New State Assessment Contract
Awarded
American Institutes for Research (AIR) will develop
testing for students statewideA five-year contract has been awarded by the
Delaware Department of Education (DDOE)
to the
American Institutes for Research (AIR), located
in
 Washington, D.C., to begin the immediate
development and piloting of a new statewide
assessment system for public school students in
grades
2-10, known as the Delaware Comprehensive
Assessment System (DCAS). The DCAS will
become fully operational for the 2010-2011
school year and will replace the current DSTP
assessment, the Delaware Student Testing
Program.Beginning with the 2009-2010 school
year, AIR will pilot:
- online testing in reading and
mathematics for grades 3-8
- end-of-course online testing for high
school students in English language arts,
mathematics and science
- online testing in science and social
studies in selected grades
- online benchmark testing in reading and
mathematics in grades 2-10 to help teachers
plan instruction according to the students'
needs and show student growth towards
Delaware standards
The total cost of the five year contract is
$24.6 million effective until June 30, 2014.
The DDOE reserves the right to extend the
contract for as many as five additional one-year
extensions if it is deemed to be in the best
interest of the State of Delaware. Because
the state is obliged to continue school
accountability in the present school year for
federal No Child Left Behind legislation, the
current DSTP assessment will continue to be
administered in March 2010 in grades 2-10 for
reading and mathematics and in May 2010 in
grades 8 and 11 for science and social studies. |
