Norris Middle School

ASSESSMENT

Norris teachers use a variety of assessment strategies to indicate students' strengths and weaknesses.  We classify assessment in two categories:

Formative Assessment - used to give feedback to students and teachers about the progress of learning; provides information for planning/re-teaching

Summative Assessment - used to make judgments about student achievement, usually at the end of instruction.

Additionally, we use standardized testing to help plan instruction and measure achievement.  Norris is using NWEA MAP testing three times during the school year for feedback about student growth and goal planning.

STATE ASSESSMENT

Statewide testing will be scheduled for the end of March and early April.  STARS has been replaced by NeSA - Nebraska Statewide Assessment. 

PRACTICE AT HOME

On-line practice tests are available for the NeSA Reading and Math tests. We encourage students to practice using the tools so they are familiar with the testing process and can focus on showing what they know.  Students will have an opportunity to practice at school, but may use practice tests at home as well, including tests from other grade levels.  The testing software will need to be downloaded to your computer the first time you go to practice the tests.

To access the electronic test at home, follow these steps:

Read the steps, then click on this link to go to the Nebraska Department of Education website:
     NeSA Practice

Scroll down/click on 'Standards & Assessments' on the left side of the screen.
Click on the link for the NeSA/CAL software (center of page)
Click on 'Downloads' (on right side of page)
Click on CAL Version 6.6 (top, right)
Click on the software that is appropriate for your machine (Windows or Mac)
Click on the 'Download CAL Now!' (upper right)
Click through the steps in the download and you have it.