Two Different Testing Systems in One Household
South Dakota keeps Smarter Balanced testing in grades 3 through 8 but sends eleventh graders to the statewide ACT, so a family with a middle schooler and a junior sees two very different tests in the same year. In grades 3 through 8, your child takes the South Dakota ELA and Math Assessments, which are Smarter Balanced in structure, plus a science test in grades 5 and 8. In grade 11, the state assessment is the SD-ACT, a full ACT in English, reading, math, science, and writing, given online during the school day at no cost. That split is the single most useful thing to understand about South Dakota testing: the grade 3 through 8 experience and the eleventh-grade experience are not the same kind of test.
What Smarter Balanced Looks Like: Format and Item Types
The South Dakota ELA and Math Assessments are computer-adaptive, meaning the questions adjust to how your child answers, and each subject includes a performance task where your child applies skills to a connected, real-world set of questions. Paper versions exist as an accommodation for students who cannot use a computer, including large-print and braille forms. The tests are untimed, but the state gives planning estimates: ELA runs about one and a half to two hours per session across two sessions, and math runs about one to two hours per session. South Dakota recommends taking the adaptive portion and the performance task on different days to cut down on fatigue, and it lets schools schedule testing in shorter intervals rather than one long sitting.
Juniors Take the ACT
Beginning with the current system, South Dakota uses the ACT as the state assessment for juniors. Every public school eleventh grader takes it online during the school day, usually in one of a few late-winter to early-spring windows, at no cost to your family. The state’s reasoning is practical: one test instead of two, a college-admissions score students can actually send to colleges, and less duplicate testing. The ACT sections are fixed in length: English is 50 questions in 35 minutes, math is 45 questions in 50 minutes, reading is 36 questions in 40 minutes, science is 40 questions in 40 minutes, and writing is one prompt in 40 minutes. Free ACT preparation is available to South Dakota students in grades 9 through 12, so a junior can start getting ready well before test day.
Science in Grades 5 and 8
The South Dakota Science Assessment, or SDSA, is given in grades 5 and 8 and is completely online for the general test. It is phenomenon-based and three-dimensional, which means questions center on a real scientific phenomenon and ask your child to reason with science practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts rather than recall isolated facts. Items can be stand-alone or come in multi-part clusters. The state schedules science as a single untimed session, usually estimated at about one to one and a half hours. South Dakota’s science test draws from a shared multi-state science item bank, so its item style resembles that of several other states even though its blueprints and cut scores are South Dakota’s own.
How Scores Work
The ELA and math tests report four achievement levels, and Level 3 or above currently marks proficiency. Your child’s report includes an overall scale score, the achievement level, and claim-level detail so you can see relative strengths. The science test also uses four levels, named Does Not Meet Standard, Approaching Standard, Meets Standard, and Exceeds Standard, with the top two levels counting as proficient. Score reports are generally released to districts after scoring is complete, and your district then sends parent letters with your child’s results, often near the end of the school year or over the summer. Because timing runs through your district, ask your school when to expect the report.
Participation Is Required
South Dakota does not offer a broad parent opt-out. The state Department of Education says plainly that it does not allow refusals: the assessments are required by federal law, state law, and accountability rules, and students who do not test are counted as non-participants for school and district accountability. The clearest consequence is at the school level, not aimed at your individual child. Schools must reach 95 percent participation, and if they fall short, non-tested students can be counted as zeros in the accountability calculation to bring the rate up to 95 percent. So while there is no published statewide punishment for a single student, low participation does pull down a school’s reported results.
Grades, Promotion, and Graduation
State assessment scores are not classroom grades. At least one South Dakota district parent letter states directly that student grades are not affected by performance on these tests, though your local district still sets its own grading and promotion policies. On promotion and retention, there does not appear to be a statewide automatic rule tied to SD ELA, SD Math, SD Science, or SD-ACT scores: the state’s graduation materials build the diploma around coursework, credits, personal learning plans, and endorsements rather than a test-pass requirement. If you are worried about a specific student-level consequence, ask your school. On end-of-course exams, South Dakota does not use statewide Algebra, English, or Biology end-of-course tests as its main accountability system the way some states do. Its statewide system is grade-based in grades 3 through 8 and ACT-based in grade 11, though districts may use course-equivalency exams for local credit decisions.