Parent Frequently Asked Questions

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) and Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) require that states ensure all students, including those with significant cognitive disabilities, have access to challenging academic standards and participate in the state’s assessment program. The U.S. Department of Education defines alternate achievement standards as establishing performance expectations that differ in complexity from grade-level achievement standards. These standards must be aligned with the state’s content standards, promote access to the general content standards, and articulate the highest achievement levels possible for the individual student. This means teachers may customize learning expectations for students who participate in alternate assessments. How to read the GAA Student Report.

The Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA) 2.0 is comprised of standardized performance tasks and is intended to provide tiered participation within the assessment for students working at various levels of complexity. The GAA 2.0 is designed to measure the degree to which students with significant cognitive disabilities have mastered alternate achievement standards in the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.  

The GAA 2.0 is administered to all eligible students in the following areas: 

• Grades 3-8, and high school will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics.
• Grades 5, 8, and high school will be assessed in science.
• Grades 8 and high school will be assessed in social studies. 

Purpose 
This assessment provides meaningful information about classroom instruction and helps identify students’ areas of strength and improvement.  If a student’s IEP team determines that a student cannot meaningfully access the Georgia Milestones Assessment System, even with maximum appropriate accommodations, then the student must participate in the GAA 2.0. 

Eligibility 

The decision to assess using the GAA 2.0 is made by the IEP team after considering, responding, and providing rationale to the following eligibility questions: 

• Does the student require intensive, individualized instruction in a variety of instructional settings?
• Does the student have a significant cognitive disability?
• Does the student require specialized supports to access and participate in the grade-level Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) that require modifications based on the student’s Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP)?
• Does the student require specialized supports to demonstrate age-appropriate adaptive behavior? 

The GKIDS Readiness Check is a new component of the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS). It is designed to be administered during the first six weeks of the kindergarten year. The GKIDS Readiness Check is aligned to the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS ) and correlates to the state-mandated content standards for kindergarten. The goal of the assessment is to provide information about the skills of students entering kindergarten. How to read the GKIDS Readiness Check Report.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the GKIDS Readiness Check is to highlight knowledge and skills critical for student success in learning – solely to guide instruction.

The GKIDS Readiness Check is designed to be developmentally appropriate, reflecting research-based best practices for young learners, and will provide information that allows kindergarten teachers to individualize student instruction.

Domains of Learning

There are three areas or domains of learning assessed by the GKIDS Readiness Check:

• Foundations of School Success

This domain includes students’ approaches to learning, social and emotional development, and physical development and development of motor skills. These attributes and skills, while often viewed as non-academic, are leading indicators of students’ progression towards future academic success.

• English Language Arts

This domain includes children’s early language and literacy development. These skills are foundational for fluent and effective communication and literacy skills such as reading and writing.

• Mathematics

This domain includes an understanding of shapes and spatial relationships, problem-solving, identifying similarities and differences, and basic numeracy concepts.

Assessment Activities

Assessment activities for the GKIDS Readiness Check are designed to allow some flexibility for the teacher during administration. Common classroom materials may be used for most activities. For some skills, teachers may assess by observing student performance during the course of regular classroom instruction.

Testing Window

The testing window for the GKIDS Readiness Check is the first six weeks of the kindergarten year. This six-week window will vary across districts, depending on the start date of the school year. Teachers may administer assessment activities at any time during this window. There is no prescribed order of activities.

Parent Resources

A parent resource website is available to provide additional information on GKIDS Readiness Check, including resources to further guide and support students at home.

GKIDS 2.0 is a progression-based formative assessment, integrated into classroom work, that is aligned to the Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE). GKIDS 2.0 is organized around big ideas and learning progressions. How to read the GKIDS Report.

• A big idea describes the integration of concepts and skills from the kindergarten standards that are most important for success in first grade.
• A learning progression shows where the student is in the learning continuum of content and reasoning development regarding the big idea from the GSE.
  • Learning progressions provide the big picture of what is to be learned across the year, relate increased reasoning of standards within the grade and across grades, and support instructional planning.

