Lynn Liebenrood, Dillon District Four Director of Student Services, gave some general information to board members on the S.C. Ready test that will be given to grades 3-8.
Liebenrood highlighted the following:
*  The assessment will not be timed.
*  The ELA test will be a two-day test.
*  Students are not allowed to use dictionaries or thesauruses during either session of the ELA test.
*  Rulers, protractors, and reference sheets are not needed for any items on the spring 2016 mathematics.
*  For grades 6-8 mathematics, the test will be divided into two sections to be administered in one day.  The first section is a “calculator” section; the second is a “no-calculator” section.
*  The first-year exemption for ELLs that has applied in past years for statewide ELA testing in grades 3-8 will also apply for the SC READY ELA test.
The S.C. Ready item types include the following:
*  ELA & Mathematics – Grades 3-8 – Selected Response (SR) Item type – Students select their responses from a list of possible answer options.  Some of these items may be multi-select items, where students will be prompted to select more than one response option (e.g., “Choose two answers” or “Select ALL…”).  The multi-select items may have 5 or 6 answer choices.
*  ELA – Grades 3-8 – Evidence-Based Selected Response (EBSR) Item type – These are two-part items.  Students first read a piece of text or passage and choose the best answer from the answer choices.  Students are then asked to support their response with evidence from the text – e.g., select multiple evidence statements, place multiple steps in correct sequence, place multiple punctuation marks correctly, etc.  In order to receive credit for a correct response, students must answer both parts of the item correctly.
*  ELA Session 1 only – Grades 3-8, Test-Dependent Analysis (TDA) item type – Students read a piece of text or passage and draw upon that text for their extended written responses – i.e., support their responses with evidence from the text.
*  Mathematics – Grades 6-8 – Gridded Response (GR) Item type – For paper/pencil testers, students will grid a numeric response (gridded response) on their answer document.
*  ELA – Grades 3-8 & Mathematics – Grades 6-8 – Technology Enhanced (TE) Item type – For online testers only, students interact with the item (in DRC INSIGHT) to provide their response – e.g., drag and drop, hot spot*, graphing, etc.  Comparable SR items will replace TE items on the paper/pencil tests.
She presented the board members with the S.C. Ready Draft test design.
Liebenrood said that eleventh graders will take Workkeys and ACT.