New State Assessment Contract Awarded

A five-year contract has been awarded by the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) to the American Institutes for Research (AIR), located in Washington, D.C., to begin the immediate development and piloting of a new statewide assessment system for public school students in grades 2-10, known as the Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System (DCAS).

Beginning with the 2009-2010 school year, AIR will pilot:

• online testing in reading and mathematics for grades 3-8,
• end-of-course online testing for high school students in English language arts, mathematics and science,
• online testing in science and social studies in selected grades, and
• online benchmark testing in reading and mathematics in grades 2-10 to help teachers plan instruction according to the students' needs and show student growth towards Delaware standards.

The DCAS will become fully operational for the 2010-2011 school year.  The total cost of the five year contract is $24.6 million effective until June 30, 2014. The DDOE reserves the right to extend the contract for as many as five additional one-year extensions if it is deemed to be in the best interest of the State of Delaware.

Because the state is obliged to continue school accountability in the present school year for federal No Child Left Behind legislation, the current DSTP assessment will continue to be administered in March 2010 in grades 2-10 for reading and mathematics and in May, 2010 in grades 8 and 11 for science and social studies.

View DDOE press release