Student Assessments - Saint James Catholic School

Saint James’ Catholic School assessments provide teachers, parents, and administrators with student learning data that is used to help students grow and reach their potential.

The school will administer standardized religion and achievement tests according to the diocesan assessment program. Saint James students consistently score above or at the diocesan average percentiles in all areas, and they consistently perform above the national average on all standardized measures.

The KRT is administered to all kindergarten applicants prior to their acceptance to Saint James Catholic School. Students will be assessed on Letter Recognition, Visual Discrimination, Phonemic Awareness, Listening Comprehension, Vocabulary, Numbers and Operations, Measurement, and Geometric Concepts. The purpose of the screener is to evaluate a student’s current abilities and determine kindergarten readiness.

Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) is administered three times each year in September, January and May. MAP measures achievement and growth in math, reading, and language usage. It provides teachers with accurate, usable data to help inform instruction. The MAP assessments are aligned with diocesan curriculum standards and are nationally normed. For more information about MAP Growth, refer to the Family Guide to MAP Growth.

This assessment tool is designed by the National Catholic Education Association. Test scores provide school and diocesan personnel data regarding students’ understanding of basic doctrine as well as attitudes towards living the Catholic faith. Individual student scores are used for informing instruction and for the Diocese only. This assessment is given in the spring of fifth and eighth grade.

Students in the sixth and seventh grade are given the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test. This assessment provides additional data for determining eligibility for acceptance in the Algebra course during seventh or eighth grade.

The HSPT is a requirement for admission and placement in diocesan high schools. The components of the assessment are: verbal and quantitative (cognitive skills) and reading, math, and language (basic skills). The assessment is given in November or early December to all eighth grade students. Parents, as well as the schools for which the students applied, receive these results.