Testing & Assessments

Purpose: Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners (ACCESS for ELLs) is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment used in WIDA Consortium member states to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English. ACCESS for ELLs assesses each of the four language domains of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Who takes it: Students in kindergarten through grade 12 who are English language learners (ELLs)

When: Winter

Purpose: The American College Test (ACT) is a standardized test that measures a student's skills in five core areas: English, math, reading, science and writing. Students take the ACT so they can submit their scores to colleges as part of the college application process.

Who takes it: Students in grades 11 and 12

When: March

Purpose: The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) Universal Screener measures general reasoning abilities and the capacity to apply these abilities to cognitive tasks.  CogAT is divided into three batteries: verbal, quantitative and nonverbal. All of these batteries appraise inductive and deductive reasoning. The results are used to assess placement in talent development (gifted and talented) programs.

Who takes it: Students in second grade

When: December

Purpose: NWEA's Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) are online assessments for reading and math which are nationally normed and measure student achievement and student growth across grade levels. The test is adaptive, meaning the difficulty of the questions change based on how the student answers the previous question.

Who takes it: Students in kindergarten through grade 9

When: Fall, winter and spring

Purpose: The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA-III) are the state tests that help districts measure student progress toward Minnesota's academic standards and meet the requirements of ESSA legislation.  The reading and math tests are used to determine whether schools and districts have made adequate yearly progress in achievement, growth and closing achievement gaps. The MCA-III also assesses science.

Who takes it: Students in grades 3-8, 10 and 11

When: Spring

Purpose: The Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS) is an alternate assessment (series of tasks) given to students with the most significant cognitive disabilities that measures performance on alternate achievement standards in reading, math and science.

Who takes it: Specific students in special education programs in grades 3-8, 10 and 11

When: Spring

Purpose: The FastBridge: mySAEBRS screening measures the academic, social and emotional learning skills of all students and will help us to evaluate our social-emotional programs and understand areas for improvement.

Who takes it: Students in grades 2-12 and teachers who teach grades K-12 will complete the assessment.

• The student assessment consists of 19 questions and takes less than 10 minutes to complete. 
• The teacher assessment will be completed by homeroom and advisory teachers. They will indicate how frequently each student has displayed specific behaviors (both positive and negative) during the previous month.

When: Twice each year; once in the fall and again in the spring.