1. TKS Student Test Results Spring & Fall 2012

2. Tests Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) Administered May 2012 Kentucky test aligned with the Common Core Practice Explore Administered September 2012 Practice test (year old Explore test) for 7 th Graders who will take Explore as 8 th graders.

3. Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress (K-PREP) Spring 2012

4. The Kentucky Chamber Foundation LEGISLATION ENACTED by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2009 mandated new, more rigorous academic standards and new state tests. Two years later, Kentucky became the first of 46 states to adopt what are called the Common Core State Standards in math and English (science and social studies standards are still being developed). These became the Kentucky Core Academic Standards, and they were incorporated into the state’s classrooms beginning in the 2011-12 school year. New Standards, New Tests and New Scores Preparing Kentucky’s Students for College and Career

5. Comparing the old standards to the new Here is an example of a standard for 6th grade reading. The first version is what Kentucky had in place before; the second is the new standard. PREVIOUS STANDARD Students will apply knowledge of synonyms or antonyms to comprehend a passage. Students will select, based on context, the appropriate meaning for a word that has multiple meanings.

6. New Standard Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. Use content (e.g. the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph, a word’s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g. audience, auditory, audible). Consult reference materials (e.g. dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses, both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning of its part of speech. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g. by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).

7. Preparing for your future Similarly challenging standards, which go deeper every year, are now in place for math and English/language arts for elementary, middle and high school students. More information, including a complete list of the new standards, is available at: corestandards.org.

8. Your results…. Percentile ranks range from 1 to 99 where 50 reflects average performance. These scores provide a relative standing of a student compared to students of the same level who took the Stanford 10 tests at the same time of year. The rank means that a student’s individual performance was as good as or better than the performance of that percentage of students across the nation. For example, an NPR of 68 for a given subject means that the student scored as well or better than 68% of students from the national sample.

9. What does the student’s Lexile® and Quantile® score tell me on the K-PREP Student Report? Lexile® scores describes a student’s reading ability. The Lexile® Framework is a tool for looking at reader ability relative to the difficulty of text. Students can use the score to logon to the website, www.lexile.com, and search for books at their particular Lexile® range and reading level. www.lexile.com Quantile® scores describes a student’s mathematic achievement, and the difficulty of specific mathematical skills and concepts. For more information about Quantile® scores visit the website www.quantiles.com.www.quantiles.com

10. Practice Explore

11. Understanding Results: Identifying Strengths and Weaknesses

12. Why Take Practice EXPLORE?  EXPLORE shows you your academic strengths and weaknesses in English, math, reading, and science  By taking the practice test you can address test taking skills, identify areas of weakness and set goals to improve your performance for 8 th Explore.  Be proactive!!!

14. Study Skills Checklist for Students  Set a regular time and place to study each day and throughout the week.  Keep a daily “to do” list.  Set goals for yourself.  Do your reading assignments before the material is discussed in class.  Pay close attention and take good notes in class.  Prepare for tests during your regular study times instead of cramming at the last minute. EXPLORE Interpretive Visuals 9/2008 14

15. The Good News: This is practice… As a 7 th grader you took a test that is administered in the Fall of 8 th grade. You will be a year older and can be a year wiser when you take the Explore in September 2013

16. EXPLORE Interpretive Visuals 9/2008 16 Just a Preview EXPLORE Score Report Side 1

17. Career Possibilities EXPLORE Interpretive Visuals 9/2008 17

18. EXPLORE Interpretive Visuals 9/2008 18 www.explorestudent.org