State Assessments

During the first six weeks of school, the GKIDS Readiness Check is administered. The GKIDS

Readiness Check is aligned to the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS)

and correlated to the state mandated content standards for kindergarten. The goal of the

assessment is to provide information about the skills of students entering kindergarten. The

primary purpose of the GKIDS Readiness Check is to highlight knowledge and skills critical for

student success in learning – solely to guide instruction. The GKIDS Readiness Check is

designed to be developmentally appropriate, reflecting research-based best practices for young

learners, and will provide information that allows kindergarten teachers to individualize student

instruction. The Readiness Check assesses students in foundations of school success, English

language arts, and mathematics.

GKIDS 2.0 is a progression-based formative assessment, integrated into classroom work, which

is aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). GKIDS 2.0 provides teachers with one

source of real-time information to adjust instruction, by identifying what a student already

knows, what the student needs next, and by allowing the teacher to monitor growth.

Kindergarten students are assessed in English language arts, mathematics, approaches to

learning, and personal/social development.

Since 2015, the Georgia Milestones Assessment System has been administered to students in

grades 3 through 5. The purpose of the assessments is to provide a valid measure of end of grade

(EOG) student achievement of the rigorous state content standards and provide a clear indication

of the student’s preparedness for the next educational level. The assessments require students to

utilize multiple types of responses, or answers, to questions or prompts: selected responses

(multiple choice items), constructed responses, extended responses, and technology enhanced

items. For students with disabilities, each student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP)

team determines how the student shall participate in Georgia’s student assessment program. If a

student’s IEP team determines that a student cannot meaningfully access the Georgia Milestones

Assessment System, even with maximum appropriate accommodations, then the student will

participate in the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA 2.0).

The GAA 2.0 is designed to ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities are

provided access to the state academic content standards and given the opportunity to demonstrate

achievement of the knowledge, concepts, and skills inherent in the standards. Unlike the GAA,

the GAA 2.0 is not a portfolio-based assessment. Thus, it will measure students’ achievement

and not progress. The GAA 2.0 will be administered to all eligible students in Grades 3-8 and 11.

Students in Grades 3-8 and 11 will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics.

Students in Grades 5, 8, and 11 will also be assessed in science and social studies.

ACCESS for ELLs is administered, annually, to all English learners in Georgia. It 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 for ELLs meets the federal

requirements that mandates required states to evaluate EL students in grades K through twelve

on their progress in learning to speak English. This assessment is used to determine the English

language proficiency levels and progress of ELs in the domains of speaking, listening, reading,

and writing.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions to suit your student’s

needs. Each item a student sees is individualized based on their answer to the previous question.

For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of

incorrect answers will yield slightly easier questions. The purpose of this is not to give your

student a score or grade, but instead to determine how best to support your student’s learning.

The goal is to figure out the math or reading level that is “just right” for your child, so your child

should expect to see some questions that are too hard–and that is okay! It means the test is

working correctly.

The results of the test will help teachers identify exactly where your child needs to develop, as

well as where his or her strengths are. Teachers can use this information to design individualized

instruction that meets the unique needs of each child and to measure progress and growth in each

domain over the course of the school year.

NWEA’s MAP Growth test is a computer adaptive test that measures skills in reading and math.

As students answer questions correctly or incorrectly, the test adjusts the level of difficulty based

on individual performance. Teachers use results to help inform instruction, personalize learning,

and monitor the growth of individual students. Administration uses the results to see the

performance of specific grade levels. MAP is also used as a criterion for TAG eligibility.

The purpose of interim assessments is to monitor progress of mastery towards grade level

standards.

Write Score provides robust tools for formative ELA assessments designed to help schools,

teachers, and students improve literacy. With standards-aligned assessments, instructional

resources, and historical student data reports, Write Score provides tools to help teachers

pinpoint instruction and meet students’ diverse literacy needs. 

Fulton County uses Write Score results to identify student strengths and learning gaps to help

determine the need for additional programs and/or support. IT is also used to monitor progress

toward master of grade level standards.