Georgia Milestones Reading Program

Overview

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Write Score fully aligns to the Georgia Standards of Excellence for English Language Arts 2-12 for Reading and provides materials to help measure and instruct on those standards.

Our formative reading program consists of three main components:

  • text-based assessments including both informational and literary texts. Tests for grades 3-12 consist of five passages and 28 questions, including a Narrative Extended Constructed Response. Grade 2 tests include four passages with 14 questions.

  • detailed, accessible reading data at the student, class, school, and district levels

  • robust instructional materials to support student reading and save teachers’ time

 

The program also contains the following additional and useful items…

Sharpen Up Videos  Engage students with this series of animated writing videos that includes writing strategies and practice. 
Student Access Data  Students can access and review each set of assessment data through student accounts. 
Standards Explorer  Quickly identify, filter, and search for Write Score lessons using our Standards Explorer. 

Students who use our reading assessments have a testing experience that is very similar to the Georgia Milestones Assessment (GMA) in both structure and difficulty. Each assessment includes five grade-appropriate articles with annotated text features, multiple choice, multi-select, two-part, and short constructed response questions.  Additionally, one Extended Narrative Constructed Response is included. Assessments are administered via our online testing platform (when paper-pencil tests are not selected) which has a look and feel similar to the online GMA platform. Digital tools in our online platform function similarly to those on the GMA, allowing for students to practice and become comfortable.

Data results are returned quickly via an online teacher data report which breaks the scoring into “clusters” of standards: Key Ideas & Details, Craft & Structure, Integration of Knowledge & Ideas, and Language & Conventions. Within those reporting categories, specific standard-level detail helps provide targeted data to use in monitoring student proficiency and making instructional decisions.

Keeping in mind the demands on teachers’ planning time, Write Score includes a bank of instructional materials aligned to each reading standard. Approximately 30 lesson sets per grade level are available at the beginning of the year in each grade level and are divided by specific standards and question types, including resources for Narrative Extended Constructed Responses. Many lesson plan sets include a lesson plan that is written in the gradual release of responsibility, a student handout, and a teachers’ edition.

After students’ results are released, post-assessment resources become available, including access to the actual student assessment and a teacher’s edition with explanations and details for each question and correct answer.

Reading Assessments include:

  • Literary and Informational Texts that are measured for complexity and readability with qualitative and quantitative measures, along with structure, purpose, and language complexity.
  • Standards-based Questions that access grade level standards from four reporting categories: Key Ideas & Details, Craft & Structure, Integ. of Knowledge & Ideas, Language & Conventions.

  • Assessment Blueprints that explain the knowledge, skills, and type of questions on each assessment.

  • Professional Hand-Scoring of Constructed Response Items


Grade 2 includes two literary and two informational texts with 14 Standards-based Questions (12 Selected Response and 2 Constructed Response items) that assess grade level standards from the four reporting categories.

Grades 3-12 include two literary and two informational texts with 24 Standards-based Questions (22 Selected Response and 2 Constructed Response items) that access grade level standards from the four reporting categories. Additionally, a Narrative Extended Constructed Response Item includes three standards-based questions and a narrative prompt in response to text.​

Student Testing Platform

Watch this video to understand the student's perspective.

Assessment Question Types

  • Selected Response is a multiple choice question with one correct answer.
  • Multi-Select Response is a multiple choice question with more than one correct answer

  • Two-Part Evidence-Based Selected Response in which the student selects the correct answers from Part 1 and Part 2. Part 2 requires the student to use the text to support the answer in Part 1.

  • Constructed Response in which the student composes responses that are concise and focused.

  • Narrative Extended Constructed Response in which the student composes longer responses based on a narrative stimulus.

Sample Assessments

2nd Grade
3rd Grade
7th Grade
9th Grade
Blueprint

Narrative Extended Constructed Response

3rd Grade
7th Grade
9th Grade

Instructional Resources

Write Score’s targeted instruction to improve writing is further simplified with our one-click bank of instructional materials, directly from the Educator Portal.  Lesson plan sets are written to state standards in the gradual release of responsibility model. Our engaging and structure of lessons help keep students’ interest for optimal learning!

We are pleased to offer powerful data reporting, lesson plan sets that are divided by specific standards and question types, practice sets with text, and professional development tools to assist with implementation and instruction.

Our Reading Instructional Components Include:

  • Alignment to the Georgia Standards of Excellence

  • Informational and Literary Texts

  • Practice Questions for Assessed Standards

  • Student Handouts

  • Teachers’ Editions

  • Constructed Response Lessons

  • Narrative ECR Practice

Educator Portal

Administrators and teachers alike will find that Write Score’s Online Educator Portal is a valuable tool for enriching classroom instruction, personalizing learning, and tracking students’ growth. Our Educator Portal provides teachers and administrators with quick and easy access to all the Write Score testing tools, data, and resources for our reading and writing programs.

Teachers and administrators will find the information they need in their customized dashboards including:

  • step-by-step instructions, rosters, video tutorials.

  • student test monitoring in real time to quickly note overall class and grade-level testing completion percentages and progress.

  • multiple detailed and accessible data reports facilitate the analysis of student performance, helping instructors identify specific weaknesses, strengths, and trends.

  • each grade level of our reading and writing programs also includes a large bank of engaging lesson plans and resources that correlate to data reports, helping simplify targeted instruction.

  • how-to resources are also included and accessible to educators.

Educator Portal Preview

Additional Information

There are many ways to obtain more detailed information for your school. You can:​

Contact

our office to speak with a Sales Representative

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sample materials to share with your colleagues

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a virtual tour that is convenient for your ELA leadership and administration

Submit

a request for a price quote to see how we can fit into your budget