North Dakota Test Prep
About North Dakota Standardized Tests for 3rd Grade to High School
Are your kids preparing for the North Dakota State Assessments? Also known as NDSA, North Dakota testing measures the progress of students from 3rd grade to 8th grade, and 11th grade. Results from these North Dakota standardized tests provide actionable data that help parents, teachers, and students improve academic performance in reading/language arts, math, and science. The North Dakota State Assessments are also used to determine each school’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
Time4Learning, an online service that teaches many of the tested skills, offers this page to help you understand the NDSA tests, and how you can help your children prepare.
North Dakota State Tests at a Glance
North Dakota K-12 school students take the following NDSA tests:
NDSA: 3rd Grade – 8th Grade and High School
The North Dakota State Assessment program is aligned to North Dakota state education standards, which define what students should learn each year. The NDSA reading/language arts test and NDSA math test are given to students in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 11th grades, and measure how well they are meeting grade-level expectations. In addition, students in fourth grade, eighth grade, and eleventh grade take the NDSA science test.
How North Dakota State Tests Are Scored
The North Dakota State Assessments are standards-based tests that measure how well students have mastered the challenging North Dakota state content standards. The NDSA tests report student achievement at the following four levels:
1. Advanced. Demonstrates exemplary understanding and exceeds expected level of performance.
2. Proficient. Demonstrates understanding and meets expected level of performance.
3. Partially Proficient. Demonstrates an emerging or developing level of understanding and performance.
4. Novice. Attempt made; however, lack of understanding and performance is evident.
The goal is for all North Dakota students to score at or above the proficient level. If your child scores below the proficient level, ask the school for additional assistance, and find out what you can do at home to support learning.
Other North Dakota Standardized Tests
North Dakota uses a balanced range of assessments that promote learning for all students. The North Dakota Alternate Assessment (NDAA) is designed to measure the progress of students with severe disabilities who require special accommodations. Students with limited English Proficiency (LEP) and English Language Learners (ELL) take ACCESS for ELLs®, which measures their progress in English language acquisition.
North Dakota also participates annually in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation’s Report Card, where a sampling of students (from grades 4, 8, and/or 12) are tested in several content areas as part of a nationally representative assessment of student performance.
A good resource on the North Dakota State Assessment is the ND Department of Public Instruction website.
Preparing for North Dakota State Assessments
For general tips on test preparation, please visit our standardized test overview page.
The real preparation for the NDSA, or any standardized test, begins with your commitment to your children’s education throughout their school years. Devote time and effort to helping your children learn. Start by making sure your kids do their homework and read every day. Many families also employ tutors or an online learning program, such as Time4Learning, to build fundamental skills.
When preparing for standardized tests, students often benefit from test prep programs and books, which offer guidance and practice with test formats, time restrictions, test-taking strategies (when to guess, when not to), and different types of questions. For instance, when a reading passage is followed by comprehension questions, many test prep programs teach students to scan the questions first in order to know what areas of the passage require close reading. Time4Learning is not a test prep program, it is a program that builds the skills that will be tested.
Time4Learning is a new approach that takes advantage of today’s technology. It’s a convenient, online home education program that combines learning with fun educational teaching games.
The online language arts and math curriculum comprise a comprehensive program for preschool, elementary school, and middle school. Science and social studies programs are provided for most grades.
Kids like using the computer to learn and to develop their skills. Time4Learning’s educational teaching games give students independence as they progress at their own pace.
Parents like that it tracks progress and helps kids advance by teaching through individualized learning paths that assure mastery of the skills and concepts that makes kids succeed.
Have a child with math and language arts skills at different grade levels? No problem, just tell us in the online registration process.
Time4Learning is proven effective, has a low monthly price, and provides a money-back guarantee so you can be sure that it works for your family, risk free!
For more information and resources on North Dakota Education, visit: North Dakota Homeschooling Information
