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Testing/Assessment
Both state and local mandates require student participation in a wide array of assessments. With the implementation of the new Georgia Performance Standards (GPS), Marietta City Schools will now administer GPS benchmark tests that directly correlate to the new standards.
What is a Benchmark Test?
A benchmark test assesses a student’s progress on a set of standards taught during a particular period of time. The achievement data resulting from the assessments assist teachers in evaluating instructional practices and increases their understanding of what content standards the students have mastered.
How does this affect your child?
Your child will undergo a benchmark assessment on a quarterly basis.
What else do you need to know?
- All Marietta City Schools students take the same assessments according to their respective grade levels.
- The content measured by these assessments is based upon core standards taught uniformly throughout the school system.
- The assessment results are used by teachers and the school system to evaluate instructional practices and to appropriately modify instructional decisions.
- Pre-test Benchmark assessment results are not averaged into a student’s report card grade.
- Benchmark assessments are only one of several instructional tools used to guide curricular decisions.
The purposes of the testing program include:
- Monitoring student progress
- As a decision-making tool regarding placement for special programming
- To assess program effectiveness
- As a planning tool for instructional improvement
In addition to the requirements noted below, several of the tests are utilized as part of the system's promotion/retention policy.
For more information about student achievement, accountability - including development of K-12 report cards - visit the Office of Education Accountability at www.ga-oea.org.
Testing Information
 ACCESS for ELL's
ACT Test
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The ACT® test assesses high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work.
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The multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science.
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The Writing Test, which is optional, measures skill in planning and writing a short essay.
How do students benefit from taking the ACT?
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The ACT is universally accepted for college admission.
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The ACT is curriculum-based. The ACT is not an aptitude or an IQ test. Instead, the questions on the ACT are directly related to what students have learned in high school courses in English, mathematics, and science. Because the ACT tests are based on what is taught in the high school curriculum, students are generally more comfortable with the ACT than they are with traditional aptitude tests or tests with narrower content.
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The ACT is more than a test. The ACT also provides test takers with a unique interest inventory that provides valuable information for career and educational planning and a student profile section that provides a comprehensive profile of a student's work in high school and his or her future plans.
Marietta City Schools ACT Results
CRCT
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What are the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests or CRCT?
The CRCT are state-mandated achievement tests for students in grades 1 through 8 that cover the subject areas of reading, English/language arts, and mathematics. Students in grades 3 through 8 are also required to take the CRCT in science and social studies.
What is the purpose of the CRCT?
The CRCT measure how well a student has learned the knowledge and skills in the state curriculum. The purpose of the tests is: (1) to ensure students are learning; and (2) to provide data to teachers, schools, and school districts to make better instructional decisions. The tests also serve as an accountability measure and are part of the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind law.
When do students take the CRCT?
Students will take the CRCT on the days specified by their local school system in April or May. Generally, the tests are administered over five consecutive days (three days for 1st and 2nd grade). Students are tested on one subject per day. Each subject has two test sections that last about 60 minutes each.
For more information about Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests, click here.
CRCT Resources
Marietta City Schools CRCT Results
End Of Course Testing (EOCT)
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The A+ Educational Reform Act of 2000, O.C.G.A. §20-2-281, mandates that the State Board of Education adopt end-of-course assessments in grades nine through twelve for core subjects to be determined by the State Board of Education. With educator input, and State Board approval, the End-of-Course Testing program is currently comprised of the following eight content area assessments:
- Mathematics: Algebra I, Geometry
- Social Studies: United States History, Economics/Business/Free Enterprise
- Science: Biology, Physical Science
- English Language Arts: Ninth Grade Literature and Composition, American Literature and Composition
The EOCT program was created to improve student achievement through effective instruction and assessment of the standards in the eight EOCT core high school courses. The EOCT program helps to ensure that all Georgia students have access to a rigorous curriculum that meets high performance standards. The purpose of the EOCT is to provide diagnostic data that can be used to enhance instructional programs.
For complete information on End Of Course Testing, click here.
View district Report Card
Fifth Grade Writing Assessment
GAA
Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT)
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Why does the Department of Education administer the Georgia High School Graduation Tests?
Georgia Law requires that students receiving a Georgia diploma pass a criterion-referenced test in English/Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, and Writing. The Georgia Department of Education, together with Georgia educators, develops and administers these tests in response to Georgia Law.
To whom do these tests apply?
All students who entered 9th grade after July 1, 1994, must pass all five tests as one of the requirements for earning a high school diploma. These tests must be taken by all students, regardless of the type of diploma seal they are seeking.
When are the tests given?
Students take the graduation tests for the first time in the 11th grade. The Writing Test occurs in the fall, and the four subject area tests occur in the spring.
How many opportunities does a student have to take the tests?
Students have five opportunities to take each of the tests before the end of the 12th grade. The dates for each test administration are listed on the Department of Education Web site. Students have one opportunity to take the test during each test administration. Also refer to Marietta City Schools Testing Calendar (LINK TO Testing Calendar)
For more information about Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT), click here.
Marietta City Schools GHSGT Results
Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT)
Description
Students in the eleventh grade must participate in the Georgia High School Writing Test and must pass the GHSWT to earn a regular education diploma. Results of the GHSWT are used to identify students who may need additional instruction in academic content and writing skills considered essential for a high school diploma.
The test is administered three times a year so that students have multiple opportunities to take the test before the end of the twelfth grade. The main administration of the GHSWT occurs in the fall of the eleventh grade year. The writing test requires students to produce a persuasive composition of no more than two pages on an assigned topic. The two-hour test administration includes 100 minutes of student writing time.
New Georgia High School Writing Test
The Georgia Writing Assessment program was completely redeveloped between 2005 and 2007.
The outcome of this work is new writing assessments in grades three, five, eight, and eleven. Grade three, five, and eight assessments were administered for the first time in spring 2007. The New Georgia High School Writing Test was administered for the first time in fall 2007.
For more information about the new Georgia High School Writing Test (GHSWT), click here.
Marietta City Schools GHSWT Results
GKAP-R
The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS)
The Iowa Tests of Basic Skills is a norm-referenced test (NRT). Scores from a NRT are used to compare the performance of Georgia’s students with the performance of students in a national sample, in the same grade who took the test at the same point in the school year.
Results:
Middle Grade Writing Assessment
Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
The SAT is designed to measure verbal and quantitative reasoning skills that are related to college performance. SAT scores are intended primarily to help forecast the college academic performance of individual students. The tests are administered several times throughout the year.
Marietta City Schools SAT Results
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Contacts
Dr. Rona Roberts
Administrative Assistant for
Special Services
250-B Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
TEL: (770) 427-4631
Catherine Magouyrk
Director of Elementary Curriculum
250 Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
TEL: (770) 422-3500
Dr. Margaret Sims
Director of Secondary Curriculum
250 Howard Street
Marietta, GA 30060
TEL: (770) 422-3500
Resources
"What Georgia Educators Need to Know About Georgia’s Testing Program"
 Testing Calendar
CRCT Study Guides 2008
Practice for the CRCT online
Test Results
ACT
CRCT
EOCT
GAA
GHSGT
GHSWT
ITBS
SAT |
