This year’s 2013-2014 English Language Arts state assessment will be a transitional assessment aligned with the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards. The ELA Standards can be found at the top of the page under the Standards tab. Below is a brief summary of the assessment.

• The test will be multiple-choice with some technology enhanced items (e.g. multiple response, drag and drop, multiple drop buckets, ordering, etc.)
• There will be no performance based items this year.
• The test will only have two parts.
• The assessment will only be available during the spring semester.
• The testing window will be March 10th – May 2nd.
• The KAMM assessment will not be given this year.
• All students qualifying for alternate assessments will participate in the computerized Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) field test.
• Opportunity to learn will not be in place this year.
• The assessment will be delivered in a new online testing interface called KITE.

More details about the ELA and other transitional assessments can be found in the 2014 Transitional Assessments update documents at the bottom of the page.

More information about KITE and the Kansas Assessment Program (KAP) can be found at www.ksassessments.org.

Reminders, updates and requests for 2014 State Assessments:

A)     For ELA and mathematics students in grades 3-8 and high school will be taking a “transitional assessment” being developed by CETE aligned to the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards (KCCRS).

In high school, the only students who are required to be assessed are 11^th grade students who have not already achieved “meets standard” or above.  However, KSDE and CETE are requesting that districts assess all 11^th grade students, 12^th grade students and 10^th grade students on the Transitional Assessments.  Assessing these high school grade levels will benefit schools with the following:

1. Providing districts with feedback on student progress on the College and Career Ready Standards.
2. Providing juniors and seniors with insight into College and Career Ready academic expectations.
3. Providing sophomores with an advance look at academic expectations for the 2015 assessments.
4. Providing CETE high school assessment data necessary for setting valid cut scores for 2014 and for validating test items for future use in formative or summative assessments.

Testing 11^th grade students in 2014 will NOT change the accountability policy of using banked scores from 2013. That is, 2014 juniors with proficient banked scores from 2013 who take the Transitional Assessment will have their banked scores used for accountability. Sophomores who take the 2014 Transitional Assessment will not have any scores banked and will be required to take the new assessment in 2015.

B)     Students in grades 4, 7 and 11 will take the “old “ science assessment. For high school, only 11^th grade students who have not completed both parts of the science assessment will take the assessment.  We will not be assessing 9^th or 10^th grade students.

C)     Students qualifying for alternate assessments:

1. Will take the DLM field test for ELA and mathematics. That will be administered in three short sections in three different test windows. Students will take all three parts. Again, at the high school level, only students who have not already achieved “meets standard” are required to take the assessment. We are requesting that all 10^th, 11^th, and 12^th grade students participate in the field test.
2. Will take the portfolio alternate assessment for science in grades 4, 7 and 11 as in the past.

D)     ELL students will be assessed with the paper/pencil Kansas English Proficiency Assessment (KELPA).

E)      There will not be regular assessment for History/Government in 2014.  Schools will be invited to participate voluntarily in piloting test items based on the recently adopted new standards.  Those items will be piloted at grade 6, 8, and high school.