User's Guide: Field 1
Assessment Elements

What you are looking at
You are looking at a graphic representation of the assessment scores on the Spring 1999 state tests. The 100-point scale indicates 100% of the children who were assessed at this grade level. The dark band at the top of the bar represents the percentage of the highest scoring students. The black at the bottom represents the percentage of the lowest scorers. The two bands above the white are the percentage of students who have achieved or exceeded the Regents’ standards.

What you are looking for
You are hoping to see that all children have achieved the standard and are represented only in the top achievement levels, "Achieved the Standard with Honors" and "Achieved the Standard."

All state tests now have the same achievement levels and descriptors

The RI Board of Regents has adopted the New Standards Reference Examination’s (NSRE) use of five achievement levels as well as the language for describing each level, such as "Achieved the Standard with Honors."

Test subscales
The NSRE in mathematics contains three subscales which are: Skills, Concepts and Problem-Solving. The NSRE in English Language Arts contains four subscales which are: Reading: Basic Understanding, Reading: Analysis and Interpretation, Writing: Effectiveness and Writing: Conventions. Particular items from the entire test, which is taken over the course of several days, are grouped in various ways to form the subscale scores. Some items are used in more than one subscale. For this year only, results for Grade 10 Writing: Conventions are not reported.

RI Health and RI Writing
While the New Standards Reference Exams were developed by a consortium of states in an effort coordinated by the National Center on Education and the Economy, both the RI Health and RI Writing were developed in-state by teachers, administrators and RIDE’s Office of Assessment, assisted by the contractor, Advanced Systems, Inc. which administers performance-based assessments of various content areas in over twenty states.

The Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)
The SAT is not part of the RI assessment program. Students who so choose pay to take the tests to fulfill college admissions requirements.

Percent of test-takers in college-bound programs
To be considered to be in a college-bound program, students must report on their SAT test forms that they took both chemistry and geometry. Participation in these courses indicates that the student was taking courses considered essential for college academic success.

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