GKIDS 2.0 provides teachers with one source of real-time information to adjust instruction, by identifying what a student already knows, what the student needs next, and by allowing the teacher to monitor growth.

A summary of the big ideas and learning progressions is provided below:

English Language Arts

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will understand the relationship between letters and sounds and recognize high-frequency words with speed and accuracy. 

• ​Progression: Phonemic Awareness 

• Progression: Phonics

• Progression: High Frequency Words​

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will independently read grade-level texts of different genres with accuracy and demonstrate comprehension by answering text-dependent questions.

• Progression: Comprehension

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will independently read grade-level texts of different genres with accuracy and demonstrate comprehension by answering text-dependent questions. 

• Progression: Comprehension

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will independently write more than one complete thought on a single topic, using phonetic spelling and key print conventions. 

• Progression: Conventions of Writing

• Progression: Spelling

• Progression: Communication of Ideas

Mathematics

Big Idea: Numerical Reasoning

• Progression: Counting & Cardinality

• Progression: Count Sequences

• Progression: Written Numerals & Comparison of Quantities

• Progression: Addition & Subtraction

Big Idea: Patterning & Algebraic Reasoning

• Progression: Patterns & Passage of Time

Big Idea: Measurement & Data Reasoning

• ​Progression: Comparison & Classification of Objects

Big Idea: Geometric & Spatial Reasoning

• Progression: Shapes & Positional Language

Science (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic physical science concepts.

• Progression: Physical Attributes

• Progression: Motion

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic life science concepts.

• Progression: Organisms & Non-living Objects

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic earth and space science concepts.

• Progression: Space Science

• Progression: Earth Materials

Social Studies (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic historical concepts.

• Progression: Historical Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic concepts of geography.

• Progression: Geographic Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of good citizenship.

• Progression: Civic Understandings

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate an understanding of basic economic concepts.

• Progression: Economic Understandings

Approaches to Learning

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate behaviors used to acquire new knowledge and skills and engage in the learning process.

• Progression: Curiosity and Initiative

• Progression: Creativity and Problem-Solving

• Progression: Attention, Engagement, and Persistence

Personal and Social Development

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate skills and behaviors used for self-regulation and interactions with others.

• Progression: Personal Development and Self-Regulation

• Progression: Social Development/Classroom Interactions

Motor Skills (optional)

Big Idea: A kindergarten student will demonstrate age-appropriate fine and gross motor skills.

• Progression: Fine Motor Skills

• Progression: Gross Motor Skills

Parent Resources

A parent resource website is available to provide additional information on GKIDS 2.0, including resources to further guide and support students at home.

• GKIDS 2.0 Parent Website 
• GKIDS 2.0 Parent Flyer

WIDA ​ACCESS is administered annually to all English learners in Georgia. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​WIDA ​ACCESS is a standards-based, criterion-referenced English language proficiency test designed to measure English learners’ social and academic proficiency in English. It assesses social and instructional English as well as the language associated with language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies within the school context across the four language domains. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​WIDA ​ACCESS meets the federal requirements that mandate​ states evaluate EL students in grades K through 12 on their progress in learning to speak English. How to read the ACCESS for ELLs Report.

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​WIDA ​ACCESS is used to determine the English language proficiency levels and progress of ELs in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​WIDA ​ACCESS serves five main purposes. These include:

• determining the English language proficiency level of students;

• providing districts with information that will help them evaluate the effectiveness of their ESOL programs;

• providing information that enhances instruction and learning in programs for English language learners;

• assessing annual English language proficiency gains using a standards-based assessment instrument;

• providing data for meeting federal and state requirements with respect to student assessment.

• WIDA  ACCESS Information

WIDA Alternate ACCESS is an individually administered test for EL students in grades K - 12 with significant cognitive disabilities. It is intended for EL students with significant cognitive disabilities that are severe enough to prevent meaningful participation in the WIDA ACCESS assessment. Decisions regarding a student's participation must be made by an IEP team. 

