|
Idaho Standards Achievement Test
|
||||||
|
|
|
|||||
|
What is a Standard? The Idaho State Achievement Standards are the minimum standards to be used by every school district in the state in order to establish a level of academic achievement necessary to graduate from Idaho's public schools. Each school district may set standards more rigorous than these state achievement standards. Achievement standards are specific subject criteria which, when measured, show a specific level of content knowledge and demonstrated application. In order to create a K-12 seamless education system, achievement standards have been created in six subject areas for years K-12: math, science, social studies, language arts/communications, health and humanities.
What is the ISAT? ISAT stands for Idaho Standards Achievement Tests. The ISAT encompasses multiple-choice tests in reading math, and language usage in grades 2-10. The ISAT is offered in the fall and spring each academic year. The ISAT became a required Idaho state assessment in 2002. In 1994, Idaho began developing state content/achievement standards. In 2000 and 2001, the State Legislature approved the achievement standards for kindergarten through 12 grade. With the standards in place, the State Board of Education, appointed a committee to find an assessment that would provide the confirmation that those standards were being taught in Idaho's schools. In fall 2002, the State Board introduced the ISAT and began testing students in grades 2-10 in every Idaho school.
Proficiency Definitions ADVANCED: Exceeds Standards The student demonstrates thorough knowledge and mastery of skills that allows him/her to function independently above their current educational level.
PROFICIENT: Meets Standards The student demonstrates mastery of knowledge and skills that allow them to function independently on all major concepts and skills related to their educational level.
BASIC: Below Standards The student demonstrates basic knowledge and skills usage but cannot operate independently on concepts and skills related to his/her educational level. Requires remediation and assistance to complete tasks without significant errors.
BELOW BASIC: Critically Below Standards The student demonstrates significant lack of skills and knowledge and is unable to complete basic skills or knowledge sets without significant remediation.
ISAT as a Graduation Requirement The State Board of Education, (SBOE) believes strongly in making sure all students have a basic level of knowledge in math, reading and language usage by the time he/she exits high school. To ensure this result, the SBOE enacted a rule to require all students to pass the ISAT in those areas to receive a high school diploma. The State Legislature approved that rule in January 2004. Below are the scores students must achieve to "bank" a score. The SBOE enacted a phased-in requirement where the standard increases over three years. The graduation requirement is being phased in so students graduating in the class of 2006 or 2007 may meet the graduation requirement by scoring a lower RIT score (6 points for the class of 2006 and 3 points for the class of 2007). The RIT proficiency score a student must reach for graduation is dependent upon the year in which he/she will graduate. For example, a member of the class of 2006 will always have the goal of 236 in math, 218 in reading and 216 in language usage.
|
||||||
