Good Afternoon!
A MISIC member recently asked a couple of questions about the ISASP test. We received answers from Iowa Testing Programs and we wanted to share them with you all. Please let us know if there is anything else that we can do to support your district.
~The MISIC Team
Question: Is there an informational letter for parents to help them understand ISASP results?
Answer: Information for families about ISASP can be found here. The material is available here in several different languages.
Question: Achieve the Core gives some guidance as to what the major clusters are for each grade level in the area of math. Is there anything that tells us if these major clusters align with what ISASP focuses on for the test?
Answer: A primary purpose of the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) is to provide an evaluation of student performance on the Iowa Core standards. As a requirement for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) peer review process, the state of Iowa provided evidence that the Iowa Core standards in mathematics were adopted and approved by the Iowa State Board of Education as required by Iowa code. In addition, the peer review process required evidence of the consistency between the Iowa Core standards, the ISASP test specifications and the test questions. For each grade-level assessment to be aligned to the test specifications it needed to reflect the full range of Iowa’s content standards. These specifications can be found at: https://iowa.pearsonaccess.com/research/
The majority of items on ISASP come from the Major Clusters. ISASP test design is consistent with the spirit of the Achieve the Core framework and the statement from the focus sheets that “at least 65% and up to approximately 85% of class time—should be devoted to the major work of the grade,” in the course of giving students the opportunity to learn all grade-level standards.