South Carolina College and Career READY Assessments (SC READY) and South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (SCPASS) Spring 2017 Testing
The South Carolina College- and Career- READY Assessments (SC READY) are statewide assessments in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics that are administered to students in grades 3 through 8.
The South Carolina Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (SCPASS) are statewide assessments in science and social studies that are administered to students in grades 4 through 8. These assessments are aligned to state standards and what is taught in your child’s classroom. All students in the applicable grades are required to take the SC READY and SCPASS assessments except those who qualify for the South Carolina National Center and State Collaborative (SC-NCSC) and South Carolina Alternative Assessment (SC-ALT) assessments.
Schools will notify parents of your child’s testing schedule, which will occur during the April 21-June 2 testing window.
This year, students in grades 3-5 will be administered the ELA Day 1 and Day 2 tests with a paper format. All other subjects will be administered in an online format. Students in grades 6-8 will complete all tests with the online format. Students with accommodations plans (i.e., IEPs, 504 Plans, or ESOL Plans) are expected to test with the testing format identified in his/her plan (paper or online). Students in grades 6-8 who are testing online are also expected to participate in an ELA field test (1 TDA item and question).
SC READY and SCPASS tests are untimed for each day of testing; however, each session must be completed during a single day unless the student has an IEP, 504 Plan, or ESOL accommodation plan specifying administration of a single test over several days.
Items on SC READY will include selected response, short answer, evidence-based selected response, and text-dependent analysis. Evidence-based selected response will require students to read a piece of text or a passage and choose the best answer from answer choices. Text-dependent analysis will require students to read a piece of text or a passage and draw upon that text for their extended written responses. SCPASS has been designed to assess higher levels of learning as well as basic skills. Items on SCPASS tests consist of multiple-choice items. Additionally, online SCPASS tests may also contain technology-enhance items (e.g., drag and drop, drop-down menu, hot spot).
To prepare students for online testing, a public version of the Online Tools Training (OTT) is available for students to interact with the testing software and tools before the “real” administration of the assessment. While the OTT simulates the test experience, correct answers and scores are not provided. A public version of the OTT is available at https://wbte.drcedirect.com/SC/portals/sc. (Use Google Chrome to access this site.) This public version does not include audio for oral administration or video for sign language.
Testing Tips
Students should:
- Rest on the nights before these tests.
- Eat a nourishing breakfast on the morning of each test.
- Be in school and on time, except in cases of illness.
- Listen attentively to the teacher’s directions so he/she will know exactly what to do.
- Read each test question and each response carefully before marking an answer choice.
- Stay calm, if there are questions that seem difficult.
- Mark his/her best answer.
- Refrain from bringing any electronic device that can be used for communicating, timing, or imaging into the testing location.
Parents should:
- Meet with your child’s teachers as often as necessary to discuss his/her progress.
- Check or review your child’s homework, projects, or other school work.
- Ask teachers to suggest activities for you and your child to do at home to help prepare for tests and to improve your child’s understanding of schoolwork.
- Talk with your child about school.
- Provide positive feedback by praising your child for what he/she does well.