3000 Series - Educational Programs » 3410 Testing and Assessment Program

3410 Testing and Assessment Program

The Wilkes County Board of Education believes that an effective testing and assessment program evaluates the progress of individual students and helps to ensure that educational goals and objectives are being met for every child. A testing program also assists in the continued refinement of the instructional program.

Every effort will be made to ensure that the testing program contributes to the learning process rather than detracts from it. Efforts will also be made to ensure culture-free or culture-fair tests in order to ensure that measurements are reasonably accurate and unbiased.

  1. Administration of Tests, Screenings, and Other Assessments

The superintendent shall provide for the proper administration of all state-required tests, screenings, and other assessments and any state-required remedial instruction, interventions, and/or retesting in accordance with all requirements established by law or the State Board of Education. The superintendent, in consultation with the school principals, shall determine how results from such measures will be used in determining students' final grades, provided that the requirements described in Section B, below, and any other applicable state requirements are met.

The superintendent shall provide for the online administration of state-required tests to the extent required by the State Board of Education or the Department of Public Instruction, and otherwise as feasible within available resources. The superintendent shall keep the board informed of any resources or other measures needed to support online test administration.  

Students may participate in field testing and other sample testing as designated by the State Board or the Department of Public Instruction.

The superintendent shall develop security and administration procedures for the state testing program and other assessments that are consistent with State Board of Education requirements and relevant law. The superintendent shall ensure that all relevant personnel are instructed in such procedures. All testing personnel, teachers, and school administrators are required to be familiar with and adhere to all applicable testing manuals, handbooks, and guides, including the Testing Code of Ethics, for state and locally-required tests. Failure to follow procedures may result in disciplinary sanctions, including termination or revocation of administrative and/or teaching licenses.

  1. High School End-of-Course Testing
High school students must take all end-of-course (EOC) tests and Career and Technical Education (CTE) State Assessments required by the State Board of Education. The results of EOC tests and CTE State Assessments will count as 20 percent of a student's final grade in each high school course for which there is an EOC test or CTE State Assessment, with the exception of the following: (1) English Learner students in their first year in a U.S. school; (2) students following the Occupational Course of Study Pathway or whose individualized education programs (IEPs) otherwise exclude their EOC results from their final grades; and (3) students enrolled in a course during the initial implementation year of a new assessment for that course where proficiency scores are not available due to standard setting.
  1. Minimizing Time Spent Testing

The superintendent or designee shall ensure that the time students spend taking standardized state and local tests and the frequency of field testing at a particular school are minimized. Specifically, the superintendent shall ensure the following.

    1. Schools will devote no more than two days of instructional time per year to the taking of practice tests that do not have the primary purpose of assessing current student learning.
    2. Students will not be subject to field tests or national tests during the two-week period preceding their school’s administration of end-of-grade tests, end-of-course tests, or regularly scheduled final exams.
    3. No school will participate in more than two field tests at any one grade level during a school year.
    4. All annual assessments of student achievement adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to G.S. 115C-174.11(c)(1) or other applicable law and all final exams for courses will be administered within the final ten instructional days of the school year for year-long courses and within the final five instructional days of the semester for semester courses. Exceptions will be permitted on an individual basis to accommodate a student's IEP or Section 504 plan; for the administration of final exams for courses with national or international curricula required to be held at designated times; for make-up testing; and as otherwise permitted by the Department of Public Instruction.
    5. A report of local standardized testing is provided to the board for review in even-numbered years, and, if required, a plan for reducing the time spent on such testing is subsequently prepared and submitted to the State Board of Education in compliance with state law.

Legal References:  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, -h; 34 C.F.R. pt. 99; G.S. 115C, art. 10A; 115C-47, -83.5, -83.6, -83.6A, -83.6B, -83.7, -83.8, -174.11, -174.12, -174.13, -174.15, -174.22, -174.25, -276, -288, -307, -402.5; S.L. 2019-212, Sec. 1; 16 N.C.A.C. 6D .0309; State Board of Education Policy series TEST and GRAD; EVAL-006, EVAL-025 through -031

Adopted:  January 9, 2006

Revised:  August 4, 2025