Wisconsin: A Parent’s Guide to Standards and Assessment (continued)

Testing, Grade Advancement, and High School Graduation

In October 1999, the Wisconsin legislature passed legislation affecting student testing, grade advancement, and high school graduation. For grade advancement, the legislation requires each school board to adopt written criteria for advancing students from fourth to fifth grade and from eighth to ninth grade. The board policy must include the student’s score on the fourth- and eighth-grade state tests, the student’s academic performance, the recommendations of teachers (which are to be based only on academic performance), and any other academic criteria specified by the school board. Local school boards may use the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations or may adopt another examination. Parents may excuse their children from taking these tests in Grades 4, 8, and 10. For high school graduation, the legislation requires each school board to develop a written policy specifying criteria for granting a high school diploma. Among other things, the criteria shall include the pupil's academic performance and the recommendations of teachers. Often, satisfaction of these criteria is documented through results of standards-based student assessment—either state assessment or classroom assessment. Parents may contact the school principal, guidance counselor, or a member of their school board with questions about grade advancement or graduation policies.

Changes to Anticipate

• Starting in the fall of 2005, schools will test students at more grade levels. The federal No Child Left Behind Act calls for annual state testing in reading and mathematics in grades 3 through 8 and once at the high school level. In Wisconsin, high school students will continue to be assessed in the tenth grade. More information for parents on the No Child Left Behind Act is available at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/esea/topics.html

• The new state tests will be called the WKCE-CRT, for Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations-Criterion-Referenced Test.

• “Criterion-referenced” means that student performance on the new tests will be reported in terms ofcriteria, or standards. Because these tests will be developed expressly for Wisconsin, they will fit our standards better than ever before. Teachers will be informed which standards will be tested at each grade level.

• Because the WKCE-CRT will only be for Wisconsin students, all reports will compare student performance against Wisconsin standards and to other Wisconsin students.

•  There have been and will continue to be changes in test content, components, and presentation, to  better align the tests to the standards, to curriculum and instruction, to federal legislation, and, most importantly, to the way students learn best. An example of such a change is the repeal of the High School Graduation Test (HSGT). Students and parents had been notified to expect the HSGT, but because of state budget constraints, the HSGT is no longer anticipated.

What Parents Should Know About Assessment

• The state tests will test students only on the content of the Model Academic Standards in four areas: language arts (including reading), mathematics, science, and social studies.

Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards form the basis for the state tests. State law required school boards to adopt these standards, or local standards, by August 1, 1998, for at least reading and writing, geography and history, mathematics, and science. Ask if your school board has adopted the standards. Ask to review a copy.

• The curriculum in your child’s school should help students meet or exceed the Model

Academic Standards

Ask if the curriculum in your child’s school is up-to-date with the standards. Many schools have aligned their curriculum and their tests with the standards, completed in 1998. New federal testing requirements, however, will make more alignment necessary. If you have questions about the curriculum used in your child’s school, contact your school principal. Many schools ask parents to serve on curriculum committees to represent families’ interests and to communicate to families the issues considered by the committee. Request that copies of Wisconsin’s Model Academic Standards and your school’s curriculum be made available in your public library, your community family center, or other places so community members can be aware of their content. Or, you may download a copy of the standards at http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/standards/.