The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subjects. Its two major goals are to measure student achievement and to report change in student performance over time. The NAEP is given to a sampling of students across the nation. The results of the NAEP are given for the entire nation and for individual states. Results are also given for specific groups of students, e.g. gender, racial and ethnic groups, and National School Lunch Program eligibility. Results are not available for schools or individual students.

Subject: Reading, Math (every other year)

Testing Grades: 4th & 8th grades (only a sample of schools is chosen)

Testing Window: Our district will not be tested in the 2024-2025 school year.

ACCESS 2.0 is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment administered to Kindergarten through 12th grade students who have been identified as English language learners (ELLs). It is given annually in to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English. ACCESS 2.0 is aligned with the WIDA English Language Development Standards and assesses each of the four language domains of Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. The assessment is available in both paper-based and online formats for Grades 1-12, while Kindergarten and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs are paper-based tests. 

Subject: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening

Testing Grades: K-12 For students identified as English Learners

Testing Window: January 28 - February 28, 2025

Summative assessments determine students’ progress toward college and career readiness in English language arts/literacy and math. These are given at the end of the school year and consist of two parts: a computer adaptive test and a performance task. The summative assessments accurately describe both student achievement and student growth to inform program evaluation and school, district, and state accountability systems. It also includes writing at every grade and ask students to solve multi-step, real-world problems in mathematics. And it also capitalizes on the strengths of computer adaptive testing: efficient and precise measurement with a quick turnaround of results. The assessment takes approximately 180-240 minutes. ​Results will be mailed home at the beginning of the following year.

Subject: English language arts, Math

Testing Grades: 3rd-8th, & 11th grades

Testing Window: March 24 - May 2, 2025

The alternate assessment is a comprehensive testing system designed to promote increasing higher academic outcomes for students with significant cognitive disabilities in preparation for a broader array of post-secondary outcomes. It is designed to measure academic content that is aligned to and derived from your state’s content standards. This test contains many built-in supports that allow students to use materials they are most familiar with and communicate what they know and can do as independently as possible. This assessment is administered in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics in grades 3-8 and 11. Testing takes approximately 180-240 minutes and results are mailed home at the beginning of the following school year. 

Subject: English language arts, Math

Testing Grades: 3rd-8th, & 11th grades (students with cognitive disabilities)

Testing Window: March 10 - April 25, 2025

The South Dakota Science test measures students’ mastery of the South Dakota State Academic Standards in Science adopted in May, 2015 at grades 5, 8, and 11. This test will cover the grade spans of 3-5, 6-8, and high school. Questions will come equally as possible from life, physical, and earth sciences at all 3 tested levels. This assessment will be completely online and will take approximately 180-240 minutes. Results will be mailed home as soon as the DOE makes them available to us. 

Subject: Science

Testing Grades: 5th, 8th, & 11th grades

Testing Window: March 24 - May 2, 2025

The South Dakota Science Assessment measures student achievement in relation to our new state standards that were adopted in May 2015.  Alternate Assessment is available for students who have met the significant cognitive disability criteria. These students are working with the Core Content Connectors and their IEP’s indicate alternate assessment for statewide testing. The assessment is administered on a computer and results will be available fall of the following school year.  

Subject: Science

Testing Grades: 5th, 8th, & 11th grades (students with cognitive disabilities)

Testing Window: March 24 - May 2, 2025

The NCRC is an industry-recognized, credential certifying essential skills needed for workplace success. To earn certification, students must attain at least the lowest certification level on three ACT® WorkKeys assessments: Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, and Locating Information.

The resulting NCRC certificate can help students demonstrate they are ready for the workplace as they enter the workforce immediately after graduation or pursue further post-secondary education. This vital initiative is part of the Department of Education’s goal to ensure that, “All students graduate college, career, and life ready.”

 The test is taken in February by students in 11th grade and is approximately 165 minutes long. Results are sent to the school to be distributed to students as soon as possible.​

The ASVAB is an optional aptitude test developed and governed by the U.S. Department of Defense. The letters in the acronym stand for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The ASVAB is a multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities in math, English, and reading and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military. It is administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school, and post-secondary students. At Bridgewater Emery High School, the test is administered in 11th grade during the month of October. Testing time is 3.5 hours and individual reports are available for each student who takes the test.

The PSAT/NMSQT and PSAT 10 are the same test, offered at different times of year. They have these benefits in common:

• They are both great practice for the SAT because they test the same skills and knowledge as the SAT — in a way that makes sense for a student’s grade level.

• They both provide score reports that students can use to personalize Khan Academy® SAT practice.

• These score reports also list which AP courses students should check out.

The PSAT is taken by Juniors in the month of October.

The ACT is a standardized test that measures a student's skills in four core areas: English, math, reading, and science. Students in grades 10, 11 and 12 have the option to take the ACT so that they can submit their scores to colleges as part of the college application process. The ACT is composed of four multiple-choice sections and one optional essay section for Writing. Total testing time is approximately 180 minutes and is administered outside of the regular school day. Pre-registration is required along with an exam fee. Results are available online within 2 weeks after the test date. 

Testing Dates:

• September 14, 2024

• October 26, 2024

• December 14, 2024

• February 8, 2025

• April 5, 2025

• June 14, 2025

• July 12, 2025

Dibels is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of early literacy skills used in kindergarten through second grade in the Bridgewater Emery School District. This is a local assessment given in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each test is about 15 minutes long and results are shared during Parent/Teacher Conferences. 

The Reading PLUS InSight computer-adaptive assessment is used to measure three dimensions essential to successful independent silent reading: capacity (comprehension and vocabulary knowledge), efficiency (reading rate), and reading motivation. This is a local assessment for grades 3rd through 10th and is taken in the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Each test is 30-45 minutes long and the web-based results are shared during Parent/Teacher Conferences.

Oral Reading Fluency involves students reading aloud from an unpracticed passage for one minute. A teacher notes any errors made (words read or pronounced incorrectly, omitted, read out of order, or words pronounced for the student by the teacher after a 3-second pause) and then calculates the total amount of words read correctly per minute (WCPM). This words per minute score has 30 years of validation research, indicating it is an accurate indicator of overall reading development throughout the primary grades. This assessment is used at the local level and given to students K-5th during the Fall, Winter, and Spring. Results are shared at Parent/Teacher Conferences.