As many of you are likely
aware, the Ohio Achievement Assessment (OAA) will no longer be administered to
assess reading for third grade students.
Ohio’s Grade 3 English language arts test will replace the OAA. This test is designed to measure whether or
not students meet the requirements of the Third Grade Reading Guarantee
(TGRG). The vendor for this measurement
is the American Institutes for Research (AIR).
“AIR” may sound familiar to many parents as older students were measured
in the content areas of science and social studies last year using this
vendor.
It is important to note that
Greenville City Schools has set aside the week of December 7-December 11, 2015
for the Grade 3 ELA administration.
Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee mandates third grade students must
meet a minimum passing score on this assessment; however, a cut-score (passing
score) has yet to be determined by the Ohio Department of Education. In order to prepare for the up-coming,
state-wide, on-line assessment, the third grade students have been receiving
thirty minutes of technology instruction a week in addition to their language
arts instruction. This population was
also administered the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test in September to
mimic the types of questions with which they will be presented on the Grade 3
ELA administration.
Students have several
opportunities to meet the requirement of the Third Grade Reading
Guarantee. First, a minimum score of
186, as determined by the Ohio Department of Education, is needed on the
reading portion of the MAP assessment in order to be promoted to fourth grade.
Additional MAP administrations will occur in December 2015 and May 2016. Furthermore, students can meet the
requirement of the TGRG by attaining the cut score on the Grade 3 ELA
test. In addition to the December Grade
3 ELA measurement, there will also be a second administration of that same
assessment in April 2016.
The September MAP results
have been communicated to parents. A
reading improvement and monitoring plan (RIMP) is currently being developed for
any third grade student who was determined to be “not on track” at the
beginning of the year as indicated by the MAP measurement. Parents are encouraged to contact their third
grade child’s language arts instructor with questions.