Iowa Assessment
The Iowa Assessment is administered to 12th grade students participating the High School Competency Diploma Option. The following subtests are administered: Reading, Written Expression, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Vocabulary and Computation.
Test Description and Administration Times
Reading
- Includes both information and literary texts
- Most questions focus on inferring, analyzing, evaluating, and generalizing information in passages
- Time: 40 minutes
- Number of Items: 40
Written Expression
- Questions emphasize the ability to recognize the correct and effective use of standard American English in writing
- Questions focus on the most appropriate way to revise a piece of writing based on focus, organization, diction and clarity, sentence structure, usage, mechanics, and spelling
- Questions pose alternatives that may correct or improve underlined portion of texts
- Time: 40 minutes
- Number of Items: 54
Mathematics
- Questions emphasize student ability to solve quantitative problems
- Questions are drawn from the areas of number sense and operations, algebraic patterns and connections, data analysis/probability/statistics, geometry, and measurement
- Time: 40 minutes
- Number of Items: 40
Science
- Questions emphasize the interpretation and evaluation of information in the sciences, recognition of the basic principles of scientific inquiry and measurement, and analysis of experimental procedures
- Questions related to the areas of life science, earth and space science, and physical science
- Time: 40 minutes
- Number of Items: 48
Social Studies
- Questions emphasize the evaluation and interpretation of social studies-related information
- Questions relate to the areas of history, geography, economics, and civics and government
- Time: 40 minutes
- Number of Items: 50
Vocabulary
- Questions represent a cross section of vocabulary in general communication
- Words are presented in short sentences, and the student must choose the alternative word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the tested word
- Time: 15 minutes
- Number of Items: 40
Computation
- Questions emphasize addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division using whole numbers, factions, or decimals, manipulation of variables, and evaluation of expressions with exponents or square roots
- Time: 20 minutes
- Number of Items: 30