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Board approves 2026–27 testing calendar with reduced BAS testing and extended windows for middle school assessments
Summary
The board approved a balanced assessment plan and testing calendar for 2026–27 that trims some individual BAS (Benchmark Assessment System) administrations to reduce testing burden (about 1,500 fewer BAS tests), extends middle-school testing windows, and keeps the junior ACT as a paper-and-pencil district test.
The Rockwood Board of Education approved the 2026'1027 testing calendar and a district balanced assessment plan intended to preserve classroom instruction while keeping diagnostic and progress-monitoring systems.
Presenter (identified in the transcript as "Mr. Settlement.") described a framework that centers classroom formative assessment and then layers common district assessments, universal screeners and summative state testing. A key operational change is a proposal to limit spring BAS (Benchmark Assessment System) administration: the district will continue to give BAS to all students in the fall, but after winter Star screening will not require BAS for students who are reading on grade level or above, reducing the number of BAS administrations by an estimated 1,500. "This BAS takes about 20 minutes per student and it's done individually with a teacher," the presenter said, arguing the reduction returns instructional time to teachers and students.
The plan also lengthens middle-school testing windows (from about five days to roughly two-and-a-half weeks) to reduce scheduling stress and allows the NWEA/MAP growth assessment to be formally added for Read 180 classes. At the high school level the district will continue to administer the district ACT on paper and pencil (rather than online) and will add a world-language proficiency test (Apple/ACTFL) for levels 3'5 to support seal-of-biliteracy opportunities.
Board members sought assurances that department chairs and building testing coordinators would be required (not optional) to avoid scheduling the same students for multiple long diagnostics on the same day; the presenter said the district has already directed building-level coordinators to coordinate windows. The board voted to accept the testing calendar as presented.
The presentation reiterated required statewide MAP assessments (third through eighth grade, high-school end-of-course exams) and spelled out accommodations for multilingual learners and dyslexia screening requirements tied to Renaissance Star screeners for K'3.
