East Baton Rouge Parish School System utilizes the Benchmark Assessment Program. All students in grades 2-8 who access the general curriculum are tested in the core subject areas: English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. High school students are assessed in English, Algebra, Geometry, Physical Science, Biology, Civics, and American History. Benchmark Assessments consist of two types of tests:
- A comprehensive pre-test in August and post-test in May determines growth.
- LEAP-like tests following curriculum units gauge mastery of content throughout the year.
Test content is aligned to Grade Level Expectations (GLE’s) from the Louisiana comprehensive curriculum and the East Baton Rouge Parish curriculum. The tests are developed by East Baton Rouge faculty and staff and supplemented with commercial products as well as Louisiana released test items. Each unit test has both multiple choice and open-ended items. Teachers are provided scoring rubrics for short answer items, constructed responses, and essays.
Benchmark Assessments are paper and pencil tests administered using the Edusoft scan and score platform from Riverside Publishing (www.edusoft.com). Reports at various levels: student, teacher/classroom, school, and district aid the teachers and administrators in making decisions regarding classroom instruction and in giving students timely, detailed feedback. This data is also used to write and evaluate goals for the East Baton Rouge School System Strategic Accountability Plan and the School Improvement Plan.
