Assessment

Teaching Strategies GOLD® is adminstered to prekindergarten students in compliance with state law that each child eligible for and enrolled in a publicly funded prekindergarten program be administered an approved formative assessment during the first forty-five days and the last forty-five days of the school year.

GOLD® assist teachers to observe children in the context of every day experiences. It is based on 38 objectives for development and learning that include predictors of school success.

KRA is administered to kindergarten students, in compliance with state law, by the forty-fith day of the school year. Sumter School District makes an effort to adminster this assessment to the majority of kindergarteners during the first five days of the school year. KRA gathers important inofrmation about each child's skills and abilities in following areas:

1. Language and literacy: This includes recognizing letters, understanding simple words, and beginning to read.
2. Mathematics: This includes basic skills such as counting, recognizing numbers, and understanding shapes.
3. Social Foundations: The assessment looks at how well a child interacts with others, follows directions, and manages emotions.
4. Physical Well-Being: This includes skills such as fine motor abilities (e.g., holding a pencil or cutting with scissors) and gross motor skills (e.g., running or jumping).

Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®)

CogAT® is an aptitude assessment provided by the South Carolina Department of Education. CogAT® is adminstered to all second graders to evaluate each student for placement in the district's Gifted and Taltented program.

Iowa Assessments™

The Iowa Assessments™ are achievement tests provided by the South Carolina Department of Education. Reading and Math assessments are adminstered to all second graders for the purpose of evaluating each student for placement in the district's Gifted and Talented program.

SC Performance Tasks Assessments (PTA)

PTA is another state provided assessment that can be used in evaluating students who score at a certain level on an aptitutde assessment or at a certain level on an achievement assessment, to further evaluate them for placement in the district's Gifted and Talented program.

SC READY is a state-wide assessment program that measures student performance on the South Carolina College- and Career-Ready Standards. SC READY is adminstered no earlier than the last 20 days of the school year.

The English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics assessments are administered to students in grades 3-8. Students in selected grades take the science and social studies assessments. 

For the 2024-2025 school year, students will be assessed in grades 4 and 6 in science, and no students will be assessed in social studies.

EOCEP is a statewide assessment program for gateway courses that are awarded units of credit in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students currently take EOCEP assessments for the following courses: 

• Algebra 1,
• Intermediate Algebra,
• Biology 1,
• English 2, and
• United States History and the Constitution, or
• courses with other names in which the academic standard correspond to those taught in the courses listed above.

The South Carolina Career Ready Test must be administered to all students in their third year of high school after their initial enrollment in the ninth grade. Students that are in their fourth year of high school (twelfth grade) may also take this assessment.

The following timed assessments are given as part of the South Carolina Career Ready Test:

• WIN Work Ready Soft Skills Assessment
• WIN Work Ready Math Assessment
• WIN Work Ready Reading Assessment
• WIN Work Ready Data Assessment

All students in their third year of high school after their initial enrollment in the ninth grade are offered the opportunity to take either the SAT® college entrance exam or the ACT® college entrance exam. These exams are provided at no cost to parents. 

The choice of whether to take a college entrance assessment and if so, which assessment to take, is made at the student level.

MAP® Growth™

MAP Growth is a state approved formative interim assessment administered to Sumter School District students in grades K-8. This computer adaptive assessment measures what students know, regardless of their grade level and allows each student's growth to be tracked throughout a school year and across multiple school years.

MAP Growth is adminstered to students in grades K-8 three times a year.

Family Guide to MAP Growth Fact Sheet

MAP® Reading Fluency™

MAP Reading Fluency is an adaptive universal screening and progress monitoring assessment for early reading skills.

Students in grades K-2 take MAP Reading Fluency three times a year.

Watch a video to see how students experience MAP Reading Fluency