Assessment Descriptions

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is a comprehensive assessment program spanning grades 3 through high school.  It is designed to provide information about how well students are mastering the state-adopted content standards in the core content areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Features of the Georgia Milestone Assessment System include:

• open-ended (constructed-response) items in language arts 
• a writing component (in response to passages read by students) in the language arts assessment
• norm-referenced items in all content areas and courses, to complement the criterion-referenced information and to provide a national comparison

Students in grade 3 through 8 will take an end-of-grade (EOG) assessment in the content areas of languages arts and  mathematics. Science will be taken in 5th and 8th grade only. Social studies EOG will only be taken in 8th grade. 

High school students will take an end-of-course (EOC) assessment for each of the four courses designated by the State Board of Education:

• American Literature and Composition;
• Coordinate Algebra;
• Biology;
• United States History;

ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 is used to determine the English language proficiency levels and progress of ELs in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 serves five main purposes.

These include:

• determining the English language proficiency level of students;
• providing districts with information that will help them evaluate the effectiveness of their ESOL programs;
• providing information that enhances instruction and learning in programs for English language learners;
• assessing annual English language proficiency gains using a standards-based assessment instrument;
• providing data for meeting federal and state requirements with respect to student assessment.

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs

Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is a recently developed, individually administered test. It is intended only for English learners with significant cognitive disabilities that are severe enough to prevent meaningful participation in the ACCESS for ELLs assessment. Alternate ACCESS for ELLs is not intended for ELs who can be served with special education accommodations on ACCESS for ELLs. Decisions regarding a student's participation must be made by an IEP team.  

Participation Criteria:

1. The student has been classified as an English Learner.
2. The student has been classified as a special education student and is receiving special education services.
3. The student has a significant cognitive disability.
4. The student participates in the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA).

For more information visit the Georgia Department of Education. 

The Georgia Alternative Assessment (GAA) 2.0 is designed to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are provided access to the state academic content standards and given the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the knowledge, concepts, and skills inherent in the standards. This assessment will provide meaningful information about classroom instruction and help identify students’ areas of strength and improvement through standardized tests. Unlike the original GAA, GAA 2.0 is not a portfolio-based assessment. Thus, it will measure students’ achievement and not progress. The GAA 2.0 will be administered to all eligible students in the following areas:

•  Grades K, 3-8, and 11 will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics.
•  Grades 5, 8, and 11 will also be assessed in science and social studies.

 The GAA 2.0 will include standardized items with multiple access points. The intent is to reduce the teacher’s burden related to selecting or developing tasks; bring greater standardization to the administration; improve scoring reliability; and introduce an online task submission system.

Assesslets are formative tools aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) assessed on the Georgia Milestones End of Grade (EOG) and End of Course (EOC) assessments. While not intended to predict performance on the EOG and EOC assessments, it can provide information on how well students understand concepts and their ability to demonstrate knowledge and skills in a particular content area or domain. Items within each Assesslet are designed to require extended reasoning and critical thinking beyond basic recall.

ELA Assesslets are provided in grades 1-8 and in the EOC courses of 9th and 11th grade language arts. Assesslets are available in Informational/Explanatory, Opinion/Argument, and Narrative genres.

 Informational/Explanatory and Opinion/Argument Assesslets include:

• Paired reading passages and documents
• 3 selected-response items
• 1 constructed-response item
• 1 extended writing prompt 

Narrative Assesslets include:

• A literary reading passage
• 3 selected-response items
• 1 constructed-response item
• 1 extended writing prompt

The selected-response and constructed-response items are presented to help students think about the passages in a way that prepares them to respond effectively to the extended writing prompt. The structure and rigor mirror that of the Georgia Milestones EOG and EOC assessments in English Language Arts. The Assesslets are designed to provide a quick “snapshot” of student learning and can be administered in one class period.

The Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) is a year-long, performance-based assessment. The goal of the assessment program is to provide teachers with information about the level of instructional support needed by individual students entering kindergarten and first grade. GKIDS will allow teachers to assess student performance during instruction, record student performance in an on-line database, and generate reports for instructional planning, progress reports, report cards, Student Support Team (SST), and/or parent conferences.

Throughout the year, teachers may assess students and record GKIDS data based on their system’s curriculum map or report card schedule. At the end of the year, summary reports and individual student reports will be generated based on the data the teacher has entered throughout the year.

The GKIDS Readiness Check is a new component of the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS). It is designed to be administered during the first six weeks of the kindergarten year. The GKIDS Readiness Check is aligned to the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS) and correlated to the state mandates content standards for kindergarten. The goal of the assessment is to provide information about the skills of students entering kindergarten. 

We are pleased and excited to announce the launch of a parent resource website for the GKIDS Readiness Check!   The site will serve as a resource for parents to learn more about kindergarten readiness, the skills assessed on the GKIDS Readiness Check, and activities to help support their child’s development at home.  The site includes Spanish translation and closed captioning.  

 The website may be accessed using the following links:  GKIDSReadinessCheck.gadoe.org or (a shorter version) KReady.gadoe.org.

DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a series of short tests that assess early childhood (K-6) literacy.

It is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of a set of K-6 literacy skills, such as phonemic awareness, alphabetic principle, accuracy and fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. The theory behind DIBELS is that giving primary school students a number of quick tests, educators will have the data to identify students who need additional assistance and to monitor the effectiveness of intervention strategies.

Bacon County Primary and Elementary use DIBELS in August, December, and May.

ACCUPLACER is a computerized placement test used by many colleges and tech schools to assess an incoming student's proficiency in reading, writing, English and mathematics. The ACCUPLACER test was developed by the College Board which also administers the ACT test. The ACCUPLACER assessments include tests on the following subjects: arithmetic, college-level math, elementary algebra, reading comprehension, sentence skills, WritePlacer (essay writing) and English as a Second Language (ESL). The school that is administering the ACCUPLACER will specify which of the tests a student should take.  

All of the questions on the ACCUPLACER, with the exception of the written essay, are multiple choice. The test is given in a "computer-adaptive" format which means that the difficulty level of questions will vary based on a student's responses to previous questions. The tests are not timed and the number of questions will vary.

The Preliminary Scholastic Assessment Test (PSAT) is published by The College Board as a tenth or eleventh grade practice instrument for students before taking the SAT in eleventh or twelfth grade. All tenth grade students take the PSAT in the fall. High School Assessments / College Readiness for Teachers. Students, and Parents

This examination is an excellent opportunity for students to understand the requirements of the SAT, which is a critical reasoning exam used as a criteria in college admissions. The PSAT/NMSQT examination is given once, annually. 

Bacon County administers the PSAT during the 2nd week of October to 10th grade students. The State of Georgia will pay for the PSAT for all sophomores enrolled in GA public schools.