Measuring Achievement
Brandon-Evansville Public School uses a variety of methods to measure student progress and determine whether our students are meeting their learning goals. Methods include:
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments
AIMSweb Plus
Various Literacy Assessments
In-class Unit and Skills Assessments
Common Assessments
College Admissions Tests
The administrative and teaching staff continue to develop programs to address achievement levels of all students. Teachers at all levels continue to develop and use district-wide common assessments to measure achievement in each grade level.
Read the district assessment plans below:
Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA)
The MCA tests measure academic knowledge as described in the state standards for the areas of language arts and mathematics. Students in grades 3–8 and 10 take the MCA tests in reading, while students in grades 3-8 and 11 take the MCA tests in mathematics. Students in grades 5 and 8 and high school biology students take the MCA in science.
Results of these tests help the district make decisions about curriculum and assist in determining district, school and student progress on standards.
On the MCA, student performance is broken down into four achievement levels with level four indicating exceeding the standards. Students who score in level three are considered meeting state standards. Students scoring in level two partially meet the standards, and students scoring in level one do not meet the standards. Students in levels three and four are considered to be proficient.
Special testing accommodations may be made for students with special learning plans (e.g., IEP, 504, LEP). Some students may also be permanently or temporarily exempted. Please contact your counselor for more information.
Parents/guardians have a right to not have their students participate in state-required standardized assessments. They may review and complete the form in the Minnesota Department of Education’s Parent/Guardian Guide and Refusal for Student Participation in Statewide Assessments.
STAR Assessment
STAR assessments are locally determined assessments that students take at least in three benchmarks, otherwise known as screening periods: Fall, Winter, and Spring. The purpose of these benchmarks is to assess student's performance in the Common Core standards and set learning goals for the following benchmark.
Graduation Required Assessments
What is ACT Testing?
The required portion of the ACT is divided into four multiple choice subject tests: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science reasoning. Subject test scores range from 1 to 36; all scores are integers. The English, mathematics, and reading tests also have subscores ranging from 1 to 18. In addition Brandon-Evansville Public School administers the ACT+Writing.
The ACT writing test is a 40-minute essay test that measures student writing skills. The test consists of one writing prompt that will describe a complex issue and present three different perspectives on that issue. The ACT writing test complements the English and reading tests. The ACT+Writing Tests are offered to all students in grade 11 at Brandon-Evansville School.
What is the ACT Aspire Assessment?
This is a vertically scaled, standards-based system of assessments in Math, Science, English, Reading and Writing that monitors student growth and progress toward college and career readiness.