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Arkansas: Get Educated About Education

State: Arkansas Department of Education

Arkansas’ Blueprint for Public Education

Defining Educational Standards & Establishing Curriculum Guidelines

The Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP), which began with legislation by Act 999 of 1999, has become an important blueprint for education in Arkansas as it has led to significant improvement in student achievement for all grades in all schools. It is based on the premise that “all children can learn.ACTAAP is a comprehensive system that focuses on coordination of the following four areas: Ever wonder what a benchmark test or end-of-course exam looks like? The Arkansas Department of Education releases all test items from the previous year so that students and parents and teachers can better anticipate what these tests are all about. To see released items from the last several years, go to this website:

http://arkansased.org/testing/index.html

More About Benchmark Tests & Other Student Assessments

You can find information about student testing and assessment at: http://arkansased.org/testing/assessment.html

Iowa Test of Basic Skills (Norm-Reference Test or NRT)

The Student Assessment & Educational Accountability Act (Act 35 of Second Extraordinary Session of the Arkansas 84th General Assembly) requires a developmentally appropriate assessment be administered to all students in kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades in reading and mathematics. The assessment currently used in Arkansas is the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). The ITBS measures the skills and achievement of students from kindergarten through grade 9. Developed at The University of Iowa and with a tradition of more than 70 years of educational research and test development experience, the ITBS provides an in-depth assessment of students’ achievement of important educational objectives. Tests in reading, language arts, and mathematics provide comprehensive information both about the development of students’ skills and about their ability to think critically. The ITBS is a norm-referenced test. Students demonstrate their grasp of foundational skills by responding to a series of multiplechoice questions. The scores are reported as percentile points, meaning students perform as well as or better than a certain percentage of other students in the nation.

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