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Assessment

 

Assessment is an important aspect of education.  It is one way in which teachers, parents, and the community can gauge the effectiveness of programming and instruction.  With that said, it is important to recognize that there are different types of assessments, and that each serves a different purpose.  Some examples of different assessments and how they can be used include: 

 

Local Classroom Assessments - These assessments, which can vary in and of themselves, include everything from classwork and homework to tests, quizzes, and projects.  They are developed by classroom teachers, grade level teams, or content specialists.  They are focused on local standards, which take into account local contexts and the needs of students.  They are administered consistently throughout units of study as students learn and when learning is done in a particular course of study. Local classroom assessments allow teachers, parents, and students to see immediate results, which provides the best information about how a student is performing on the standards being taught.  

 

Benchmark Assessments - These assessments are used as a way of measuring a student’s knowledge and skills at specific points during the school year.  As a district, we use both Acadience and NWEA as our benchmark assessments.  Our schools use these benchmarks as a way of progress monitoring students, providing interventions to students in need (both in the classroom and through Title I services), and reviewing core instructional resources.  These are nationally developed assessments, taken by students throughout many schools and districts across the country.  They are focused on nationally recognized standards in reading, writing, and mathematics.  

 

State Accountability Assessments - These assessments include the SAT and NH Statewide Assessment System (NHSAS).  Such assessments are reported on by the New Hampshire Education Department, and are the only assessments whose scores are published on the internet or in local news media outlets.  Accountability Assessments are a way to look at students across the State, across a district, or across a school.  They are a “snapshot” in time, and are most useful to look at a cohort of students as they grow or to evaluate specific grade level programming. 

 

New Hampshire Statewide Assessments - Information and Resources
 
Each year, students in grades 3 through 8 participate in the New Hampshire Statewide Assessment System (NH SAS) and Gr. 11 students participate in the College Board School Day SAT and NH SAS science assessment. Students who have the most significant cognitive disabilities are eligible to take the Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) Assessment, as designed in their  individualized education program (IEP).  
 
This year, your child will take the following assessments, depending on their grade level:
 
  • NH SAS for English language arts/writing and mathematics in grades 3 through 8
  • (Alternative)DLM for English language arts/writing and mathematics in grades 3 through 8 and 11
  • NH SAS for science in grades 5, 8, and 11
  • (Alternative) DLM for science in grade 5, 8 and 11
  • College Board School Day -SAT English language arts/reading/writing and mathematics grade 11
 
Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Section 1111(b)(2) and New Hampshire law, RSA 193-C:6 requires each school district in the State to implement a set of high-quality academic assessments that includes, at a minimum, assessments in mathematics, reading/language arts and science to be administered in each of grades 3-8 and not less than once during grades 10-12; and in science not less than once during grades 3-5, grades 6-9, and grades 10-12. Furthermore, ESSA sections 1111(b)(2)(B) require State assessments to be the “same academic assessments used to measure the achievement of all public elementary school and secondary school students in the State,” and provide for the participation in such assessments to all students.

State assessments are an important part of a student’s core educational program. They provide an evaluation of student mastery of content and skills in various academic areas, serve as one tool for measuring the degree to which students are on track to graduate high school and be college- and career-ready, and help inform future instruction in the classroom. Along with student work on classroom assignments, projects, essays, and local assessments, state assessment results give teachers and you, the parents, important information about where students are on their path toward academic success. If you choose to exempt your student from the state assessment (permitted in RSA 193-C:6), you must submit a form to the school the student attends. Please contact your child’s principal to receive a copy of the exemption form. Please understand that if you choose to exempt your student from the assessment, no scores or summary of individual student performance, based on the statewide assessment, will be provided to you or your student. 
 
The testing times for the NH SAS and School Day SAT are as follows:
 

 

NH SAS for ELA/Writing/

Mathematics (hours)

DLM for ELA/Writing

Mathematics (minutes)

English Language Arts/Reading

2:00

30 - 45 minutes

English Language Arts/Writing

1:30

30 – 45 minutes

Mathematics

2:00

35 – 60 minutes

 

 

Grades 5, 8, 11

NH SAS for Science (hours)

DLM for Science (minutes)

Science

2:00

45 – 135 minutes

 

 

Grade 11

NH School Day SAT (hours)

DLM (minutes)

English Language Arts/Reading/

Writing and Mathematics

4:40

Same as listed above for ELA/Reading, ELA/Writing, Mathematics and Science

 

 

Student results for the NH SAS (reading/writing, mathematics and science) are generally available within 10 days upon the student completing the test.  Your child’s school will send a student’s Individual Score Report home as soon as possible after receiving results, and certainly before the end of the school year. School Day SAT results will be available to students in early May. Students may retrieve their results through their personal SAT College Board account.  DLM scores will be released to districts in early July. Schools will then send home to each family the Individual Score Report for each student who took the DLM assessment as soon as possible upon receiving the results. 

Parents may access training tests for the NH SAS by going to the portal at