P ARENTS GUIDE TO G EORGIA MILESTONES

W HAT IS THE NEW G EORGIA MILESTONES ? A comprehensive assessment system spanning grades three though high school. Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state adopted content standards.

W HAT ARE BENEFITS OF THE NEW ASSESSMENT ? Georgia will be able to compare student performance across schools and districts statewide, as well as provide information about how Georgia students compare with their peers nationally. Computer based test will replace paper and pencil to become more efficient, innovative, and engaging. Assessments will provide results more quickly and in an easy-to- understand format. Teachers can use it to better tailor instruction to the child's needs.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THE TEST ? Item Types Selected-Response (Aka Multiple Choice) all content areas evidence-based selected response in ELA Constructed-Response (generate a response) ELA and mathematics Extended-Response (Requires more elaborate answers and explanation such as writing prompts and performance tasks) ELA and mathematics

W HAT SHOULD PARENTS EXPECT ? It’s not possible to directly compare the scores on the new test with your student’s scores from previous years. Schools will receive scores in the fall of A dip should not necessarily be interpreted as a decline in student learning or in educator performance. The new assessments measure deeper knowledge and skills deemed particularly important for students’ futures, including problem-solving, writing and critical thinking.

W RITING AT EVERY GRADE All students will encounter a constructed-response item allowing for narrative prose, in response to text, within first or second section of the test. Within the writing section of the test, students will read a pair of passages and complete a series of “warm-up” items: o 3 selected-response items asking about the most important features of each passage and comparing/contrasting between the two passages o 1 constructed-response item requiring linking the two passages o 1 writing prompt in which students must cite evidence to support their conclusions, claims, etc. Genres Writing prompts will be informative/explanatory or opinion/argumentative depending on the grade level. Students could encounter either genre. Warning: Students who simply rewrite excerpts from the passage(s) to illustrate their point(s) will not receive favorable scores.

T RANSITION TO O NLINE T ESTING Online administration will be the primary mode of administration for Georgia Milestones, with paper/pencil serving as back-up transition will occur over time Administration procedures will change Online practice center will be available for students

T RANSITION TO O NLINE T ESTING Transition to Online Year 1 : minimum of 30% online across the district, grades 3-12 Year 3 : minimum of 80% online across the district, grades 3-12 Year 5 : minimum of 100% online across the district, grades 3-12 All schools in all district are expected to conduct some degree of testing online in and of course, subsequent years. 8 Paper/pencil versions will be available through all years of the transition for the small number of students who cannot interact with computer due to their disability. Braille forms will be available as well.

G ENERAL TEST GUIDELINES ELA will consists of 3 sections, 1 of which will focus mainly on writing Mathematics will consist of 2 sections Science will consist of 2 sections Social Studies will consist of 2 sections Testing will be April 8-20 (Including make-up days) Day 1: Section 1 and 2 (70 minutes each) ELA Day 2: Section 3 (90 minutes) ELA Day 3: Math Day 4: Science Day 5: Social Studies Each section will be approximately 70 minutes.

Examples

3 RD G RADE R EADING For this item, the students are asked to read a poem entitled, “Healthy Cookies.” The poem is about a girl whose mom purchased a healthy cookie snack in an attempt to replace the daughter’s preferred sugary cookie. The daughter was initially reluctant to try the healthy cookie, but eventually tasted the new cookie and decided it wasn’t that bad.

ELA T ASK Explain why the speaker believes that the healthy cookies will taste bad. Write your explanation in a paragraph that includes many supporting details from the text. Answer with complete sentences, and use correct punctuation and grammar.

M ATHEMATICS T ASK Think carefully about the following question. Write a complete answer. You may use drawings, words, and numbers to explain your answer. Be sure to show all of your work. José ate ½ of a pizza. Ella ate ½ of another pizza. José said that he ate more pizza than Ella, but Ella said they both ate the same amount. Use words and pictures to show that José could be right.

E XEMPLAR R ESPONSE M EETS “E XTENDED ” C RITERIA Student fully explains and mentions relative size of the pies (his pizza could be bigger).

S AMPLE S TUDENT R ESPONSE M EETS “S ATISFACTORY ” C RITERIA Gives a picture where sizes are different, but gives no explanation.

S AMPLE S TUDENT R ESPONSE M EETS “M INIMAL ” C RITERIA Student draws a picture showing that ½ is always equal to ½.

W HAT CAN PARENTS DO TO PREPARE AND SUPPORT THEIR CHILD ? Discuss the new test with your child. Explain that the test will initially be more challenging. Understand that a single test score does not represent all that your child can or cannot do. It is a snapshot only.

O NLINE R ESOURCES Georgia’s new state assessments: Assessment/Assessment/Pages/default.aspx College and Career Ready Georgia Performance Standards (CCGPS): Detailed look at what the standards mean at each grade level: