Assessment Vision & Mission
The Vision of the Assessment Department is to support all schools, administrators and teachers in assessing all students with fidelity.
The Mission of the Assessment Department is to:
- Ensure
all stakeholders know and understand the reasons why we assess students
and value the process and results.
- Ensure all staff understand and are
supported in securely assessing all students.
- Ensure all stakeholders can
access data in a timely manner and utilize data to guide instructional
practices for all students; effectively planning for individual
students’ next steps.
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Why Do We Test Students in New Mexico?
| Annual
summative assessments show whether students across the state are
mastering academic standards. Formative and interim assessments given
throughout the year, tell teachers what concepts individual students are
struggling with so they can help them master those specific standards.
Assessing students is required by federal and state law. The Every
Students Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires that, at a minimum, all students,
including students with disabilities and English learners, be tested in: |
- Reading
and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school;
- Science once in
elementary, middle, and high school;
- English proficiency if the student
is an English learner.
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What Math and Reading Test will Students Take?
- In
grades 3–8, students will take New Mexico’s Measures of Student Success
and Achievement (NM-MSSA).
- In grade 11, students will take the SAT
School Day.
- Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities
will take the Dynamic Learning Maps test instead of NM-MSSA, NM-ASR, and
the SAT.
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What Other Tests Will Students Be Required to Take?
- Students
in grades 5, 8, and 11 will take the New Mexico Assessment of Science
Readiness (NM-ASR).
- English learners will take ACCESS for ELLs to
measure English proficiency.
- English learners with the most significant
cognitive disabilities will take Alt-ACCESS instead of ACCESS.
- Students
in grades K-6 will take the Istation reading and math test as an interim
assessment with built in intervention supports.
- Student in grades 7-12
will take NWEA MAP in language arts, reading, math and science as an
interim assessment.
- The Early Childhood Observation Tool is a tool used
by teachers to see what Kindergarten and pre-K students know and can do.
- All first-grade students must be screened for dyslexia.
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