The New Mexico Statewide Articulated Assessment Program is designed to provide accountability information on the academic achievement of students throughout the state on a variety of assessment measures. These data offer trend indications demonstrating progress against a national comparison group, on state goals related to student writing abilities, and in maintaining graduation competencies.

The school year of 1999-2000 was the first year that the achievement assessment was extended to cover grades 3-9. The Assessment Plan includes the following assessment measures:

• the TerraNova Survey Plus, the norm-referenced portion of the New Mexico Achievement Assessment Program (NMAAP);
• the standards-based assessment of the NMAAP; and
• the New Mexico High School Competency Examination (NMHSCE).

The New Mexico Writing Assessment Program (NMWAP) is a direct, on-demand performance assessment. All students in Grades 4 and 6 participate in the NMWAP; it is optional at Grade 8. The NMWAP is structured to reflect and reinforce the writing process.

Each assessment in the state program represents a sampling of the skills and knowledge, applications, and conceptual understandings that students are expected to achieve. Together these measures help state educators to assess state progress and to assist in the evaluation of educational programs.

The new criterion-referenced tests in ELA, Mathematics, and Science were field tested in April 2004 and will be operationally administered in spring 2005.

Merit’s language arts and math software programs correlate to the New Mexico Content Standards and Benchmarks and can help students prepare for the State tests. The content and format of Merit’s programs can help students develop and strengthen their test-taking skills as well as their reading, writing and math skills.

Merit reading software has been proven -- through rigorous, scientifically based research -- to increase both student reading comprehension and standardized test scores. Merit research study findings reveal that education software is an effective tool to improve test scores and academic performance.



Published: May 2005