Summative assessments determine students’ progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts/literacy and math. These are given at the end of the school year and consist of two parts: a computer adaptive test and a performance task. The summative assessments:
Accurately describe both student achievement (how much students know at the end of the year) and student growth (how much students have improved since the previous year) to inform program evaluation and school, district, and state accountability systems
Include writing at every grade and ask students to solve multi-step, real-world problems in mathematics; and
Capitalize on the strengths of computer adaptive testing: efficient and precise measurement with a quick turnaround of results.
More than 220 colleges and universities have agreed to use results of the high school summative assessments as evidence of student readiness for entry-level, credit-bearing courses.