MISA

Family & Community Resources Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA)

 OVERVIEW

The Maryland Integrated Science Assessment (MISA) is administered to all students in fifth grade, eighth grade, and high school. The MISA is aligned to the Maryland Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Links to an external site.. The NGSS integrate three dimensions necessary to understand science. The dimensions are the Science and Engineering Practices, the Crosscutting Concepts, and the Disciplinary Core Ideas. To assess the three dimensions of the NGSS, a set of interrelated items is required. All items on the MISA are part of an item set.

Each item set on the MISA has a stimulus that focuses on a specific real-world context or phenomenon. The stimulus may include text, videos, charts, diagrams, or simulations in which students interact. The stimulus may be divided up using tabs to focus on different details about the real-world content or phenomenon. The student interacts with the stimulus and are given six items that assess the student’s scientific literacy by requiring them to demonstrate their ability to make sense of the given information. Five items will be a variety of selected response items, multiple select items, or technology enhanced items such as drag and drop or hot spots. The final item in the set is a constructed response item, which requires students to write a detailed response to a question or prompt. For additional information, please visit the MSDE website Links to an external site. on MISA.