Page 1 of 2

2013-2014Lake Benchmark AssessmentAdministration Guide

Purpose and Development

The Lake Benchmark Assessments were developed as part of Lake County’s Continuous Improvement Model to monitor the progress of students’ mastery of the current Florida standards. The questions will be individually analyzed for validity and reliability after each administration based on extensive item analysis of student results. Items that do not meet our demands for validity will be discarded thus not included in the final results. The purpose of this test is to allow teachers and schools to use the results to identify areas of strengths and weaknesses to improve student performance.

The LBAs were developed by a 57 member team comprised of Lake County teachers, instructional coaches and program specialists who were trained by a psychometrician to evaluate and author items. Items were chosen from the Riverside Publishing Company Assess to Know Item Bank, while some were authored by content area experts from the team.Finally, content area specials reviewed the test blueprints and items for adherence to FCAT 2.0/EOC Item Specifications.

The LBAs are multiple-choice and vary in length. Each test is located in the Edusoft system and can be taken on paper or online. The Edusoft system allows for reporting by standard, benchmark, and question group, and can be filtered by large group, grade level, teacher, individual demographics, previous FCAT achievement level performance, and all AYP reporting categories. Blueprints for each test will be made available on the LBA Info page, as well as FAQ’s about the development and use of the LBA’s.

AreasAssessed

The LBA’swere developed for Math, Reading, Writing, US History, Civics and Science and will be assessed in the following areas:

Math

  • General Math

Gr. 3-8

  • Algebra 1

All students enrolled in Algebra 1, Algebra 1 Honors and Algebra 1B**

  • Geometry

All students enrolled in Geometry and Geometry Honors**

Reading

  • Reading

Gr.3-10

Writing

  • Writing

Gr. 4, 8 and 10

Science

  • General Science

Gr. 3-8

  • Biology

All students enrolled in Biology and Biology Honors**

Social Studies

  • US History

All high school students enrolled inCourse Number 2100310, United States History

  • Civics

All middle school students enrolled in 7th Grade Civics

**Term 2 students take the LBA’s during enrollment in Term 2

Traditional Testing WindowsBlock Schedule/Non-Yearlong Courses Testing Windows

Baseline- August 26-September 30, 2013First Two Weeks of Course

Midyear- November 12 - December 16, 2013One Week Prior to or After Midterm

End of Year- Optional and TBA lTBD Independently by Each School

Test Schedule

As each school is unique as far as schedule, facilities, and available technology, school leaders have the flexibility to decide how to implement a testing plan that best suits their needs. The test is not timed and the online version may be paused and resumed as needed. The testing time will vary among grade levels and test and may occur over several class periods or days.

Test Administration

The LBAs should be administered as a typical “important” classroom test. They are not timed; students should be given sufficient time to complete all items. No test should be sent home with a student and students cannot receive help answering test questions.

Test Materials

Each test is located in Edusoft.

The Assessment Guide should be distributed to the appropriate staff as required.

Calculators are required for Gr 7-8 Math/Math Retakes/Algebra & Science Gr 8/Biology.Geometry requires a scientific calculator.

Reference sheets are required for MathGr 5-8/ Math Retake/Algebra & Geometry. Periodic Tables are required for Science Gr 8 and Biology. All reference sheets and the periodic table form can be located at the LBA page, link below.

Online Testing

It is recommended that Gr 5 Math, Gr 6-7 Reading, Algebra 1, Geometry, US History, Civics, and Biology be given online as the state test will be available online only (with exceptions made for any student with an IEP/505 noting otherwise). Teachers should be trained by the Edusoft Contact to assign online tests to students. Students will receive tickets which they will use to access the tests. Online tests should NOT be assigned to students to login using their User ID’s as the test is secure and using password login would allow students to access the tests from any location, including home.

Paper Testing

Schools opting for paper assessment are responsible for copies. A class set is recommended, with allowance for use of scratch paper so that students do not mark on tests.

Accommodations

All accommodations noted on IEP, 504 and LEP plans should be followed. Large Print test materials will not be available; however, schools are allowed to enlarge assessments for students who require large print.

Scanning/Scoring

Tests should be scanned no later than the day after the last test is administered. All reports should be run within one week after the testing administration window closes, as the test will no longer be available one week after the window closes.

Teachers should resolve their answer sheets after each scanning session. This process will ensure that all students are accounted for when reports are compiled for review by school-site educators and district staff.

Please be sure to keep all scanned answer sheets for one year, then shred.

Reports

Reports can be generated almost immediately after scanning/scoring is completed. However, reports are not official and should not be accessed until Testing notifies principals & Test Coordinators that they are ready to access.

To access information on the LBA’s, go to:

Lake County Lake Benchmark Assessments Info Pageat, Departments>Testing>Lake Benchmark Assessments

Or

access “How To’s” for Edusoft, go to:

Quicklink- Edusoft

Or

Evaluation and Accountability 352-483-9200

August 1, 2012