The Supervisor of Accountability and Assessment is the school system's primary point of contact for receiving information from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) related to test administration procedures and test security policies and procedures. This office trains school principals and school test coordinators on the policies for administering the federal, state and county mandated assessments; identifies eligible students to participate in assessments; is involved with pre-assessment procedures, the administration of the assessments, and post-assessment reports; and works directly with schools, parents, and community members to provide analysis and interpretation of assessment data.

 

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires that states administer annual statewide assessments to all students in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics in grades 3-8 and once in high school, as well as in science once in each grade span (3-5, 6-8 and high school), and annual English language proficiency assessments in grades K-12 for all English learners. In addition to these federally mandated assessments, Maryland State law (Md. Ed. Art §7-203) requires a social studies assessment once in the middle school grade band (which will be administered in Grade 8) and the High School Assessment in American Government. Maryland also provides Alternate Assessments written to the Alternate Standards for those students who require this accommodation. Additionally, the majority of Maryland kindergarteners are administered the KRA to determine their readiness for kindergarten.