Thousands of students across Alabama will take the state’s standardized tests next week. Scores have a big impact on a school’s report card grade, which students are allowed to transfer away from their regular zoned public school,

ACAP stands for the Alabama Comprehensive Assessment Program. Students in certain grades will be tested on their knowledge of English language arts, math and science.

Essentially, the state wants to know whether schools are doing a good job instructing students. See how your child’s school as a whole scored on the ACAP in 2023.

The ACAP test does not have a grade attached to it – but the test will be a big deal for this year’s second and third graders. Reading on grade level in third grade is a key measurement of the Alabama Literacy Act. This year, students who cannot read on grade level by the end of third grade may be retained.

Want to test your reading skills? See a sampling of the third grade reading questions, below.

When do students take the ACAP?

Schools have a window from March 18 through April 26 to test their students. Second and third graders must be tested before April 12.

How long do ACAP tests take?

That depends on the grade level and test. English language arts tests last about 3 hours, broken up into four sections. Math takes 90-110 minutes, broken into two sections. Sciences takes 90-100 minutes, broken into two sections.

What material does the ACAP test?

The ACAP measures how well a student is learning the Alabama academic standards.

Students in grades two through eight take the ACAP in math and English language arts. Students in fourth, sixth and eighth grade also are tested in science.

(Here is a link to Alabama’s science course of study. Here is the English language arts course of study. And here is the math course of study. All courses of study are posted on the Alabama Department of Education’s Academic Standards section of the website.)

How is a student’s score calculated on the ACAP?

The student’s scale score, which is based on the number of questions answered correctly, determines which level the student achieves.

The ACAP uses the scale scores to put students into one of four levels:

• level 1 means the student is not meeting grade level standards,
• level 2 means the student partially met grade level standards,
• level 3 means the student has a strong level of understanding of grade-level standards,
• level 4 means a student has an advanced understanding of grade-level standards.

Students reaching levels 3 and 4 are deemed “proficient” for report card purposes. Statewide, the percentage of students who are proficient in English language arts is higher than in math.

Take note that proficiency is not the same as grade level, Alabama State Superintendent Eric Mackey said. “When we think about proficiency,” he said, “those would be students you expect to make A’s or A’s and B’s.” Grade level is a lower bar, he added.

The ACAP also measures a student’s academic growth from one year to the next.

Parents are given a report, called the Individual Student Report, detailing how the scores relate to what a student’s strengths and weaknesses are. A date for this year’s release has not been published.

Do ACAP results determine whether a third grader gets promoted to fourth grade?

The reading part of the ACAP is a subset of questions on the English language arts test. In third grade, a student’s score can range between 275 to 740. Students must score 435 to be on grade level and 496 to be proficient in reading.

Schools will have reading results for second and third graders before the end of the school year. They will use results to identify which students need to attend summer learning programs, a requirement under the Literacy Act.

Third graders who don’t reach grade level on the ACAP will be given two more chances to take the test before a decision is made. If a student doesn’t reach grade level on any of those tests, teachers can look at a portfolio of the student’s work to decide whether or not to retain them.

Here’s a look at 2023 reading scores for second and third graders.

Do ACAP scores matter?

Yes, how your child scores on the ACAP matters, for multiple reasons. Results matter to teachers and principals because the ACAP scores are a big part of the school’s report card grade.

And those report card grades matter a lot to schools and the community because schools that earn a “D” or “F”, called “priority schools,” must offer parents a choice to move to a non-priority school in the district. Students in priority schools are also eligible for tax credit scholarships through the Alabama Accountability Act.

If and when parents choose to pull their children out of schools with a poor report card grade, the school ultimately loses resources, making it more difficult to improve instruction and education.

Ask your child’s teacher or principal how they use ACAP scores at your school.

Here’s a look at state report results by school for the 2022-23 school year. Click here to see the full federal report card results for your child’s school for the 2022-23 school year.