NWEA Winter testing window will open Monday, January 8, 2018 and close Friday, February 2, 2018
Hope everyone has a safe and restful break.
May your holiday season be filled with lots of happiness, peace, and love.
December 7, 2017 by Daniel Patterson, Ph.D.
Clarification of the upcoming M-STEP Assessment this spring. Here are the changes that will be occurring with Spring M-STEP testing.
Math
- removal of all Performance Tasks
Science
- assessing science in grades 5, 8, and 11 (moving from grades 4 and 7 to grades 5 and 8)
- requiring all eligible grade 5, 8, and 11 students participate in the statewide science field test (in place of an operational science test)
The prior M-STEP science assessments based on the prior science standards have been eliminated. In this and upcoming years science will be assessed in grades 5,8 & 11. For this year only schools will not be held accountable for science proficiency – only for science participation rate, which needs to be above 95%. This is because we are piloting the new science test aligned to the new standards. It will be a shorter version (approximately 45 minutes) of the full test.
ELA
- removal of all Performance Tasks
- removal of Claim 2 Writing short constructed response items in ELA grades 3, 4, 6, and 7
- addition of one Claim 2 Writing text-dependent analysis (essay) in each grade of ELA
The state has still not released a sample Text-Dependent Analysis (TDA) Essay. Once they do it will be embedded in the Online Sample Item Sets. However, they have released the rubric used to grade these essays.
A few more details can be found in the 2017-18 Guide to State Assessments, but I will also follow up with more information when it becomes available.