Science Assessments

Overview

Get a complete picture of a student's performance in science. NWEA's combined Science test respects instructional time by using an efficient computerized adaptive test to provide useful information about where a student is learning in two areas of science: General Science and Concepts and Processes. Assessing students in science now helps districts prepare for the upcoming No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates.

Because educators need student data for two different realms of science, the test is built upon two different scales. As a result, two overall subject-area scores are produced. In addition, goal-area scores in each realm provide further insight into a student's instructional level. State-aligned for several states, and nationally aligned for others, NWEA Science tests provide relevant results.

Results at grade and building levels allow administrators to analyze how well a district's science curriculum and instruction meets the needs of students. The Science assessment can be used together with NWEA's DesCartes: A Continuum of Learning to translate individual student science scores into corresponding skills and concepts. With this information, educators can better target instruction.

Sample test items

Features

• Accurate, timely results allow for diagnosis of student academic needs in science so that instruction can be targeted.
• State aligned for several states, and nationally aligned for others, NWEA Science tests provide relevant results.
• NWEA's Science assessment uses a single test for two domains of science: General Science and Concepts and Processes.
• The General Science portion of the test assesses a student's understanding of specific science concepts within the three major domains of science: life sciences, earth and space sciences, and physical sciences.
• The Concepts and Processes portion of the test measures a student's performance in both the processes used in science and the major themes underlying the science disciplines.

Practical Application

Immediate, useful results.Like all of NWEA's computerized adaptive tests, the Science test provides immediate results that indicate a student's instructional level in science, allowing teachers to target instruction so that students achieve greater academic growth.

Beyond the individual student level, test results detail and group the range of academic levels in a classroom for targeted instruction within flexible groups. Using DesCartes, NWEA's continuum of learning, teachers can translate test scores into skills and concepts appropriate for a student or group of students. Learn more about DesCartes.

Although the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates for science do not go into effect until 2007-2008, testing students in science now offers a basis to begin preparation. Results at grade and building levels allow administrators to analyze how well a district's curriculum and instruction are aligned to standards. Educators have time to make necessary changes in advance of the NCLB reporting requirements.

Teachers gain a complete picture of a student's understanding in science with performance indicators for both general science and content and for the underlying concepts and processes. NWEA's tests provide information in both areas from one combined test that respects instructional time.

FAQ

What are the prerequisites for licensing NWEA Science assessments?

MAP for Mathematics, Reading, and Language Usage must be licensed prior to purchasing the Science assessments.

How do NWEA Science assessments work with other NWEA resources?

Science tests are an optional component of the MAP assessment program. Science skills and concepts are included in DesCartes. In states that have state-aligned Science tests, NWEA will also have science sections of DesCartes that align to the structure and content of state standards. For all other states, the science sections of DesCartes rely on the content and goal structures of national standards.

To which grade levels are NWEA Science assessments applicable?

Science test items are useful up to and including tenth grade. After tenth grade the general science scale typically breaks into three different domains (biology, chemistry, and physics), which measure differently from each other.

How do NWEA Science tests align to state standards?

The NWEA Science tests are state-aligned for several states, and nationally aligned for others.

The nationally-aligned tests are based on the two national standards documents that exist in science, the AAAS Benchmarks for Science Literary and the NRC's National Science Education Standards. Like the national standards, many state standards emphasize inquiry, the unifying concepts which underlie all branches of the sciences and content knowledge in earth and space sciences, the physical sciences, and biological sciences. Like the national standards, they also emphasize the interaction of science, technology, and society. NWEA tests emphasize inquiry, unifying concepts, and the content knowledge described.