Students in grades three through eight this fall will be the first to take new growth assessments to determine baselines for measuring individual academic progress in reading and mathematics during the school year.

“These new assessments are timely in that they will provide teachers with baseline data showing exactly where students are in reading and mathematics as they return to school after the disruptions to learning caused by the pandemic,” said state superintendent James Lane.

“Teachers will use performance data from the fall tests to craft instruction that meets the individual needs of every student, with the goal of achieving proficiency or significant growth by the end of the year.”

The new growth assessments are computer adaptive and shorter than the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests most students taken in the spring. Students must take the growth assessments in school settings and under established security protocols.

For this year only, the fall growth assessmen...