rd - 8th grade, 1 time each year

• Participation Requirements:  3rd - 8th grade students, parental opt out in limited circumstances

• Subject Matter: 

  • Grades 3-8: English language arts (ELA) and mathematics

  • Grades 4 & 8: science and social studies

• Implementation: Computer based assessment, individual student devices

• Assessment Time: UNTIMED - Estimated 25 - 45 minutes per session, with 5 - 11 total sessions across subject areas depending on the grade level (estimated range of 150 minutes - 500 minutes total testing time per student) 

• Assessment Frequency: 1 time each year in the Spring

• Dissemination of Results: Results of the state Forward exam are distributed to schools during the summer of each year. Individual Student Reports are uploaded to Skyward Family Access for families to review, and paper copies are also distributed to all families at our Fall Meet & Greet parent event.

• Purpose: The Wisconsin Forward Exam is designed to gauge how well students are doing in relation to the Wisconsin Academic Standards.  These standards outline what students should know and be able to do in order to be college and career ready. The Forward Exam is administered online in the spring of each school year.

• Requirement: State requirement, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Wisconsin State Statute 118.30

NAEP Assessment - 4th and/or 8th grade, if selected to participate

• Participation Requirements: Grade level and cohort selected in advance if requested to participate

• Subject Matter: Mathematics, Reading, Science, Writing, occasional other subjects may also be assessed

• Implementation: Computer based assessment, individual student devices

• Assessment Time: 90 to 120 minutes, usually occurs in January through March

• Assessment Frequency: Every 2-4 years depending on the subject area, and if selected to participate

• Dissemination of Results: Families and schools do NOT receive individual student results

• Purpose: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—a congressionally mandated large-scale assessment administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—consists of print and digital assessments in various subject areas. Three of these subjects—mathematics, reading, and science—are assessed most frequently and reported at the state and select district level, usually for grades 4 and 8. 

• Requirement: Optional, and only if school and cohorts are selected to participate

High School Placement Test - 8th Grade Students, 1 time in the Fall

• Participation Requirements: 8th grade students who would like to attend or apply to a private choice school in Milwaukee

• Subject Matter: verbal skills, math, quantitative skills, language, and reading

• Implementation: Paper based multiple choice exam

• Assessment Time: Timed exam, set times for each section, 298 questions, 2 hours and 30 minutes total

• Assessment Frequency: 1 time in October of each year

• Dissemination of Results: Results are shared with families in the Winter of each year

• Purpose: All 8th grade students take the Scholastic High School Placement test each October to determine their placement at the 9th grade level in high school. This assessment is required for application and admission to most of the private high schools in the area. Students are assessed during the school day on site at UCC. This is a timed assessment, and students have 2.5 hours to answer 298 multiple choice questions. The content tested includes verbal skills, math, quantitative skills, language, and reading. Parent Information about HSPT.

• Requirement: Local requirement for all graduating 8th grade UCC students, and required for entry into most Milwaukee private high schools