Georgia Milestones Powerpoint

1. Welcome Parents!
There’s a new test in town…….
The Georgia Milestones
Assessment System

2. What is the Georgia Milestones
Assessment System?
The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia
Milestones) is:
• a comprehensive (summative) assessment system spanning
grades 3 through high school.
• an assessment that measures how well students have learned
the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted
content standards in English Language Arts, Mathematics,
Science, and Social Studies.

3. End-of Grade (EOG) and
End-of-Course(EOC)
 EOG – 3rd – 8th Grades in all content area
Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science
 EOC – 9th – 12th Grade in each of the eight courses
designated by the State Board of Education.
Language Arts
 Ninth Grade Literature and Composition
 American Literature and Composition
Mathematics
 Coordinate Algebra *
 Analytic Geometry
Science
 Physical Science*
 Biology
Social Studies
 United States History
 Economics/Business/Free Enterprise

4. What is the purpose of
Georgia Milestones?
Georgia Milestones is designed to:
 provide information about how well students are mastering
the standards in the core content
 provide students with critical information their readiness
for their next level of learning—be it the next grade, the
next course, or the next endeavor (college or career).
 increase rigor to position Georgia students to compete with
peers nationally and internationally
The Ga. Milestones will not be used as
promotion criteria this year.

5. Why is the state changing to
the Georgia Milestones?
 The Georgia Milestones is replacing the CRCT (Criterion
Reference Competency Test) and EOCT (End of Course
Test)
 The retired CRCT consisted of a series of individual tests,
including reading, language arts and writing. Except for
the writing test, the CRCT was multiple choice (selected
response)
 The CRCT, Writing Assessment (grades 3, 5 and 8) and
End of Course Tests will now be combined into a single
assessment system that aligns more directly with the
Common Core Georgia Performance Standards.

6. What types of questions are on the
Georgia Milestones assessments?
Georgia Milestones includes the item types described
below:
 Constructed-response (open-ended) items in English
Language Arts and Mathematics that require
students to provide elaborate responses to explain
their answers or reasoning.
 Extended response -a writing component in response
to passages read by students

7. What types of questions are on the
Georgia Milestones assessments?
Continued……
 selected response (multiple-choice) items in all content
areas and courses
 nationally norm-referenced items in all content areas
and courses to complement the Georgia criterion-
referenced information and to provide a national
comparison
**Refer to the “Frequently Asked Questions on Georgia
Milestones” handout for some examples.

8. What does that mean for my student?
 There will be more writing within the
test including short-answer and
open-ended questions.
 Students will have to reason and
problem solve throughout the test
by elaborating and explaining answers.
Rigor does not always mean difficult.
It can refer to the quality or state of something.
Student engagement is key.
Which math question shows rigor?
a. Find the missing addend. 13 + __ = 24
b. Explain how subtraction can be used to find a missing addend?

9. Approximate Percent of Test by
Domain & Grade
 Refer to “Content Weights” handout for information
on the approximate weights for each domain on the
Ga. Milestones assessment.
Content Weights for the 2014-2015
School Year
http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-
Assessment/Assessment/Documents/Georgia_Milestones_Content_Weights_20
14-15_FINAL.pdf

10. What scores do students receive on
Georgia Milestones?
The state-adopted content standards set specific academic
benchmarks and expectations for all students in Georgia’s
public schools.
 Georgia Milestones measures how well a student has
acquired the knowledge and skills outlined in the standards
for his or her grade level.
 Student achievement in each content area is classified into
performance levels.
 Student test results will be provided to parents and schools.

11. What scores do students receive on the
Georgia Milestones?
 Nationally norm-referenced items to provide a signal of how
Georgia students are achieving relative to their peers nationally.
 Performance on the English Language Arts portion of Georgia
Milestones is linked to the Lexile scale, a national reading
measure that matches students to appropriately challenging
reading materials.
 For more information about the Lexile scale, as well as resources
to help select literature for your student, visit
www.gadoe.org/lexile.aspx on the Georgia Department of
Education website.

12. When do students take the
assessments?
 Students will take the assessments on days specified
by their local school system within designated state
testing windows.
Gwinnett County Assessment Dates:
 EOG – April 20 – May 1 (End of Grade)
 EOC - April 27 – May 15 (End of Course)

13. Are students with disabilities or students who are
English Learners required to take Georgia Milestones?
 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), and the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
mandate that all students participate in the state
assessment program.
 Students with limited English proficiency who enrolled in a
U.S. school for the first time may receive a one-year
deferment from assessment in EOG content areas other
than Mathematics and Science. Deferments are not
permitted for EOC assessments.

14. What are teachers and students doing to
prepare for the Georgia Milestones?
Students in Ms. Bullock’s 8th grade Gifted
Physical Science classes are preparing for
the EOC by using:
 Coach Books for warm-ups at the beginning
of class
 Study Island questions for warm-ups
 USAtestprep in the computer lab. (This site is
for the High School course only)

15. What are teachers and students doing to
prepare for the Georgia Milestones?
 “My students are practicing locating and highlighting
'textual evidence' in various texts to support and
justify their answers. We also use the R.A.C.E.
method (R= Restate the question, A=answer, C=Cite
evidence from the text, E=Explain your answer) to
create constructed responses.”

16. What are teachers and students doing to
prepare for the Georgia Milestones?
 Ms. Sadri’s class uses the "Powerful Words", "Quick
Write", "Written Conversation", and "Write Around
with graphic organizers” to annotate texts.
 Dr. Welch reminds us that “Homeroom Focus and
Target Time” prep students for the Milestones test
everyday.
 Shiloh MS and Gwinnett County coaches provide
ongoing professional development related to Ga.
Milestones for teachers.

17. What can I do to help my student?
Students who are prepared, calm, and rested perform better on
tests. Here are some of the many ways to help your student
approach Georgia Milestones in a relaxed, positive way
• Encourage your student to employ
good study and test-taking skills.
These skills include following directions
carefully, avoiding careless errors
and reviewing work.
• Explain the purpose of the tests. The assessments give students
an opportunity to show what they have learned in school. They also
give teachers information that helps them plan instruction.

18. What can I do to help my student?
 Point out that some items may be more difficult than
others.
 Be certain your student gets plenty of sleep and has
a healthy breakfast and lunch. Taking tests is hard
work for many students and can require a lot of energy.
 Make sure your student is at school on time. Rushing and
worrying about being late could affect performance on the
tests.
 Remember to ask your student about the testing at the end
of each day.

19. Where can I find more resources about
the Georgia Milestones?
 Resources to help your student prepare for Georgia
Milestones are available on the Georgia Department
of Education’s website at http://testing.gadoe.org.
 To see what online testing is like, you and your
student may visit the Experience Online Testing
Georgia website at http://learnoas. ctb.com/GA.
 Georgia PTA website at www.pta.org/parentsguide

20. Georgia Milestones Assessment System
 The information in this power point regarding the
Georgia Milestones Assessment was taken from the
Department of Education website and other official state
documents. This information is current as of 02/12/15.
Please refer often to www.doe.org for updates or changes
to the Georgia Milestones Assessment.
 For immediate questions and more information, please
contact:
Ms. Scotti McClung, Shiloh MS Testing AP
Scotti_McClung@gwinnett.k12.ga.us
or
Ms. Bishonna Jones, Shiloh MS Parent Instructional Coordinator
Bishonna_Jones@gwinnett.k12.ga.us