Q: How does StudySync prepare students for state testing?
A: Ongoing benchmark, formative, and summative assessments provide teachers with the information they need to help every student progress toward standards mastery. Progress monitoring and reporting tools allow teachers to easily track student gains and revise instruction according to remediation needs. Best of all, StudySync embeds scaffolded instruction and provides extra lessons so teachers have resources at the ready to meet the needs of every learner in their classrooms.

StudySync's unit assessments focus on key areas of English Language Arts as identified by the CCSS. Tests cover comprehension of literature and informational text, vocabulary acquisition and use, and genre writing in response to sources. End-of-the-year/end-of-course assessments are aligned with the State grade-level blueprints. These tests assess students on aspects of research and the conventions of standard English language and feature computer adaptive portions. Selected response (SR), multiple selected response (MSR), evidence-based selected response (EBSR), constructed response (CR), technology-enhanced (TE) extended constructed response (ECR) and performance tasks make up StudySync's summative assessments. CR and ECR items are accompanied by exemplar texts. A top score anchor paper accompanies each PT full write.

Q: What assessment opportunities can be found in StudySync?
A: Every lesson in a StudySync Core ELA unit provides opportunities for instruction, practice, and application of English Language Arts skills. These completed assignments provide formative data on how students are working towards mastery of key standards-based skills and aid in identifying reteach and remediation opportunities. 

Each grade level also includes the following assessments which can be found under the Assess tab:

Readiness Screener Assessment
Reading Comprehension Diagnostic
End of Unit Assessment - all units
Benchmark Assessment - Beginning of school Year
Benchmark Assessment - End of Unit 2
Benchmark Assessment - End of Unit 4

Q: Is there an assessment to determine student proficiency levels at the beginning of each year?
A: The Grade-Level Readiness Screener assesses students’ preparedness in relation to standards-aligned skills and content from the previous grade level. Teachers can use this assessment to determine student strengths as well as identify reteaching and remediation needs.

The second assessment for the beginning of the year is the Reading Comprehension Diagnostic, which focuses on reading comprehension and fluency.

These assessments can be found under the Assess tab.

Q: What type of Data and Tracking is available to monitor student progress?
A: Using StudySync’s Gradebook, teachers can easily see the results of assessments. Tracking tools provide raw scores as well as a breakdown of performance against standards and skills. Color-coded reporting allows for quick and easy monitoring of students’ performance and needs. 

• Green identifies students as on track for grade-level mastery or beyond.
• Yellow highlights that a student may require scaffolded instruction to get back on track toward grade-level performance.
• Red indicates that the teacher should use diagnostic assessments to determine whether the student requires foundational skill intervention.

The Gradebook for all completed assignments and tests can be viewed under the Groups menu via the Users tab. Find the Class, click on the Actions wheel and select Gradebook or select the Gradebook icon.

Q: Does StudySync include Benchmark assessments?
A: There are three Benchmark Assessments in each grade level to assess whether students are progressing toward CCSS mastery throughout the school year. The first is delivered at the beginning of the school year, the 2nd delivered after the completion of Unit 2, and the third after the completion of Unit 4. These are designed to provide a valid and reliable measure of students’ advancement.

An additional feature, the Administrator Item Bank, allows administrators to pull items from a selection of over 150 questions per grade level to create their own Benchmarks and replicate a testing environment district-wide.

Q: How do I access the StudySync Assessments?
A: All StudySync assessments can be accessed via the Assess tab, using the Filter and search field to find the appropriate assessment.

Q: What type of formative assessments are found in StudySync?
A: StudySync provides teachers with ample opportunities and tools to assess student performance in reading, writing, speaking and listening, and language development. Short-cycle formative assessments, which vary in type and duration, help teachers adjust their instructional strategies and measure individual student progress at strategic points throughout regular intervals.

Instructional and Performance Tasks: Students regularly complete the following goal-directed, shorter tasks: text-dependent Think Questions and Skills Focus Questions; Your Turn Skill lesson responses; grammar and vocabulary handouts; short Build Background and longer research projects; Blasts; Close Read Writing responses; each process step of the Extended Writing Project.

