Assessments

The State of Connecticut requires all juniors to take the SAT Evidence Based Reading/Writing, and Mathematics test during the Spring. This test is administered during the school day. The score from this SAT may be used for college admissions purposes as well as serve as the measure of graduation proficiencies in reading, writing and mathematics.

Students and parents will be informed of the specific test date and daily schedule in advance. No separate registration is required for this assessment.

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Assessments are Connecticut’s statewide mastery examinations for science in grades 5, 8, and 11.  They provide an efficient and reliable estimate of a student’s overall performance in science relative to grade-appropriate standards that enables valid interpretations of student achievement and progress. The NGSS Assessments include both the standard tests (often referred to as the NGSS assessments) taken by the majority of students, as well as the Connecticut Alternate Science (CTAS) Assessment, administered to a small population of eligible students with a significant cognitive disability. 

Each NGSS assessment item begins with a real-world phenomenon that engages students in an authentic science experience or engineering design challenge. Information in the form of pictures, diagrams, data, charts, graphs, maps, etc., related to the phenomena are presented. Students must use this information along with their own science knowledge and skills to respond to questions that include a variety of item interaction types including: 

• Multiple-choice   
• Edit-task choice 
• Multi-select 
• Table match 
• Graphing 
• Equation editor 
• Experiment simulation 
• Design simulation 

Each item is aligned to a single NGSS Performance Expectation. Some items include only one or two interactions and are called stand-alone items. Others are more complex, having several interactions, and are called item clusters. Each item interaction assesses at least two dimensions (i.e., science and engineering practice, disciplinary core idea, crosscutting concept) from the aligned NGSS Performance Expectation. 

The standard NGSS Assessments are administered to students through an online test delivery system.  Students have access to a variety of embedded tools including zoom, highlighter, notepad, line reader, grade-specific calculator, and periodic table in grades 8 and 11. A variety of supports and accommodations are available to qualifying students, including text-to-speech, Spanish translation, and Braille test forms. Detailed information about these supports and accommodations is described in the Assessment Guidelines. 

NGSS Practice Tests are available at each of the tested grades for students to become familiar with the test delivery system and the various item interaction types that they will see on the live tests. In addition, optional NGSS Interim Assessments may be administered to students. 

For more information, please see the Connecticut Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Assessments Interpretive Guide

The PSAT provides students with practice for the SAT and provides benchmark data of student learning.

The test is administered to all freshmen and sophomores during the school day each October. Testing fees for the PSAT are paid for each student in grades 9 and 10.

All Juniors are encouraged to take the PSAT during school in October, but must register in the Main Office each September. Students and parents will be informed of fees and registration deadlines in September of each year.

For additional information, please read the GHS Planning Guide on the Course Selection and Academic Planning page of the Guidance website.

The SAT and ACT are national assessments used during the college admissions process. Colleges and universities do not prefer one test over the other. Students must register individually for SAT or ACT, directly on the College Board or ACT websites. The school counselors will help students make decisions related to college admissions testing. For additional information, please read the GHS Planning Guide on the Course Selection and Academic Planning page on the Guidance website.

Advanced Placement Exams are administered at GHS each May. Students who take an AP course at GHS are expected to take the culminating AP exam(s) for that course. Students must register for exams through GHS in the month of January. Students and parents will be informed of fees and registration deadlines.

Calendar of AP Test Dates