DC CAPE: ELA/Literacy (Grades 3-8)
DC's spring summative test in reading and writing for grades 3 through 8, aligned to DC's Common Core-based ELA standards.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
What does a student learn in
The District runs its schools on national frameworks rather than writing its own from scratch. Reading, writing, and math sit on the Common Core, adopted in 2010. Science is built on the Next Generation Science Standards, where students do the work of scientists instead of just reading about it. Social studies runs on an older 2006 framework that still shapes what students learn about history and civics.
- DC Academic Content Standards
The shape of K-12
A plain-language read of how the state runs school.
- What students learn
- Math follows the Common Core from kindergarten through eighth grade, then opens into high school courses like Algebra I that the District tests at the end. Reading and writing also follow the Common Core, with students reading harder texts each year and backing up what they say with lines from the page. Science is taught as something students figure out, planning investigations and explaining what the data shows.
- How students are measured
- DC CAPE is the spring test that matters most. Students in grades 3 through 8 take it in reading, writing, and math, and high schoolers sit for end-of-course CAPE exams in Algebra I and English II. Science gets its own spring test in grades 5 and 8, plus a Biology exam in high school. Every 11th grader takes the SAT on a school day, free of charge, during the regular school year.
Frameworks adopted, by subject
The standards documents the state writes against in each subject.
Assessments
The tests students take across K-12, grouped by purpose.
Other
Tests that do not fit the buckets above.
DC CAPE: Mathematics (Grades 3-8)
DC's spring summative math test for grades 3 through 8, aligned to DC's Common Core-based math standards.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
DC CAPE: High School (Algebra I, English II)
End-of-course CAPE assessments in Algebra I and English II for high school accountability.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- by course completion
DC Science Assessment (Grade 5)
Computer-based science assessment in grade 5, aligned to the NGSS-based DC Science Standards.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
DC Science Assessment (Grade 8)
Computer-based science assessment in grade 8, aligned to the NGSS-based DC Science Standards.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
DC Science Assessment (Biology)
DC Biology end-of-course assessment, administered once in high school after a biology course.
- When given:
- by course completion
- Frequency:
- once in high school
MSAA (Multi-State Alternate Assessment)
Alternate assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, given in grades 3-8 and high school in ELA, math, and science.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
SAT School Day
DC administers the SAT School Day to all 11th-grade students free of charge as part of the District's college and career readiness measures.
- When given:
- spring
- Frequency:
- annual
NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)
Federally administered sample-based assessment in reading, mathematics, science, and writing. NAEP results inform state-by-state comparisons rather than individual student or school accountability.
- When given:
- biennial in winter
- Frequency:
- every two years
Browse by grade and subject
Pick a cell to see exactly what students learn that year.
Kindergarten
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4
Grade 5
Grade 6
Grade 7
Grade 8
Grade 9
Grade 10
Grade 11
Grade 12
- Subjects covered
- 4
- Grade levels
- 13
- Standards on file
- 1,004
- Assessments tracked
- 9
- Most recent adoption
- 2013
Sources
Every page link goes back to the state's own document.
Frameworks
Assessments
- DC CAPE: ELA/Literacy (Grades 3-8)
- DC CAPE: Mathematics (Grades 3-8)
- DC CAPE: High School (Algebra I, English II)
- DC Science Assessment (Grade 5)
- DC Science Assessment (Grade 8)
- DC Science Assessment (Biology)
- MSAA (Multi-State Alternate Assessment)
- SAT School Day
- NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)