RICAS Practice Tests and Tips to Prepare Students for the State Test

RICAS is an acronym for the Rhode Island Comprehensive Assessment System is a state mandated assessment administered in Rhode Island in line with federal requirements for annual assessments in Mathematics and English Language Arts (ELA) covering grades 3-8. With Edulastic, educators can access online RICAS practice assessments to ensure students are best prepared for exams.

RICAS is a newly updated and administered testing standard for Rhode Island students that began in 2018. In spring 2018, the first assessment was administered to students in grades 3-8 in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. The state standards for Rhode Island are still the same and haven’t changed. RICAS is aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). RICAS practice and classroom instruction should remain aligned to the CCSS standards for both mathematics and ELA for all the students.

RICAS assessments enable students, teachers and families to have information about students’ academic progress, overall school performance and how to improve teaching. Every student who sits for RICAS assessment in English Language Arts and Mathematics has their Student Score Reports sent to their respective schools. Schools and Districts share these reports/results with students’ families.

After a RICAS practice test, students sit for RICAS assessments whose time varies according to the subject. Students complete multiple sessions over several days or weeks. The time taken also differs depending on the grade levels. For ELA assessments Grades 3-8 take two sessions whose suggested testing time is for session 1 is 120-150 minutes and session 2 90-120 minutes. For mathematics, grades 3-8 are assessed in 2 sessions whose suggested time is 90 minutes per session. The time breakdown for assessment per grade varies as follows.

Students in Grades 3-4 sit for 3 sessions that last 165 minutes in total. Grade 5 students sit for 3 sessions that last 140 minutes in total. On the other hand, Grades 6-8 students sit for 2 sessions that take 210 minutes in total.

Grade 3 students sit for 2 sessions that take 130 minutes in total. Grade 4-8 students also take 2 sessions that last 140 minutes long.

Students sitting for RICAS Assessment are examined using different types or formats of questions to test their understanding of ELA and mathematics. RICAS assessment questions include fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, technology enhanced questions such as written responses and drag-and-drop.

The 2021 assessment window for RICAS English Language Arts begins on March 29, 2021 to run through to May 14, 2021. On the other hand, the RICAS mathematics assessment window starts from April 12, 2021 to May 28, 2021. It is incumbent upon each school to determine its favorable testing timelines so long as they fall within the stipulated assessment window.

RICAS practice is great way to make sure students have an opportunity to gain and practice the skills necessary to be prepared to excel on the official RICAS assessment. With Edulastic RICAS practice tests, students get an experience that mimics real exam situations. For one, sitting and taking an online exam for the same duration as the state test can build test fitness. Secondly, working within a space like Edulastic that mimics the look and feel of the exam makes it possible for students to familiarize themselves with the technology infrastructure required to do their exams. The best part about the RICAS practice tests featured on this page and in the Edulastic assessment library is that the format of these released assessments are shared in a format resembles that of the actual test.

Students taking RICAS practice can get guidance from their instructions/teachers to ensure they understand how to answer questions such as multiple-choice, constructed-response and essay questions for ELA as well as answer-gridded response questions for mathematics. Students also need to practice how to deal with short-answer questions as well as how to answer constructed-response questions that consist of multiple parts to answer and label. When students complete their RICAS practice session, they can review answers together with their teachers and instructors.

Understanding technology is a critical component of preparing for RICAS assessment. Exams for RICAS are usually administered using tools such as laptops and tablets so students need to learn key skills such as keyboarding and various digital commands. In the younger grades, it’s important that students have the keyboard skills needed to navigate the online assessment environment and type answers where needed. Edulastic makes it possible for students to practice for their exams using the latest technology tools and infrastructure.

Start exploring the RICAS practice tests featured on this page and within the Edulastic library to ensure that your students are on the path to success.

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RIDE (Rhode Island Department of Education) features additional information on the official RICAS website.