Skip to main content
District

About

Academic Excellence

As school system stakeholders, we jointly support academic excellence, provide relevant as well as engaging instruction, and promote a safe and inclusive school culture. Our goal is that each child has the opportunity to develop academically, socially, emotionally, and physically to his or her greatest potential.

Academic Testing

ACADEMIC TESTING

Public Chapter 892 (TCA 49-6-6007) requires the Tennessee Department of Education as well as school districts to post a calendar of all state and district mandated tests each school year.
Individual student test results from state testing processes will be released to students and parents by the Sevier County School System promptly upon receipt of the information from the Tennessee Department of Education.
The Tennessee Department of Education prepares an annual report card with student achievement, graduation rates, performance of the school district, and teacher qualifications. The report card shows data for each individual school as it compares to the district and the state.
A copy of this report may be found on the
Tennessee Department of Education's website or hard copies may be obtained upon request at your child’s school. 

Contact Information

Questions about assessment processes should be referred to your child’s teacher, principal, or John Robinette-District Testing Coordinator.

District Benchmark Testing

BENCHMARK ASSESSMENTS
Benchmark assessments are administered up to three times per year (fall, winter, & spring) to students in grades 4-8 in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Benchmark assessments measure the extent to which students are demonstrating mastery over the course of the school year on key skills in English language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Students in grades K-3 also have access to optional benchmark assessments three times per year. All assessments are developed with year-end testing in mind as a gauge to determine students' progression of mastery on essential grade level standards. The benchmark assessment platform utilized in the 2022-2023 school year is Mastery Connect.

BRIGANCE SCREENING
The Brigance Kindergarten Screening tool provides quick, easy, and accurate screening of skills that are critical predictors of school success, including physical development, language, academic/cognitive, self-help, and social-emotional skills. A copy of this screening report is provided as part of Kindergarten Screening for parent review.

COMMON ASSESSMENTS
Common assessments are designed to assess student progress at the end of specific grading periods to guide and inform instruction. These checkpoint assessments are administered periodically throughout the school year in K-12 in English language arts, math, science, and social studies.

UNIVERSAL SCREENER
A universal screener is an abbreviated screening assessment of academic skills (i.e. basic reading skills, reading fluency, reading comprehension, math calculation, math problem-solving, written expression) administered to all students in grades K-3 to determine whether students demonstrate the skills necessary to achieve grade-level standards. Additionally, the universal screener is given to high school students new to the district or students who are identified as performing below grade-level standards. Universal screening reveals which students are performing at or above the level considered necessary for achieving long-term success (general outcome measure). This data can also serve as a benchmark for measuring the improvement of a group, class, grade, school, or district. The universal screener may be administered three times per year: at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year. Individual benchmark reports are sent home to parents after each of the benchmark assessments. Students who fall below or significantly below grade-level expectations may be identified for additional instructional assistance and be administered short progress monitoring probes weekly or bi-weekly to track progress. The universal screener platform utilized in the 2022-2023 school year is aimswebPlus.