. Visual and Performing Arts
                . Comprehensive Health and Physical Education
                . Language Arts Literacy
                . Mathematics
                . Science
                . Social Studies
                . World Languages

In addition, all areas of instruction include the following cross-content workplace readiness standards:

                1. All students will develop career planning and workplace readiness skills.
                2. All students will use technology, information, and other tools.
                3. All students will use critical-thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
                4. All students will demonstrate self-management skills.
                5. All students will apply safety principles.

Since public education must prepare all students for the world of work, all content areas need to address these cross-content workplace readiness standards.

To gauge student progress toward meeting the Core Curriculum Content Standards, the New Jersey State Department of Education is developing a comprehensive set of assessments that measure knowledge and skills at grades four, eight, and eleven. The Grade Four Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA) is the third component of the state's assessment program which also includes the Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment (GEPA) and the eleventh-grade High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA). Since not every indicator can be assessed through a statewide, standardized, written examination, individual districts will be involved in measuring the attainment of some performance expectations outlined in the standards.

This Directory of Test Specifications and Sample Items for the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment (ESPA) in Science is a companion document to the New Jersey State Department of Education's Core Curriculum Content Standards, May 1996, and the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment Content Domain Outline, February 1997.

The Directory of Test Specifications consists of Content/Skill Outlines, ESPA test matrix, score reporting, and sample items. All of these components and the Science portion of the Elementary School Proficiency Assessment Content Domain Outline, February 1997, were developed by the ESPA Science Content Committee. This committee is composed of fifteen New Jersey educators (nine elementary school teachers, five science supervisors, and a testing specialist) who met for five weeks during the summer of 1996 and who have continued to meet regularly.

The committee members relied upon their expertise to design a test that is universally accessible to all fourth graders and is composed of test questions that are age- and grade-appropriate.

Curriculum specialists and teachers may use these specifications, along with the New Jersey Science Curriculum Frameworks and the standards themselves, to improve instruction at the district, school, and classroom levels.

CORE CURRICULUM CONTENT STANDARDS IN SCIENCE

The Core Curriculum Content Standards in Science (Appendix A) reflect the belief that all students can acquire an understanding of fundamental scientific principles and develop science-related skills.

The Science standards emphasize that learning science is a progressive activity that begins in kindergarten and continues throughout life. They are clustered around three grade levels (fourth, eighth, and twelfth) to inform all teachers about what their students should know at these grade levels.

The Science standards are not intended to include all of science, but rather are an attempt to define what all students should know and be able to do as they grow toward scientific literacy. The Science standards include fundamental concepts in the life, earth, and physical sciences.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PROFICIENCY ASSESSMENT
CONTENT/SKILL OUTLINES

The ESPA Science test assesses skills and knowledge that students should acquire from kindergarten through grade four and that they will need as prerequisites for learning in later grades. The ESPA Content/Skill Outlines define the boundaries of the content and skills that will appear on the Science test. The outlines do not set limits on instruction. Rather, the Content/Skill Outlines indicate to teachers what their students should know by the end of grade four to have a comfortable testing experience.

The Content/Skill Outlines are divided into three sections----Macro Statements, Knowledge Statements, and Skill Statements. A "Macro Statement" is a reinterpretation of the Core Curriculum Content Standard as it applies to K-4. "Knowledge Statements" delineate the content domain of the Macro Statement based on the cumulative progress indicators. The "Skill Statements" indicate the skills that students need in order to demonstrate their understanding of the Knowledge Statements.