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State Testing Info
Testing Overview
In every Tennessee classroom, teaching and learning looks different based on the textbooks, curricula, and lessons that school and teacher have chosen. The state has a responsibility to make sure these varied learning opportunities are preparing all students for college, career, and life. FCS participates in all state-mandated assessments.
FCS Assessments
ACCESS for ELLs
Purpose: To monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English.
Grade Level/Class: K-12
Description: 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 annually to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs).
Use of Data: Results 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. Data provide schools with information that will aid in evaluating the effectiveness of their ESL/bilingual programs and identifies the ELP levels of students with respect to the WIDA ELP Standards' levels 1-6.
Tentative Dates: Testing window is Feb. 14th-March 26th.
Parental/Student Notification: Parent notification letter in their native language within the federal guidelines.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
ACT®
Purpose: To assess students' academic readiness for college.
Grade Level/Class: 11/12 (retakes)
Description: The ACT (No Writing) consists of four multiple-choice tests: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science.
Use of Data: Eligibility for Graduation with Honors, Tennessee Hope Scholarship, dual credit enrollment requirement; course placement in fourth year Math.
Test Date(s): ACT has not yet posted these dates.
Parental/Student Notification: Sent to students and parents by ACT
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
District Benchmarks
Purpose: To assess how schools are progressing towards meeting their academic goals.
Grade Level/Class: Grades K-8
Description: Taken online or by paper/pencil. The benchmark is a multiple choice assessment designed to show if students are meeting grade level expectations: AimsWebPlus, Study Island and STAR Reading and Math.
Use of Data: The results are provided to teachers and school administrators to help them address the instructional needs of their students. They may be used as one measure of student achievement during the current school year.
Tentative Dates: Fall, Winter, and Spring with specific dates to be determined.
Parental/Student Notification: Results are provided to students, teachers and school administrators.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
NAEP
Purpose: To compare student achievement in states and other jurisdictions and to track changes in achievement of fourth and eighth-graders over time in the areas of Mathematics, Reading, Science, Writing, the Arts, Civics, Economics, Geography, U.S. History, and beginning in 2014, in Technology and Engineering Literacy (TEL).
Grade Level/Class: 4, 8
Description: The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas.
Use of Data: The reports and data derived from the NAEP assessment are used for a variety of purposes by education leaders, policymakers, the press, curriculum specialists, teachers, researchers, and others.
Dates: Jan. 24th–March 15th (*randomly selected students and schools)
Parental/Student Notification: NAEP does not provide individual scores for the students or schools assessed. Instead, NAEP provides results about subject-matter achievement, instructional experiences, and school environment, and reports these results for populations of students (e.g., fourth-graders) and subgroups of those populations (e.g., male students or Hispanic students). These results are reported approximately six months after testing.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
TCAP-Alt (MSAA)
Purpose: To provide an alternate assessment aligned to the Common Core State Standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
Grade Level/Class: 2-11
Description: The Multi-State Alternate Assessment (MSAA) is a comprehensive assessment system designed to promote increasing higher academic outcomes for students with significant cognitive disabilities in preparation for a broader array of post-secondary outcomes. The MSAA is designed to assess students with significant cognitive disability and measures academic content that is aligned to and derived from your state’s content standards. This test contains many built-in supports that allow students to take the test using materials they are most familiar with and communicate what they know and can do as independently as possible. The MSAA will be administered in the areas of ELA and Mathematics in grades 2-11.
Use of Data: The results are provided to teachers and school administrators to help them address the instructional needs of their students. They may be used as one measure of student achievement during the current school year.
Tentative Dates: March 14th–April 29th (Tentative)
Parental/Student Notification: A report concerning performance on specific objectives (criterion-referenced) and a description of student performance on academic skills based on the grade span standards (performance levels) is sent home four to five months after testing.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
RTI Screening
Purpose: To assess the performance and progress of all students on grade level skills and assist schools with identifying students who may need additional instructional support.
Grade Level/Class: K-8
Description: AimsWebPlus is Fayetteville City Schools’ universal screening and progress monitoring tool for the 2019-2020 school year. It is a nationally-normed assessment and a requirement of Tennessee's RTI² (Response to Instruction and Intervention) framework.
Use of Data: Identify students who may be in need of targeted intervention in addition to their typical high-quality core instruction and monitor progress within RTI.
Tentative Dates: August 2019; January 2020; April-May, 2020
Parental/Student Notification: Parents will receive notification if the results of the universal screener indicate their child meets the requirements for additional academic support and intervention(s). If a student qualifies for instructional intervention, his/her parents will be notified of their child’s progress every 4.5 weeks.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
Grade 2 Assessment
Purpose: To measure basic reading and math skills.
Grade Level/Class: 2
Description: The K-2 assessment is an optional, untimed test that Fayetteville City School System chooses to use. It is a norm-referenced assessment designed to measure individual student achievement compared to national norms. The K-2 assessment provides a benchmark of how students perform on the foundational skills required for success in future grades.
Use of Data: The results are provided to teachers and school administrators to help them address the instructional needs of their students. They may be used as one measure of student achievement during the current school year.
Tentative Dates: April 18th–May 6th
Parental/Student Notification: A report will be sent home five to six months after testing which will provide information comparing the achievement of Fayetteville City students with the performance of students from across the nation.
Grades: No grades are given on this assessment.
TCAP End of Course Assessments
Purpose: To measure a student’s performance on the Tennessee state standards associated with English I and II, Algebra I/II, Geometry, Biology, and U.S. History & Geography.
Grade Level/Class: High school and middle school students taking English I and II, Algebra I/II, Geometry, Biology, and U.S. History & Geography.
Description: EOCs are criterion-referenced test which measure a student's performance according to Tennessee state standards, rather than to the performance of other test takers.
Use of Data: The results are provided to teachers and school administrators to help them address the instructional needs of their students. They may be used as one measure of student achievement during the current school year.
Tentative Dates: March 14th–April 29th
Parental/Student Notification: A report concerning performance on specific objectives (criterion-referenced) and a description of student performance on academic skills based on the grade span standards (performance levels) is typically sent home five to six months after testing. Initial results may be noted on the student’s report card if the quick scores can be obtained from the State in time.
Grades: The results of these assessments will be factored into the student’s grade at 15%. The Director of Schools may exclude these scores from students’ final grades if results are not received by the district at least five instructional days before the end of the course.
TCAP Grades 2-8
Purpose: To measure skills in Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies
Grade Level/Class: 2-8
Description: It is a criterion-referenced test which measures a student's performance according to Tennessee state standards, rather than to the performance of other test takers.
Use of Data: The results are provided to teachers and school administrators to help them address the instructional needs of their students. They may be used as one measure of student achievement during the current school year.
Tentative Dates: March 14th–April 29th
Parental/Student Notification: A report concerning performance on specific objectives (criterion-referenced) and a description of student performance on academic skills based on the grade span standards (performance levels) is typically sent home five to six months after testing. Initial results may be noted on the student’s report card if the quick scores can be obtained from the State in time.
Grades: The results of these assessments will be factored into the student’s final average at 15% for students in grades 3-8. The Director of Schools may exclude these scores from students’ final grades if results are not received by the district at least five instructional days before the end of the course.
Visit https://www.tn.gov/education/assessment.html for more info on Student Assessment in Tennessee.