Pilot of Student Assessment

Pilot of Student Math Assessment. At the end of the 2009-2010 school year, high school students will be asked to take a Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) general math or end-of-course math test depending on the course they are taking. The NWEA assessment is a computer-adaptive test. The pilot will help us refine administration procedures to ensure that the students can easily understand test instructions and procedures, the laptops work well, as well as to determine the appropriate number of questions that students can complete within one class period.

We will administer each of the four assessments (General Math, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry) to approximately 40 students from about two New Jersey high schools (160 students in total). To pilot the assessments on a group of students similar to those who will be included in the evaluation, we will select high schools in low income districts. All parents of students in the pilot study will be given a letter describing the assessment and notifying them that students can opt out of the assessment if they wish (Appendix H).