Individual Assessment Index
IAI is a computerized assessment of student progress in mastering basic skills in reading and mathematics. The assessment has been designed to assess the essential skills of the Tennessee State Standards. The assessments help teachers to know how to help each student learn and grow by determining where each student is performing academically.  IAI assessments will be taken on a computer by students in grades two through seven and/or up through Algebra I.  The difficulty of each test question is based on how well the student has answered the previous question. As the student answers correctly, the questions become more difficult.  If the student answers incorrectly, the questions become less difficult.  The computer program instantly analyzes the student’s response to each question and determines the appropriate difficulty level to present throughout the remainder of the test. In essence, the computer builds an assessment that is just right for each student. Instead of the child adjusting to a test, the test adjusts to the child.  Thus, each child is appropriately challenged at his or her instructional level.

The scores from the IAI are used to measure a student’s growth in reading and mathematics.  The growth of the student in these areas is measured from fall to spring. For example, if a student obtained a RIT score of 190 on the fall math test and a RIT score of 199 on the spring test, the student progressed 9 RIT points.  Parents and teachers will be able to chart a student’s progress from one year to another. When you look at the test results, it will become apparent that certain goal areas are progressing well and others need more attention. Using the class and individual test reports, school personnel can use the results, along with other classroom data, to design instruction that better meets the individual needs their students in reading, and mathematics. The goal of the assessment system in Williamson County is to improve student achievement. http://www.nwea.org/products/LearningContinuum.htm

TCAP Writing Assessment
The writing assessment at these grade levels is designed to measure writing skills that have been learned cumulatively from the current year as well as past schooling years. The TCAP Writing Assessment requires students to compose essays in response to a specified prompt within a designated time. Fifth-grade students are asked to compose a narrative essay, eighth-grade students an expository essay, and eleventh-grade students a persuasive essay. The writing samples are scored holistically.
http://www.state.tn.us/education/tswriting.htm

District Writing Assessment  
The district office creates writing prompts which are administered in September, February and May so that   student writing samples can be assessed to identify instructional targets for writing throughout the year in grades K-12. 

Gateway  
On October 29, 1998 in compliance with TCA 49-1-608 and TCA 49-6-6001(a)(1), the State Board of Education designated ten high school courses for the development of End-of-Course examinations. Three of these courses, Algebra I (also for Math for Technology II students), English II, and Biology I (also for Biology for Technology I students), were stipulated as diploma requirements and became known as Gateway Tests. These tests will serve two purposes, one as an End-of-Course test for the student when they are enrolled in the course, and two as the diploma requirement.
http://www.state.tn.us/education/tsgateway.htm

EOC
On October 29, 1998, in compliance with TCA 49-1-608 and TCA 49-6-6001(a)(1), the State Board of Education designated ten high school courses for the development of End-of-Course examinations. The Select Oversight Committee on Education of the Tennessee General Assembly subsequently affirmed the State Board’s recommendation.  http://www.state.tn.us/education/tshssmt.htm

EXPLORE
EXPLORE is an assessment that is ultimately linked to ACT.  It is designed to provide students, parents, counselors, and teachers with information to help students prepare successfully for their futures.  Components of the test include:  Career Exploration and Planning, High School Course Selection information, Academic skill reports and ideas for preparing for the student’s future.  
http://www.act.org/explore/index.html

CCA
According to Board Policy 4.7001 (formerly “IHAA” adopted 4/21/03), the Curriculum Department facilitates the development and administration of Common Comprehensive Assessments for all core academic high school courses without a state end-of-course test, and for all high school courses offered in our middle schools.  Teacher input and feedback is used each year to modify and refine these tests which are given as the student’s final exam at the end of the course.  All CCAs are aligned with the state curriculum standards and performance indicators available for all subjects through the following link.  http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/cicurassessedstandards.htm

PLAN
PLAN^® helps tenth graders build a solid foundation for future academic and career success and provides information needed to address school districts' high-priority issues. It is a comprehensive guidance resource that helps students measure their current academic development, explore career/training options, and make plans for the remaining years of high school and post-graduation years.
http://www.act.org/plan/index.html

ACT
The ACT Assessment® is designed to assess high school students' general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The tests cover four skill areas: English, mathematics, reading, and science reasoning.

The English Test is a 75-question, 45-minute test that measures understanding of the conventions of standard written English (punctuation, grammar and usage, and sentence structure) and of rhetorical skills (strategy, organization, and style). Spelling, vocabulary, and rote recall of rules of grammar are not tested.

The ACT Mathematics Test is a 60-question, 60-minute test designed to assess the mathematical skills students have typically acquired in courses taken up to the beginning of grade 12. The test presents multiple-choice questions that require students to use reasoning skills to solve practical problems in mathematics. Knowledge of basic formulas and computational skills are assumed as background for the problems.

The Reading Test is a 40-question, 35-minute test that measures reading comprehension. The test questions require students to derive meaning from several texts by referring to what is explicitly stated and reasoning to determine implicit meanings and to draw conclusions, comparisons, and generalizations.

The Science Reasoning Test is a 40-question, 35-minute test that measures the interpretation, analysis, evaluation, reasoning, and problem-solving skills required in the natural sciences. The test presents seven sets of scientific information, each followed by a number of multiple-choice test questions.
http://www.act.org/aap/index.html

SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test)
The SAT is a verbal and mathematics test given in Tennessee and throughout the nation to assist colleges and universities in making decisions about student admission. Students are encouraged to take the SAT and other tests that provide access to post-graduate opportunities. The SAT is designed to assess verbal and mathematical skills important to students' initial success in college. Due to the wide variation across the country in grading policies, the tests have been developed to provide a common standard against which high school seniors can be compared to determine likely success in the first semester of college.

The verbal test consists of multiple choice items that include analogies, sentence completion and the critical reading of passages. Verbal questions test your ability to understand and analyze what you read, recognize relationships between parts of a sentence, and establish relationships between pairs of words. The mathematics test consists of standard multiple choice items, multiple choice quantitative comparisons and items that require students to produce responses rather than choose from a set of answers. The mathematics questions test students’ ability to solve problems involving arithmetic, algebra, and geometry.  A year of algebra and some geometry are sufficient to answer SAT math questions.  Each type of question has its own set of instructions and requires different strategies to answer successfully.

The SAT lasts three hours. It contains seven separately timed sections that may appear in different orders:

• Three verbal sections: two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section (78 questions: 19 sentence completions; 19 analogies; 40 critical reading)

• Three math sections: two 30-minute sections and one 15-minute section (60 questions: 35 five-choice; 15 quantitative comparisons; 10 student-produced responses)

•  One 30-minute equating section*: verbal or math

The equating section does not count toward the final score. It is used to try out new questions for future editions of the SAT and to help make sure that test scores are comparable to scores on other editions. http://www.collegeboard.com/sat/html/students/indx001.html

AP EXAMS      
The Advanced Placement Program is a cooperative educational endeavor between secondary schools and colleges and universities. Since its inception in 1955, the Program has provided motivated high school students with the opportunity to take college-level courses in a high school setting. Students who participate in the Program not only gain college-level skills, but in many cases they also earn college credit while they are still in high school. AP courses are taught by dedicated and enthusiastic high school teachers who follow course guidelines developed and published by the College Board.
http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/ http://www.collegeboard.com/ap/students/faq/faq001.html

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