Teacher Observation and Questions: During direct skills instruction, whole and small group discussions, individual and class reading, writing, preparation of presentations, and video viewing, lesson plans provide teachers with questions to elicit student responses and help teachers adjust instruction to meet individual student needs.

Peer Review: Students receive written feedback from their peers on Think Questions, Close Read Writing Prompts, Blasts, and the process steps of the Extended Writing Projects. Rubrics and teacher instructions guide peer reviewers, and teachers can assess both the quality of the feedback and the writers’ incorporation of the feedback.

Student Discussions: Whole and small group collaborative discussions follow models provided by StudySyncTV and SkillsTV. Each lesson plan is also loaded with recommendations for informal class discussions.

Reading Quizzes: 5-10 question quizzes for all Core ELA texts. These selection tests assess reading comprehension, vocabulary and language development, and the acquisition of key content knowledge from each passage in the Core ELA units. Teachers have the ability to add these quizzes to any reading assignment.

Grammar Quizzes: Grammar quizzes assess student mastery of discrete language concepts. 

Q: How do I view student scores from a formative assessment?
A: Using StudySync’s Gradebook, teachers can view the results from First and Close Read, Skills, and Extended Writing assignments. The Gradebook for all completed and graded assignments can be viewed under the Groups menu via the Users tab. Find the Class, click on the wheel, and select Gradebook.

Q: What type of summative assessments are found in StudySync?
A: Each Core ELA Unit includes an end-of-unit assessment. The end-of-unit assessments focus on assessing key reading, writing, and language skills covered in a unit. Unit assessments measure skills through reading passages and associated items.

Each grade level includes three State Test Preparation reading and writing assessments. These assessments can be administered to students throughout the year, leading up to end-of-year testing. In grades 11 and 12, these include ACT and SAT practice tests. Students’ growing mastery of the curriculum should evidence increasing scores at each administration and can point to student readiness for high-stakes testing and provide a picture of student year-long achievement.

Both assessment types use questions that are tagged by grade-level appropriate standards.

Both assessment groups use the following item types: Selected Response (SR), Multiple Selected Response (MSR), Evidence-Based Selected Responses (EBSR), Constructed Response (CR), Technology Enhanced (TE), and Extended Constructed Response (ECR). This variety of item types provides multiple methods of assessing student understanding and familiarizes students with the types of questions they will encounter on next-generation state assessments.

Q: What types of Performance Tasks are found within StudySync?
A: Each of the three State Test Preparation writing assessments includes a performance task with a different writing focus:

Argumentative: Students analyze the ideas in sources and make a claim that they support using the sources.

Informative/Explanatory: Students generate a thesis based on the sources and use information from the sources to explain the thesis.

Narrative: Students craft a narrative using information from the source.

Q: Is it possible to view benchmark and end-of-unit assessment data by student?
A: Upon completion of an assessment, StudySync includes a gradebook that provides standards-based data around student performance which can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet.

Q: Can I modify the assessments?
A: Teachers can pull items from a selection of over 150 questions per grade level to create their own assessments. This is helpful for creating a district-wide assessment.

Q: How do I access the StudySync summative assessments?
A: All StudySync assessments can be accessed via the Assess tab, using the Filter and search field to find the appropriate assessment.

Q: Where can I find the assessments I have assigned?
A: These tests can be found under the Tests menu via the Assignments tab.

Q: How do I view which standards are tested in an Assessment?
A: Each assessment can be found under the Assess tab using the filter button and searching by grade level and/or by type. Upon opening the assessment, the tested standards will be listed on the Overview blade.

Q: How do I access the Assessment passage bank?
A: Under the Assess tab, select Passages on the menu bar and use the Filter button to search for passages.

Q: How do I edit the settings of an assigned Assessment?
A: Under the Assignments tab, select the Tests menu and find the assessment that requires editing. Click on the wheel to the right of the assessment and select Edit Test.