Required Elementary School Tests To Begin

Idaho elementary schools will move next month from piloting the state’s first standards-based test to its first year of full implementation.

New laws last year required schools to assess the reading skills of students in kindergarten through third grade at least twice a year. The State Department of Education created a fall, winter and spring Idaho Reading Indicator for each grade level.

In the pilot year, students were required to take all three tests. This year, students must test in fall and winter. Those who score near and below grade level on both tests also will take the spring test.

The state has modified the Idaho Reading Indicator - using information from the pilot year - updated its guide for parents and produced a new instructional guide for teachers.

The first-grade winter test will assess a new skill: the student’s ability to blend sounds into words. The third-grade winter test will include spelling.