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Assessments

Types of Assessments

GKIDS - Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills

GKIDS is a performance-based assessment with the goal of providing teachers with information about the level of instructional support needed by individual students. Teachers assess throughout the year during instruction. Students in Kindergarten Results are provided at any time during the year, during conferences, or accompanied with a report card. Students are assessed in the areas of Math, Social Studies, Science, Approaches to Learning, Personal and Social Development, and Motor Skills.

What is the IOWA Assessment?

Schools administer the national Iowa Assessment to 2nd grade students to measure achievement in Reading, Language, and Mathematics. Testing will take approximately 100 minutes each day.

The test measures both basic skills and advanced skills so that teachers can learn more about each student’s academic strengths and potential learning gaps. The district also uses achievement scores on the Iowa Assessment as a part of the process for identification for the Gifted Education program.

About the CogAT Assessment

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) is a multiple-choice assessment that measures the way students think. The CogAT helps our teachers determine the best ways to instruct students. The district also uses achievement scores on the CogAT as a part of the process for identification for the Gifted Education program.

In GCPS, students in grades 1, 2, 5, and 8 take this assessment, which consists of three sections— verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. Each section takes approximately 30-45 minutes.

District Assessments

District Assessments are a part of Gwinnett County Public School’s Balanced Assessment Program. They are a mixture of both formative and summative assessments administered at the classroom level to measure student learning of the Academic, Knowledge, and Skills (AKS). The Pretest, Interim, and Final assessments allow students to demonstrate what they know, understand, and are able to do.

Administration of the assessments occurs once every 9-weeks and requires a maximum of one class period to complete.

The data from the assessments provide teachers, students, parents, and other stakeholders information regarding student learning. Students are encouraged to review their assessment results and teacher feedback to help improve their learning. Teachers use the data, individually and collaboratively, to help make informed decisions during planning and refining of instructional activities. District leaders use the data to provide instructional support to improve student achievement.

  • All District Assessments will be administered online.
  • Students must use GCPS issued devices to take the assessments.
  • District Assessments will only contain identified focus AKS from the instructional calendars.
  • Model item types (In-line, Multi-select, Multi-part, Error Analysis) will be used on all District Assessments for all grade levels.
  • Note: Constructed Response items will only be used on 1st/2nd Semester Interims for grades 3, 4, 6, and 7 in Science and Social Studies.

Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State

ACCESS 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 is used to determine the proficiency levels and progress of English Learners (EL) in the domains of Speaking, Listening, Reading, Writing. ACCESS for ELLs 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.

ACCESS is administered from January through March to all students who are English Language Learners. The assessment is given online. Scores are reported in the four domains and proficiency in six levels: entering, beginning, developing, expanding, bridging, and reaching. 

GAA - Georgia Alternate Assessment

The Georgia Alternate Assessment is a standardized assessment that is individually administered and enables the demonstration of achievement of the knowledge, concepts, and skills inherent in the appropriate grade level standards. The assessment is typically given in March and April to Special Education students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11. Using the results of the assessment, parents will be able to learn more about their student’s progress and educators will have valuable information to plan for instruction.

The Georgia Milestones is a comprehensive summative assessment program that measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the content standards. It is designed to provide information about student achievement and readiness to move on to the next level of learning. While the tests measure each individual student’s mastery of the curriculum during the school year, they also help teachers and schools better understand the impact COVID-19 has had on learning and identify what resources and support our students will need in the coming school year.

Georgia Milestones for Elementary School Students

Schools administer the Georgia Milestones End of Grade Assessments to students in grades 3-5 to measure achievement in Reading, Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science (Grade 5 only). Testing will be administered over three to five days, depending on the grade level.

ES and MS Milestones will be used once again for promotion criteria.

GCPS Assessment Windows

Grade K

GKIDS 2.0 Data Collection
Grades 1, 2, 5  CogAT
Grades 1 - 5 1st Semester Interim
Grades 1 - 5 Midyear Interim
Grade K Kindergarten 2nd Semester Pretest
Grades K - 5 ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 (1)
Grades 1 - 5 2nd Semester Interim
Grades 3 - 5 GAA 2.0 (2)
Grades 3- 5 Milestones Spring Administration (3)
Grades K - 5 End of Year Final/2nd Semester Final