Testing and Assessments

TestingWhy assess students in a variety of ways?
No one assessment tool can provide all of the answers needed to make good decisions. While the goals of learning may be the same for all students, individuals’ ways of achieving those goals vary. All students must be provided multiple opportunities for learning and for demonstrating understanding.
 
Assessment in the South Kitsap School District includes a variety of measures intended to provide snapshots of what students know and are able to do. Each measure helps inform decisions about future learning goals. Together these snapshots create an album. This assessment album helps parents, staff, and students make decisions for future learning. These assessments also provide evidence of the progress our students are making toward the South Kitsap School District’s academic goals and Washington State’s Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALR's).
 
Classroom-Based Assessments
  • Include interviewing, portfolios, setting goals, performances, products, demonstrations, essays, paper-pencil exams.
  • Occur in a continual manner in all grades.
  • Enable teachers to make ongoing decisions about instruction.
  • Promote self-reflection and self-assessment.

Grade 2 Reading: Basic Skills Assessment
Dates: Fall (State Required)

  • Measures oral reading accuracy and fluency skills.
  • Informs parents of their child’s reading skills, identifies actions the school will take to improve the child’s reading, and provides parents with strategies to help them improve their child’s score if the child performed below an appropriate level.
  • Tests given to students individually by their classroom teacher.
  • Results reported to parents at fall conferences.
Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) and High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE)
Dates: Spring (State Required)
  • Measures student performance against the state’s academic standards (EALR’s).
  • Evaluates student achievement in reading, writing, mathematics, and science.
  • The MSP, given to students in grades 3-8, measures student progress. The dates for testing in spring 2013 are April 24 - May 16 for paper/pencil testing and April 24 - May 31 for online testing. Mathematics will be tested as an end-of-course exam during the last three weeks of school for students enrolled in Algebra 1 and/or Geometry.  
  • The HSPE measures the proficiency of students in high school and serves as the state’s exit exam.  The dates for testing in spring 2013 are March 12-13 (writing), March 14 (reading).  Science and Mathematics will be tested as an end-of-course exam during the last three weeks of school.  
Graduation Requirements
  • Students in the class of 2013 and 2014 must meet standard on the reading and writing HSPE, one math end-of-course exam, a state-approved alternative, or an assessment for students in special education.
  • Visit the OSPI website for additional information. 

Last Modified on March 5, 2013