● Formative Assessments

o DRC BEACON
o Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) 2.0
o GKIDS Readiness Check

 

● Summative Assessments

o Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for   English Language Learners (ACCESS
   for ELLs 2.0)
o Alternate ACCESS for ELLs
o Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) 2.0
o Georgia Milestones Assessment (End-of-Grade & End-of Course)
o National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)

 

 

 

DRC BEACON
BEACON is a through-year, computer adaptive, formative interim assessment system administered in ELA and mathematics in grades 3-8. It
measures progress throughout the school year, allowing educators to target instruction and make informed decisions. It is mapped to

Georgia's content standards, adjusts difficulty to meet students where they are, minimizes testing time, and is available to Local Education
Agencies (LEAs) at no cost.

For DRC Beacon educator, student, and parent resources and more details on DRC Beacon visit the Georgia Department of Education.

 

GEORGIA KINDERGARTEN INVENTORY OF DEVELOPING SKILLS READINESS
The GKIDS Readiness Check is a 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.

 

GKIDS Readiness has a great 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.

GEORGIA KINDERGARTEN INVENTORY OF DEVELOPING SKILLS 2.0 (GKIDS 2.0)
GKIDS 2.0 is a progression-based formative assessment, integrated into classroom work, that is aligned to the Georgia Standards of
Excellence. GKIDS 2.0 is organized around big ideas and learning progressions.

 

● A big idea describes the integration of concepts and skills from the kindergarten standards that are most important for success in
first grade.
● A learning progression shows where the student is in the learning continuum of content and reasoning development regarding the
big idea from the GSE.

○    Learning progressions provide the big picture of what is to be learned across the year, relate increased reasoning of
      standards within the grade and across grades, and support instructional planning.

 

GKIDS 2.0 provides teachers with one source of real-time information to adjust instruction, by identifying what a student already knows,
what the student needs next, and by allowing the teacher to monitor growth.

 

For GKIDS 2.0 parent and educator resources and more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.

 

 

 

WIDA ACCESS AND WIDA ALTERNATE ACCESS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS (ELLS)
ACCESS for ELLs is administered, once a year, to all English learners in Georgia. ACCESS for ELLs is a standards-based, criterion referenced
English language proficiency test designed to measure English learners’ social and academic proficiency in English. It assesses social and
instructional English as well as the language associated with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school
context across the four language domains. ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 meets the federal requirements that mandates require states to evaluate EL
students in grades K through 12 on their progress in learning to speak English.

 

ACCESS for ELLs 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 serves five main purposes.
These include:

 

WIDA Alternate ACCESS is an individually administered test for EL students in grades K - 12 with significant cognitive disabilities. It is
intended for EL students with significant cognitive disabilities that are severe enough to prevent meaningful participation in the WIDA
ACCESS assessment. Decisions regarding a student's participation must be made by an IEP team.

 

• IEP documentation must provide clear evidence that the student's daily instruction is based on alternate content standards.

• The student must be an English learner and a student with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Students with the most

   significant cognitive disabilities or intellectual disabilities concurrent with motor, sensory, or emotional/behavioral disabilities

   require substantial adaptations and supports to access the general curriculum and require additional instruction focused on relevant

   life skills.

• The student is unable to access the content of Kindergarten ACCESS or WIDA ACCESS, even with the provision of all necessary

   universal tools, allowable accommodations, and administrative considerations.

• Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-12 and instructed on alternate content standards are eligible for

   the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA 2.0).

For WIDA ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS parent and educator resources and more information visit the Georgia Department of Education.

 

The 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:

 

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.

• GAA 2.0 Parent Flyer English | Spanish

 

For GAA 2.0 parent and educator resources and more information on GAA 2.0 visit the Georgia Department of Education.

 

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) is a comprehensive summative assessment program spanning grades 3

through high school. Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted

content standards in language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. The Georgia Milestones Assessment System 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. Importantly, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide students with critical information about

their own achievement and their readiness for their next level of learning. Informing parents, educators, and the public about how well

students are learning important content is an essential aspect of any educational assessment and accountability system.

Who takes it?

• Grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 take End-of-Grade (EOG) assessments in the content areas of language arts and mathematics.

• Grade 5 takes End-of-Grade (EOG) assessments in the content areas of language arts, mathematics, and science.

• Grade 8 takes End-of-Grade (EOG) assessments in the content areas of language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

• High School students take End-of-Course (EOC) assessments at the completion of the course (American Literature and Composition,

  Coordinate Algebra, Biology, and U.S. History), regardless of the grade level.

 

When/how frequently is it taken?

• Student in grades 3-8 are assessed with EOG annually in the spring, typically in April.

• Middle and High school students who are enrolled in a course with a corresponding EOC will take the End-Of-Course (EOC)

   assessment. The End-Of-Course assessments are administered at the completion of the course in winter and spring.

 

 

How is it administered?

Georgia Milestones is administered primarily on the computer and includes the following features:

• Technology-enhanced items in all grades and courses,

• Open-ended (constructed response) items in English language arts in all grades and courses,

• A writing component (in response to passages read by students) at every grade level and course within the English language arts

assessment,

• A reported Lexile score based on the English language arts assessment in all grades and courses, and

• Estimated norm-referenced performance ranges for all grades and courses.

 

Georgia Milestones EOG and EOC Resources

Parents play a very important part in the successful education of their children. This is also true with the assessment of their children to gauge the level of understanding of the content. These resources are provided for parents to better understand educational assessments in Georgia.

● Desmos - This calculator is used for the Georgia Milestones math assessments.