Assessment Schedules & Information

Elementary

High School

Why we test?

Testing is one way student achievement can be measured here at New York Mills Public School. The New York Mills Public School administers three categories of assessments during the school year: State Assessments, District Benchmark Assessments, and Classroom Assessments. State Assessments take place once a year, District Benchmark Assessments take place up to three times a year, and Classroom Assessments are continuous throughout the semesters. All three types of assessments provide educators with the information necessary to measure and guide student learning.

Assessment Programming

Our team at New York Mills Public School, including administration, department teams, grade level teams, teachers, and curriculum teams, use the assessment data and information to help map out areas of strength and areas in need of improvement for individual students, groups of students, and for our curricular programming.

We report each year on the summary achievement information from our standardized testing results as part of our World’s Best Workforce Plan State Requirement. New York Mills Public School uses our Standardized Test data for continuous improvement planning throughout the District. Our District uses multiple pieces of information when evaluating student achievement and performance. The Standardized Test data is one piece of this information for continuous improvement planning.

The Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA) and the Minnesota Test of Academic Skills (MTAS) are the State Tests that measure student progress toward mastery of Minnesota’s Academic Standards as required by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). Many students take the MCA; however, students who receive Special Education services and meet specific requirements may take the MTAS instead of the MCA.
In addition to the required State Assessments, students in grades K-8, here at New York Mills Public School, take District Benchmark Assessments approximately three times per school year. These assessments measure student progress on academic standards, determine programmatic needs, and identify students who may need academic support or enrichment. New York Mills Public School uses NWEA and AIMSweb.

MDE Information on MCA