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Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-Assessment- System.aspx

1) Why give state tests in the first place? State tests are given to measure how well students have learned content based on academic standards. Results from these tests are used to determine where students may need help or accelerated learning opportunities, as well as for school and district accountability. What is different about the new assessments? Students will be asked not only what the answer is to a question, but why – i.e. how they know or what evidence supports their answer. Open-ended items (also known as constructed-response) ask students to provide both short answer and extended types of responses. Multiple-choice questions will also still be included. The new assessments will enable educators to deepen their understanding of student progress from one grade to the next – and just as importantly, identify any gaps in progress so they can address them well before students enter college or the workforce.

Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-Test-Blueprints.aspx Assessment/Assessment/Pages/Georgia-Milestones-Test-Blueprints.aspx These test blueprints are designed to communicate the structure of the Georgia Milestones measures. The blueprints outline the types of items students will encounter on each grade and content area/course test, as well as the number of items and number of points possible (for those tests which include constructed-response items). The blueprints also outline the domains, which are reporting categories, and the associated content standards. The approximate percentage of points allocated to each domain is provided. Please note that the blueprints communicate about the structure of the assessment and are not intended to be used for instructional planning purposes. Instructional plans and decisions should be predicated upon the state-adopted content standards for each content area and course, in addition to other relevant instruction-based or curriculum-based resources, such as the curriculum frameworks (located at and any local resources developed using the content standards. Resources surrounding the content standards should be used to inform instructional plans and decisions.

■■ For a more detailed look at what the standards mean at each grade level, visit: ■■ For more information on College and Career Ready Georgia Performance Standards, visit: ■■ For more information on Georgia’s new state assessments, visit: Assessment/Assessment/Pages/default.aspx.