Georgia Milestones Assessment System Presented by Jonathan Adel
What is the Georgia Milestones Assessment System? • The Georgia Milestones (GMAS) is a comprehensive assessment system for students in grades 3- High School. In the middle school, all students in grades 6-8 take the End-of-Grade (EOG) assessment in English Language Arts and Mathematics. 8 th graders also take Science and Social Studies. • The tests measure how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state adopted content standards. • Students that are enrolled in high school courses will take the End-of-Course (EOC) test, but not the corresponding EOG. (Algebra I/Phys. Sci.) The exception to this rule is for 9 th Grade Literature and Composition; these students will take both the EOC and EOG.
What is the purpose of the Georgia Milestones? • The Milestones provides essential information about student progress in mastering the state content standards. • The tests also give detailed feedback for students, parents and teachers about core strengths and weaknesses not only on the subject areas as a whole, but broken down by specific strands within each content area. ▫ For example- Social Studies EOG: Geography, Government/Civics, Economics, History. The student receives achievement feedback in each strand of the subtest.
How do the Milestones tests differ from past tests? • The CRCT was strictly a criterion-referenced test (tied to state standards) that asked very basic, multiple choice questions. It also had a very low threshold for measuring mastery, and did not give a clear picture of a student’s progress. • The Georgia Milestones feature: ▫ Open ended questions (constructed response) inside of each test ▫ A writing component in response to reading passages in the ELA test ▫ Nationally normed questions, in addition to criterion referenced, to show how student’s are performing against peers across the country.
How will we test at Holcomb Bridge? • Our testing for the 2017 school year will be 100% online, through student iPads. ▫ There is a testing specific application that will be loaded to all student devices. When the application is in use, all other functionality is disabled. ▫ Students with accommodations have built in functionality inside of their test that provides them with the correct testing accommodations.
How to read your student’s Georgia Milestones scores: • Individual Score report: ▫ Content area ▫ Achievement Level ▫ Scale Score
How to read your student’s Georgia Milestones scores: • English Language Arts: ▫ Achievement Level ▫ Reading and Vocabulary Score ▫ Writing and Language Shows total points earned in the essay ▫ Comparison to School, System, State
How to read your student’s Georgia Milestones scores: • Mathematics, Science, Social Studies: ▫ Achievement Level (Scale Score) ▫ Domain Category Areas of focus inside of each test Performance level: remediate, monitor, accelerate
What do we do with the scores? • 8 th Grade Students only: Math and ELA scores are one of many factors in promotion to the next grade level • All students: ▫ Interventions put into place to aid students Launching Pad, RtI, SST Engaging instruction, project based learning, enrichment activities
How can you help your student? • Encourage good study habits…all year long! • Use Home Access Center (HAC) to monitor student grades and assignments. • Explain the purpose of the tests: Show what you know, so that we can help you grow! • Reassure your student that they won’t know every answer. Use their skills to make informed decisions when they don’t know. • Get plenty of sleep, eat breakfast and lunch, each and every day! • Arrive on time each day; lower your stress levels by not having to rush. • Talk with your student after each day of testing. Ask them for feedback on how the test went, and continue to give positive reinforcement.
How can you help your student? • The Georgia Department of Education has in depth preparation guides available for 6 th , 7 th and 8 th grade students. They can be found at: ▫ http://bit.ly/2j9OVei • Milestones Parent Resource Guide and Q&A: ▫ http://bit.ly/2m4yPHJ (English) and http://bit.ly/2m4zpFA (Spanish) ▫ http://bit.ly/2lIyvOl (English) and http://bit.ly/2m4ztFk (Spanish) • All information on the Georgia Milestones ▫ http://bit.ly/1Vtrawn
Q & A • What questions do you have about the Georgia Milestones Assessment System End of Grade and End of Course tests?
Thank you for attending! We are here to support you and your students. Please let us know how we can best serve you and your student, and continue to support learning every single day!
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