The assessments provide useful information that helps teachers adapt instruction to students' strengths and needs. The activities help teachers measure students' grasp of the grade-level knowledge and applications necessary to achieve challenging standards in each content area. In the Reading and Mathematics assessments, students respond to multiple-choice items, write short answers, and construct extended responses. In the Writing assessment, activities integrate reading and writing. Students plan a written response to a reading prompt, write their responses, and review their written work for specific elements of correct grammar, usage, and content coherence.
Content Reading assessments measure students' ability to construct, examine, and extend meaning.
Reading passages include fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from authentic sources. Students are asked to demonstrate their understanding of what they read and their ability to think critically, analyze, and apply what they have learned. Mathematics assessments follow the recommendations of the NCTM Standards . The assessments measure students' abilities to reason quantitatively and apply knowledge of mathematical concepts and procedures in problem-solving situations. Students are asked to demonstrate knowledge of mathematics content, analyze information, solve problems, and communicate mathematically.