The mission of the Office of Assessment with the State Department of Education of South Carolina and the Darlington County School District is to select or develop and administer high quality assessments of educational attainment that provide reliable information that can be used as the basis for drawing valid conclusions about examiners and that meet the highest standards of the educational measurement profession.
The testing windows are set by the State Department of Education. Once this window is set, individual Districts and schools arrange for testing that best fits schools and the students they serve while maintaining the State's guidelines.
Phynological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS)
PALS-PreK is a scientifically-based phonological awareness and literacy screening that measures preschoolers' developing knowledge of important literacy fundamentals and offers guidance to teachers for tailoring instruction to children's specific needs. The assessment reflects skills that are predictive of future reading success and measures name writing ability, upper-case and lower-case alphabet recognition, letter sound and beginning sound production, print and word awareness, rhyme awareness and nursery rhyme awareness. The assessment scores indicate children's strengths and those areas that may require more direct attention. The assessment is designed to be administered to four-year-olds in the fall of PreK in order to guide instruction during the year. A second administration in the spring of PreK serves to evaluate progress.
myIGDIs
myIGDIs Literacy is a formative assessment individually administered by the teacher to support the identification of preschool children requiring additional diagnostic assessment or levels of intervention in oral language, phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and comprehension. This assessment can be used to measure developmental gains and inform instructional needs of individual children.
Kindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA)
The KRA is a developmentally appropriate instrument that measures a child’s school readiness across multiple domains. Understanding a child’s school readiness helps kindergarten teachers best meet the child’s needs, and it helps schools, families, communities and policy makers know how best to support young children as they enter the K-12 environment.
The KRA determines each child’s readiness level from an evaluation of four domains: Social Foundations, Language/Literacy, Mathematics, and Physical Well-Being. The KRA provides a snapshot of students’ abilities at the beginning of the school year.
A readiness tool that allows teachers to measure each child’s school readiness across multiple domains. It provides a snapshot view of students’ abilities during the beginning of the school year.
The format of the assessment is...
One-on-one with students or in groups of students.
Teachers interact directly with the child for the selected-response and performance task items.
Teachers use their professional judgement to observe students, in small groups, or as a whole class. Observation items are scored using a rubric that includes specific criteria at three levels of proficiency: Demonstrating, Approaching, Emerging
Electronic platform that allows teachers to collect data and score items as well as participate in online professional development.
Accessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLS)
ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners) is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs). It is given annually in WIDA Consortium member states to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English. ACCESS for ELLs is only available to Consortium member states.
Within each grade-level cluster (except Kindergarten), ACCESS for ELLs consists of three forms: Tier A (beginning), Tier B (intermediate), and Tier C (advanced). This keeps the test shorter and more appropriately targets each students' range of language skills.
ACCESS for ELLs: Exceeds the requirements stipulated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 and is used to measure and report growth in a manner consistent with the need for fulfilling these requirements. Generates results that serve as one criterion to aid in determining when ELLs have attained the language proficiency needed to participate meaningfully in content area classrooms without program support and on state academic content tests without accommodations. Provides districts with information that will aid in evaluating the effectiveness of their ESL/bilingual programs, Identifies the ELP levels of students with respect to the WIDA ELD Standards' levels 1-6. Provides information that can be used to enhance instruction and learning for ELLs.
Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) and Iowa Assessment (IA)
Districts are required to provide services for all gifted and talented students at the elementary and secondary levels. Students are identified for this program by demonstrating high performance ability or potential in academic and/or artistic areas. In accordance with State Board of Education regulation 43-220, the South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) provides an aptitude and an achievement assessment for this purpose. Although the primary purpose of these assessments is to identify students for the Gifted and Talented programs, the student results can be useful to teachers as they examine their instructional practices and can help them identify teaching strategies for all students. This assessment is given the fall of the year to all second graders.
SC Performance Tasks Assessments (PTA) Grades 2-5
As a part of the process to assist in the identification of students for participation in programs for the gifted and talented, the state has developed performance assessments that are available for administration. Scoring of the assessments as well as training in their administration is provided by the Office of Assessment through a contractor.
Students are identified by their school districts and must meet the certain specified criteria.
South Carolina College and Career READY Assessments (SC READY)
The South Carolina College- and Career- READY Assessments (SC READY) are statewide assessments in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics that will meet all of the requirements of Acts 155 and 200, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA), and the Assessments Peer Review guidance.
All students in grades 3–8 are required to take the SC READY except those who qualify for the South Carolina National Center and State Collaborative (SC-NCSC).
The SC READY test items are aligned to the standards for each subject and grade level. Standards outline what schools are expected to teach and what students are expected to learn. Academic standards also include indicators that are statements of the specific cognitive processes and the content knowledge and skills that students must demonstrate to meet the grade-level standards. SC READY test items are written to assess the content knowledge and skills described in the academic standards and indicators.
End of Course Examination Program (EOCEP)
The Education Accountability Act of 1998 requires the development of end-of-course examinations in gateway or benchmark courses. The program is called the End-of-Course-Examination Program (EOCEP).
The examinations, which count 20 percent of the students' final grade in each gateway or benchmark course for advanced eighth graders, currently include Algebra 1 and English 2.
Each examination will be administered to the students at the end of the semester in which they are scheduled to complete the course.
South Carolina Career Ready Test
South Carolina Career Ready Test is a career readiness assessment administered to all eleventh-grade students to determine student achievement in three key subjects:
Mathematics
Reading
Data
South Carolina Career Ready Test also includes the Soft Skills Assessment that provides information about a student’s skills in the following five areas:
Cooperation with Others
Resolving Conflicts and Negotiation
Solving Problems and Making Decisions
Observing Critically
Taking Responsibility for Learning
The Soft Skills Assessment focuses on skills such as problem solving, goal setting, decision-making, and self-direction, because these skills play a vital role in workplace success.
