Cache County School District Welcomes New Testing Platforms
Every year, students participate in statewide assessments. These assessments are intended to track proficiency and growth in language arts, mathematics, and science. In past years, Utah educators utilized SAGE to measure growth and ability. However, this year the Utah Board of Education is using RISE to test all 3rd- through 8th-grade students, Utah Aspire Plus for 9th- and 10th-grade students, and the ACT for 11th-grade students.
Standardized testing gives educators data to better understand students’ needs on an individual level. Robyn Hedgecock, the Assessment Systems Manager for Cache County School District, explains, “RISE provides evidence of where they are in their learning.” This evidence is considered when making decisions concerning curriculum, preparing teaching plans, and finding strengths and areas of improvement on a larger scale.
The Utah Board of Education has released a video explaining in greater detail the benefits of RISE testing. In the video, Terry Humphreys, a principal at T.O. Smith Elementary School, defines RISE as a new and exciting tool. She says, “[RISE] is another tool in our toolkit that will help us make data-driven decisions to improve outcomes for students.” The forefront goal of any educator is to see students’ success and these test results make the strengths and areas of improvement at a district-level crystal clear. Standardized testing acts as a roadmap to make sure that resources are being put in the most beneficial places.
Wondering what to expect with the change from SAGE to RISE and Utah Aspire Plus? Here is a 5-step breakdown of what you need to know about these tests:
1. There is a family-friendly portal.
Both RISE and Utah Aspire Plus have portals for students, parents, and teachers. Here you can find frequently asked questions, resources for parents and students, practice tests, and more. Head on over to the website to take a peek: https://utportal.questarai.com/.
2. Just like SAGE testing, it will be online.
The fact that testing is online provides interactive testing opportunities -- not limited to multiple choice questions, only. Students will be able to navigate the test in a similar way to SAGE testing and can also move backward and forward, review, and make changes to what they’ve done before they submit their answers.
3. Unlike SAGE testing, RISE is multistage adaptive.
This means that the first portion of the test is fixed form. Everyone will get the same questions, randomized, in the first section. The second portion will be adapted, based on their answers in the fixed form portion. On Utah Aspire Plus, the entire test will be a fixed form assessment.
4. High Schoolers will be better prepared for the ACT.
High school freshmen and sophomores will be taking Utah Aspire Plus, a test that predicts their readiness for the ACT, which gives them an opportunity to see in which areas they should focus their studies. Utah Aspire Plus will be administered from the end of April to the beginning of May. Utah Aspire Plus contains items that will be similar to those found on the ACT, along with items written by Utah teachers.
5. Writing assessments will happen on all levels.
For writing, all grades in Cache County School District will be assessed, but only 5th- and 8th- graders’ results will be reported to the state.
Hedgecock remarked, “As a district, we think it is important to continue testing our students on writing at all grade levels based on the growth we have seen in our students through the writing assessment.”
We are confident that RISE, Utah Aspire Plus, and ACT Testing will provide honest, accurate results and will be a seamless transition for teachers, parents, and students alike. Visit Cache County School District’s Assessment page to find out more.