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MSPAP results tell schools what their students have learned in content and in skills. The State of Maryland has set high standards for student achievement. The MSPAP is designed to let schools know how close they are to meeting the standards set by the State.

Before the MSPAP, most tests were multiple choice or short answer tests. They measured knowledge, but they could not measure the kinds of skills students need to have in the 1990's. Futhermore, MSPAP is intended to measure school improvement, not individual student performance.

Students need to be able to apply what they have learned to real-life problems. To find out if they can do this, schools must give tests that ask students to show what they know and what they can do. These tests are called performance assessments.

The MSPAP includes science, math, social studies, writing, reading, and language usage. Schools receive scores in each subject.

All students in Maryland public schools in the third, fifth, and eighth grades take the MSPAP. This means that your child will take a grade-appropriate version of the test three times by the time he or she reaches high school.

Why are the MSPAP tests important if my child is not in the third, fifth, or eighth grade?

Good thinking skills have to be taught and developed over a period of time. Every year makes a difference in your child's learning.

The MSPAP is given in May each year, usually the first full week and the week after. The fifth grade is usually tested the first week, and the third and eighth grades the second week. Attendance during that week is very important to the school's overall performance as well as the student's performance.

The MSPAP tests do not have any multiple choice questions. Your child will have to use what he or she has learned in many classes and write answers in sentences and paragraphs. Your child will sometimes work with other children to do experiments and share ideas. Then, he or she will write answers alone without help.

Please visit "Sample Tasks for Practice at Home." There are various tasks available for all grade levels. This site will give you a better understanding of the kinds of questions asked on the MSPAP.

The MSPAP takes 90 minutes a day for five days in a row. Students take a portion of the test each day of the week and are assigned to a testing group in random order.

Students prepare for the MSPAP by coming to school every day and being good students. They cannot learn what they need to know for the MSPAP in a day, week, or month. The MSPAP assesses what they have learned over several years, so there is no way to "cram" for the test.

Teams of Maryland teachers work through the summer to read students' answers and assign scores to them. The scores are based on standards that were set up before the test was given. The teachers who score the tests are highly trained and have to pass several accuracy and consistency tests themselves before they can score student responses.

Scores for each school system in Maryland are given out by the State Department of Education in December along with other information that also tells how schools are doing. Individual school scores are given out by each school system soon after the State announcement.

Each school receives many different kinds of scores. The ones that are most important to parents are the percentages of students who scored at certain standards, called "satisfactory" and "excellent." The State Department of Education expects schools to have certain number of students in the "satisfactory" category by a certain point in time. The State Department also likes to see that schools and school systems are improving from year to year.

The MSPAP is just one way to tell if schools are doing well. Each school is expected to review its progress, make changes, and ask for help if it is needed. If schools need help, the local school system and the State Department of Education can provide it.

Individual student scores will not become part of students' permanent records and are not averaged into students' grades. The scores do not influence the placement of individual students. Results from MSPAP are meant to help guide instructional planning and ensure that our students are being prepared with skills needed to help them solve problems in our complex world.

All schools are required to share the results of the MSPAP with parents and the community. Call your child's school to obtain this information.

The standards for satisfactory and excellent performance that the Maryland State Department of Education set for the test are very high. The expectation is that, by the year 2000 approximately, all school systems in Maryland will reach them.

We acknowledge and thank a number of sources for the information contained on this page, especially MSDE, Prince George's County Public Schools, Calvert County Public Schools, and Advocates for Children and Youth, Inc..

CLICK HERE for some staff development ideas to assist staff in understanding the design of the MSPAP tasks and their relationship to the State outcomes and school system Scope and Sequence documents.