Note:  EL students shall not be administered both the WIDA Alternate ACCESS and WIDA ACCESS assessments.​​

Alternate ACCESS Participation Criteria:

1. IEP documentation must provide clear evidence that the student's daily instruction is based on alternate content standards.

2. The student must be an English learner and a student with the most significant cognitive disabilities. Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities or intellectual disabilities concurrent with motor, sensory, or emotional/behavioral disabilities require substantial adaptations and supports to access the general curriculum and require additional instruction focused on relevant life skills.

3. The student is unable to access the content of Kindergarten ACCESS or WIDA ACCESS, even with the provision of all necessary universal tools, allowable accommodations, and administrative considerations.

4. Students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-12 and instructed on alternate content standards are eligible for the Georgia Alternate Assessment (GAA 2.0).

What is the purpose of Georgia Milestones?

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System is designed to provide information about how well students are mastering the state-adopted content standards in the core content areas of English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. 

• How to read the EOG Individual Student Report  (Grades 3-8)
• How to read the EOC Individual Student Report (Grades 9-12)

Importantly, Georgia Milestones is designed to provide students with critical information about their own achievements and their readiness for their next level of learning – be it the next grade, the next course, or the next endeavor (college or career).

Informing parents, educators, and the public about how well students are learning important content is an essential aspect of any educational assessment and accountability system.  Parents, the public, and policymakers, including local school districts and boards of education, can use the results as a barometer of the quality of educational opportunities provided throughout the state of Georgia.

What is assessed?

Georgia Milestones measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

Georgia Milestones is a single assessment system that consists of end-of-grade measures in English language arts and mathematics in grades 3-8, end-of-grade measures in science in grades 5 and 8, end-of-grade measures in social studies in grade 8, and end-of-course measures for specified high school courses.

The end-of-course measures are administered at the completion of the course, regardless of the grade level. Middle school students who are enrolled in one or more of these courses are required to take the associated end-of-course (EOC) measure. These measures serve as the final exam for the course and contribute a percentage of the student's final course grade per State Board Rule 160-4-2-.13 Statewide Passing Score.

Georgia Milestones is administered primarily on the computer and includes the following features:

• ​Technology-enhanced items in all grades and courses,

• ​​Open-ended (constructed response) items in English language arts in all grades and courses,

• A writing component (in response to passages read by students) at every grade level and course within the English language arts assessment,

• A reported Lexile score based on the English language arts assessment in all grades and courses, and

• ​Estimated norm-referenced performance ranges for all grades and courses. 

Georgia Milestones Resources

• Georgia Milestones Resources

For more than 50 years, information on what American students know and can do has been generated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). It is the only ongoing effort to obtain comprehensive and dependable achievement data on a national basis in a uniform and scientific manner Commonly known as "The Nation's Report Card", NAEP is a congressionally mandated project of the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

Administration

• Reading and mathematics assessments with state results are given every two years.  One other subject is usually assessed during the state years also.  The other subjects have included science and writing.  The alternate years have national results only. 

• Grades 4, 8 and 12 are assessed however results are only calculated in Georgia for grades 4 and 8.  Scores for districts, schools, and individual students are not calculated or reported.

• Long term trend assessments are given every four years to students aged 9, 13 and 17.  This assessment tracks changes in national achievement over time. 

Legislation

• The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) requires states that receive Title I funding to participate in the biennial NAEP assessment in reading and mathematics at grades 4 and 8.

• The State School Superintendent and the State Board of Education support participation in the NAEP program in State Board Rule 160-3-1.07.

• The Georgia Legislature supports participation in State Law O.C.G.A. Section 20-2-281.

Use of Data

The NAEP assessment results are most useful when they are considered in light of other knowledge about the education system, such as trends in educational reform, changes in school-age population, and societal demands and expectations.  This information can be found in the NAEP Data Explorer. 

• PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test)
• ACT (Administered by American College Testing)
• SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test administered by College Board)