(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Educators, parents, education partners and other Kentucky citizens are invited to provide input on a draft alignment of the document that outlines what students should know and be able to do as they move through the state's public education system.
The Core Content for Assessment is used by Kentucky teachers and test developers to design test questions for the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System (CATS). The document is being aligned to the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NLCB) Act.
NCLB mandates that students in grades 3 through 8 be tested annually in reading and mathematics. Currently, with the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT), the state tests reading in grades 4 and 7 and mathematics in grades 5 and 8. To comply with NCLB, Kentucky will implement augmented components of CTBS in specific grades -- reading in 3, 5, 6 and 8, and mathematics in 3,4,6 and 7. The augmented components will be directly tied to Kentucky's standards for reading and mathematics.
Kentucky educators are beginning work on the development of augmented items by aligning the existing reading and mathematics portions of the state Core Content for Assessment to the new grade levels to be assessed. That document will be the source that guides the development of augmented test items in grades 3 through 8.
Interested individuals may review the draft alignment of the reading and mathematics Core Content for Assessment online through the Department of Education's Web site. Visit http://www.education.ky.gov and click on the link "Your input needed." The documents are posted in a variety of formats, and visitors may complete an online survey once they have finished their reviews.
While NCLB does not require annual testing of reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 until 2006, Kentucky's intent is to provide a field test in the fall of 2004 and an operational test in spring 2005.
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