The GAA 2.0 is designed to ensure that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities are provided access to the state academic content standards and given the opportunity to demonstrate achievement of the essential knowledge, concepts, and skills inherent in the standards. To that end, the GAA 2.0 assesses students’ understanding of the state’s alternate academic content standards, or Extended Content Standards, which align to the grade-level content standards. Alignment refers to the connection of the skill through which students will demonstrate what they know and can do, to the content standard expectations for general education students in a given grade. Students with significant cognitive disabilities may need to learn these skills differently, in smaller segments, with fewer identified components, at a slower pace, and/or learn skills that would provide access to the standard. The Extended Content Standards allow students to show learning of concepts and constructs within a grade-level standard, but at reduced levels of complexity.

The following four achievement levels generally describe students’ understanding of the essential knowledge and skills outlined in Georgia’s Extended Content Standards.

Level 1: Students at this level demonstrate a limited understanding of the knowledge and skills specified in Georgia’s alternate academic content standards. They are actively working with adapted grade-level content that focuses on essential knowledge and skills and may need substantial academic support as they transition to the next grade/course, inclusive postsecondary education, or competitive integrated employment.

Level 2: Students at this level demonstrate a partial understanding of the knowledge and skills specified in Georgia’s alternate academic content standards. They are actively working with adapted grade-level content that focuses on essential knowledge and skills and may need frequent academic support as they transition to the next grade/course, inclusive postsecondary education, or competitive integrated employment.

Level 3: Students at this level demonstrate an adequate understanding of the knowledge and skills specified in Georgia’s alternate academic content standards. They are actively working with adapted grade-level content that focuses on essential knowledge and skills and may need occasional academic support as they transition to the next grade/course, inclusive postsecondary education, or competitive integrated employment.

Level 4: Students at this level demonstrate a thorough understanding of the knowledge and skills specified in Georgia’s alternate academic content standards. They are actively working with adapted grade-level content that focuses on essential knowledge and skills and may need limited academic support as they transition to the next grade/course, inclusive postsecondary education, or competitive integrated employment.

More detailed and content-specific concepts and skills are provided for each grade and content area in the Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs). ALDs are narrative descriptions of the knowledge and skills expected at each of the four achievement levels, based on the Extended Content Standards. The ALDs were developed for each grade level and content area by committees of Georgia educators. 

Georgia Alternate Assessment 2.0 Achievement Level Descriptors (ALD) 

English/Language Arts ALDs​

Kindergarten | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7​ | Grade 8 | High School​

Mathematics ALDs

Kindergarten | Grade 3 | Grade 4 | Grade 5 | Grade 6 | Grade 7 | Grade 8 | High School​

Science ALDs

Grade 5 | Grade 8 | High School​

Social Studies ALDs

Grade 5 | Grade 8 | High School​​​​