General Testing Information
State Mandated And District Mandated Testing
A department within the Office of Accountability and Reporting, the Assessment Department provides access to a comprehensive and coherent assessment system to teachers, students, parents and policy makers. This system encompasses diverse methods of evaluating student learning, grounded in the appropriate science of assessment and engaging practitioners in its development. The Assessment System provides actionable, constructive reporting for improvement at all levels of the organization.
While assessment results are used at all levels, we hope that parents, guardians and students can use assessment results to help guide their academic focus. Test results should always be looked at globally, as a piece of the entire puzzle. Rather than relying on any one score, families should look at scoring trends and gauge how those trends align with classroom performance and teacher observations. Please do not hesitate to reach out and ask questions about your student's assessment results.
Below you will find brief descriptions of the various assessments that your student may be scheduled for. In the menu on the left, you will find specific information about testing dates and times for eCademy K8.
Assessment Overview
Access:
ACCESS for ELs 2.0 (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State) is a large-scale English Language Proficiency assessment administered to K -12th grade students who have been identified as English language learners. This assessment is given annually to monitor students’ progress towards acquiring academic English proficiency in the four domains: Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The performance levels are used to place students in the appropriate courses.
DLM:
DLM (Dynamic Learning Maps) is only required for students with significant cognitive disabilities. A student IEP team will determine if the student is eligible to take this alternative assessment. DLM replaces Language Arts & Math (NM-MSSA), Science (NM-ASR) and EOCs for social studies. Eligible students may take assessments in English Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies.
ECOT/KOT:
The KOT is an authentic observational tool that looks at the “whole child,” and is designed to gather information on how children perform at the time of kindergarten entry.
Istation:
Istation is the state-required reading assessment for students in grades K - 2 for all schools. The assessment is available in English and Spanish. Istation is also offered as an option for a district supported interim assessment for Grade K-5 in Reading and Math.
i-Ready:
i-Ready assessments are available as a district supported interim assessment. i-Ready offers an adaptive diagnostic assessment that can be used as a placement tool for Math and Reading.
NAEP:
NAEP (National Assessment of Education Progress) is a national assessment. NAEP covers many subjects including: math, reading, writing, science, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history for grades 4, 8, and 12. NAEP results serve as a common metric for all states and selected urban districts. This permits NAEP to provide a clear picture of student academic progress over time. The results are released as The Nation's Report Card, which provides information about student achievement to educators, parents, policymakers, and the public.
NM-MSSA:
NM-MSSA (New Mexico's Measures of Student Success & Achievement) is the state-required assessment for grades 3 - 8 in Math and English Language Arts/Literacy.
NM-ASR:
The NM-ASR (New Mexico Assessment of Science Readiness) is the science assessment that is required by the state for grades 5, 8, and 11. It measures student proficiency in content standards and benchmarks in science.