COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Department of Education

March 29, 2013

TO:  Division Superintendents

FROM:  Patricia I. Wright, Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT:  Updates to the Virginia Modified Achievement Standards (VMAST) Practice Item Sets on the Virginia Department of Education Web Site

As stated in a Superintendent’s E-mail dated March 26, 2013, the Virginia Modified Achievement Standards (VMAST) practice items have been updated.  Approximately five additional practice items have been added to the existing grades 3-8 mathematics, grades 3-8 reading, End-of-Course (EOC) Algebra I, and EOC Reading sets located at  http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/alternative_assessments/vmast_va_mod_achievement_stds_test/practice_items/index.shtml.  The additional items have been added to the end of the previously posted practice items.

The practice item guides for each practice item set have been updated to reflect the inclusion of the additional practice items.  The use of the guides is strongly encouraged, as their use will help ensure that students are familiar with the item types, the online tools, the navigation through the test and the Section Review screen within TestNav.

In addition, an audio version of each reading practice item set is now available.

Should you have any questions, please contact the student assessment staff at Student_Assessment@doe.virginia.gov or (804) 225-2102.

PIW/SLR/cb