The South Carolina Career Ready Test assessment must be administered to all students who are in their third year of high school based on the 9GR criteria.
Each assessment may be delivered in one or multiple sessions. All four components are criterion-referenced and measure mastery of specific learning objectives rather than comparing an individual’s score to the performance of other test takers.
Mathematics – Measures workplace mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills from basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division to multiple math functions like calculating percentage discounts and markups.
Reading – Measures reading comprehension and reasoning skills when using written text on the job including memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations.
Data – Measures comprehension and application of workplace graphics such as charts, graphs, tables, forms, flowcharts, diagrams, floor plans, maps, and instrument gauges.
Student-level scores include scale scores and a level score for each of the three tests (Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics, and Locating Information).
• Bronze - scores at least a level 2 in each of the three core areas
• Silver - scores at least a level 3 in each of the three core areas
• Gold - scores at least a level 4 in each of the three core areas
• Platinum - scores at least a level 5 in each of the three core areas
Soft Skills Assessment focuses on essential soft skills, such as problem solving, goal setting, decision-making, and self-direction. The questions in this subject area present situations that the learner might encounter at work and possible actions that could be used to deal with the situation. Essential Soft Skills questions require the student to select the best and worst option for that particular situation.
The ACT®
In the spring of 2016 all public high schools and, where necessary, career centers, are required to offer The ACT®to each student in the eleventh grade on the dates provided below. SC-NCSC may be used as the alternate to The ACT for students who are alternate-assessment eligible.
For the purposes of the testing program, grade 11 students are defined as students in the third year of high school after their initial enrollment in the ninth grade. This determination is made based on the 9GR field in PowerSchool.
The ACT testing program includes multiple-choice tests in English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science, as well as a Writing test, which is an essay. The ACT test scores provide information about progress toward college readiness and are widely used by colleges in making decisions about admission. Students who take The ACT according to ACT, Inc. requirements will be able to share their ACT scores with up to four colleges or universities for free. Parents should contact their School Counselor if they have questions.
South Carolina Alternate Assessment (SC-Alt)
An Alternate Assessment on Alternate Achievement Standards (AA-AAS) is an assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities who are assessed against alternate achievement standards as they are unable to participate in the general assessment program even with appropriate accommodations. As many students who participate in alternate assessment are non-graded, these students are assessed on grade-level content based on their age commensurate with the ages of students who are typically in the tested grades.
The SC-Alt in science/biology and social studies is administered to students who meet the participation guidelines for alternate assessment and who are ages 9–13 and 16 as of September 1 of the assessment year. (These are the ages of students who are typically in grades 4–8 and 11). The assessment consists of a series of performance tasks that are linked to the grade level academic standards although at a less complex level.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as the Nations's Report Card, was first administered in 1969 and is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in subjects such as mathematics, reading, science, and writing. Standard administration practices are implemented to provide a common measure of student achievement. Teachers, principals, parents, policymakers, and researchers all use NAEP results to assess progress and develop ways to improve education in the United States. State-level results provide information about student achievement in South Carolina, while also allowing for comparisons between our state and other states, regions, and the nation.
NAEP uses a carefully designed sampling procedure for the assessment to ensure that assessment results are representative of the geographical, racial, ethnic, and socio-economic diversity of schools and students in the state. First, schools are selected to be representative of schools statewide on the basis of characteristics such as school location, minority enrollment, level of school achievement, and average income of the geographic area. Then, within each school, students are randomly selected to participate. Each participating student represents hundreds of other similar students.
The main NAEP assessments are administered to students in grades four, eight, and twelve. The student samples for the long-term trend assessments are aged-based (ages nine, thirteen, and seventeen). Results are never reported for individual students or schools. District-level results are only reported for the twenty-one districts participating in the Trial Urban District Assessment.
The 2019 NAEP program will include operational assessments for grades four, eight, and twelve in mathematics, reading, and science. A smaller sample of students in grades four and eight will take pilot tests in mathematics and reading.
Measures of Academic Progress (MAP)
i-Ready is a program for reading and/or mathematics that will help your student’s teacher(s) determine your student’s needs, personalize their learning, and monitor progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows your teacher(s) to meet your student exactly where they are and provides data to increase your student’s learning gains. i-Ready consists of two parts: Diagnostic and Personalized Instruction.
The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your student’s needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions. The purpose of this is not to give your student a score or grade, but instead to determine how best to support your student’s learning.
i-Ready Personalized Instruction provides students with lessons based on their individual skill level and needs, so your student can learn at a pace that is just right for them. These lessons are fun and interactive to keep your student engaged as they learn.
Benchmark Assessments
In order to meet the needs of every student and ensure mastery of standards, teachers want and need timely feedback on skills mastered by every student. Benchmark assessments are designed to gauge the academic progress of students and to provide timely feedback that can be used by teachers to guide instruction. These benchmark assessments can be administered as nine-week assessments, mid-year assessments, or final comprehensive tests prior to administration of the state test, and valuable data is available within a 48-hour time frame. The benchmark assessments, which are aligned to College- and Career-Ready Standards, provide valuable data regarding all students’ knowledge of the standards. Students are tested in English Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Benchmark questions are formatted and designed to mirror best practices for assessing standards and reports provide diagnostic data to target instruction.
Assessments' reports provide class, school, and district data on overall projected achievement level and scale score, suggested grades for students (100 pt. scale), thinking skills, curriculum units or standards, percent correct, and reading standards and genres.