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During March, St. Bartholomew Academy students take the Iowa Assessment in Grades 2 through 8 as part of the Archdiocese’s standardized testing program. In March 2018, the Iowa Assessments replaced the TerraNova tests that were previously used for standardized testing purposes in the Archdiocese of Newark.
The Archdiocese requires the use of the standardized test in order to provide schools with objective, comparative data about the school’s overall academic program and information about student growth across a continuum of learning standards. Standardized assessments produce information that enables schools to evaluate the effectiveness of curriculum and instruction, and develop plans for instructional improvement. Additionally, student and/or school eligibility for various state and federal programs and services are often based on standardized assessment results.
The Iowa Assessments measures achievement in several important content areas, including Vocabulary, Reading, Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. Each content area test includes sample questions to help students become familiar with the content and format of the tests.
Parents of St. Bartholomew students receive individual scores reported in national percentiles before June. The nationally normed Iowa standardized assessment provides information about a student’s academic achievement in relation to a national norm group comprised of peers who took the same assessment. The results of the Iowa Assessments will provide useful information on how the academic achievement of students compares to the academic achievement of their peers nationally.