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Policy 2623 outlines the state statutes regarding student assessment (test) practices. Student participation in these tests is as follows:
- all students shall participate in the State-required tests, unless excluded by an I.E.P., Section 504 plan, or as exclusion allowed under State statute 118.30;
- the request of a parent or guardian to excuse their student from participating in any or all of the Wisconsin Student Assessment System (WSAS) tests be honored without question by the schools, if the student is in grade 4, 8, 9, 10, or 11;
- if a parent or guardian of a student in grade 3, 5, 6, or 7 requests that the student be excused from participating in the WSAS, the schools will honor the request unless the student's teacher(s) can demonstrate that no alternate means of subject matter learning assessment affords adequate measurement of student progress.
The following information explains the state and local tests administered every year in the Germantown School District.
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According to Wisconsin Statute, districts are required to administer an early literacy screener to all students in kindergarten through second grade. Germantown School District continues to use the Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS) to meet this legislative requirement. Teachers will be using the information to guide their planning and instruction for all students.
The PALS assessment is administered to most students two times during the school year –once in the fall and once in spring. Students identified with certain below-level benchmark scores, as determined by DPI, will also have the assessment in the middle of the year to document growth. Specific testing windows will be communicated to parents at the beginning of the school year.
Students in grades 2, 5 and 7 will be taking the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), a standardized test assessing general reasoning abilities in three areas: verbal (words), quantitative (numbers), and nonverbal (spatial). The scores on the CogAT are important for understanding students’ abilities and anticipated success in school. In Germantown, elementary school students’ scores on the CogAT are used as one possible criteria point for beginning discussions about a student’s level of giftedness. In grades 5 and 7, the scores are one criteria point for course placements as students enter middle school and high school. This is a local test, not a state-mandated one.
In the Germantown School District, teachers will continue making informed decisions about administering the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) as this is a local test. Not all students in grades 3–8 will be administered this test three times a year. This will be a building, grade level, or individual teacher decision.
Please visit www.nwea.org for additional information regarding the MAP assessment, including detailed information about the purpose of the assessment and additional information teachers can use for instructional decision-making.
The Wisconsin Forward Exam will be administered in the spring of every year. Exact testing days for each grade level will be communicated through schools prior to the testing windows. The test will be administered in English Language Arts and mathematics in grades 3–8, science in grades 4 and 8, and social studies in grades 4, 8, and 10.
According to Wisconsin Statute, districts are required to assess high school students in grades 9 and 10. The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) partnered with ACT to administer the ASPIRE assessment, which includes subtests in math, reading, science, and writing.
According to Wisconsin Statute, districts are required to assess high school students in 11th grade using the ACT plus writing and the ACT WorkKeys. The ACT plus writing is a paper-pencil, multiple-choice test in four areas: English, math, reading, and science, with an additional 30-minute writing essay. Test scores provide colleges and universities with information for the purpose of recruiting, advising, placement, and retention. The ACT WorkKeys is a paper-pencil test consisting of three subtests: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information. The purpose of this test is to compare students’ skills to those required in the work environment.
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“A mind when stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimensions.” — Anonymous
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