The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) is designed to measure student mastery of state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.

The exams also provide students and parents with information about readiness for the next grade level or the next step in life, such as college or a career.

GMAS assesses students in 3rd grade through high school. While the exams are rigorous, working on Georgia Milestones practice tests can help your child prepare.

In this article, we’ll provide information, tips, and Georgia Milestones practice tests to help put you and your child on the path to GMAS success.

Click the relevant button below to get a GMAS practice test for a relevant grade level, plus you will receive a bonus PDF "5 Top Tips to Use Practice Tests Effectively"to help your child study for the test.

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 3

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 4

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 5

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 6

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 7

GMAS Georgia Practice Test Grade 8

Georgia Milestones Basics

The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (GMAS) was implemented during the 2014-2015 school year.

The new state tests reflect the rigor of the updated content standards adopted by the Georgia State Board of Education in 2010. These standards are based on the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), a national list of skills and knowledge that students should master at each grade level.

For elementary and middle school students, GMAS tests include the following:

English Language Arts end-of-grade exam (Grades 3-8)

Mathematics end-of-grade exam (Grades 3-8)

Science end-of-grade exam (Grades 5, 8)

Social Studies end-of-grade exam (Grades 5, 8)

High school students take end-of-course assessments in math, reading, science, and social studies courses.

All GMAS tests include constructed response items, which require students to briefly explain and support their ideas in writing. There is also a writing component on the ELA test at each grade level.

There are four achievement levels for each GMAS test:

Beginning Learners: Students who do not demonstrate proficiency and need substantial academic support to be prepared for the next grade level.

Developing Learners: Students who demonstrate partial proficiency and will need additional academic support to be prepared for the next grade level.

Proficient Learners: Students who demonstrate grade level proficiency and are on track and prepared for the next grade level.

Distinguished Learners: Students who demonstrate advanced proficiency and are well prepared for the next grade level or course.

In the following sections, we’ll take a closer look at each of the GMAS tests and the content your child will be tested on at each grade level.

GMAS English Language Arts (3-8)

This test measures students’ ability to read, comprehend, and analyze grade-level appropriate passages and to express ideas in writing, using evidence to support analysis.

There are four question types on all GMAS ELA tests:

Selected response items (multiple choice)

Constructed response items (short answer questions that require test-takers to explain and support answers)

Extended construction response items (constructed responses that have multiple parts or require a longer answer)

Extended writing prompt (an essay that requires students to read two passages and respond to a prompt using information from the passages to support their answer)

Questions fall into two different domains:

Reading and Vocabulary

Writing and Language

On all GMAS ELA tests, students must answer 60 questions that are divided into three sections. Sections 1 and 2 are administered on the first day of testing, and students are given 75 minutes for each section.

Section 3 is administered the following day, and students have up to 90 minutes to complete this final section.

Below, we’ll take a brief look at content and sample questions for the ELA test at each grade level.

3rd Grade

For a third grade student, a reading question would resemble the following:

A language question might focus on basic grammar, such as correct word usage:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -3rd Grade Language sample

Additionally, students are expected to write two brief essays: an informational essay and an opinion essay. For both, test-takers must incorporate information from provided passages in their response to an assigned prompt like the following:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 3rd Grade Essay Prompt sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 3rd Grade Essay Prompt sample

Students also write extended constructed responses related to narrative techniques such as completing a story, writing an alternate beginning, or adding dialogue.

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 3rd Grade ECR sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 3rd Grade ECR sample

4th Grade

4th grade language questions are more complex and challenging, like the following example:

A fourth grade informational essay prompt could look something like this:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 4th Grade Essay — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 4th Grade Essay

While this is similar to the third grade sample prompt, it is also more advanced. The third grade prompt asked students to find only differences, while the fourth grade prompt asks students to identify both similarities and differences.

5th Grade

Below are examples of a 5th grade language and a 5th grade reading question, respectively.

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -5th  Grade Reading sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test -5th Grade Reading sample

The fifth grade opinion essay prompt will look something like this:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 5th  Grade Essay sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 5th Grade Essay sample

An extended constructed response question about narrative techniques could resemble the following:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -5th  Grade ECR sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test -5th Grade ECR sample

6th Grade

Of course, language-based questions continue to grow in complexity, as you can see from the following example:

Reading questions are based on challenging pieces like Emily Dickinson’s poem “The Moon”:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -6th  Grade  Reading sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test -6th Grade Reading sample

Questions also require students to analyze at a deeper level, as in this constructed response question, which is also based on “The Moon”:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 6th  Grade Reading  sample 2 — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 6th Grade Reading sample 2

Beginning in 6th grade, the “opinion essay” is referred to as the more rigorous “argumentative essay”:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -6th  Grade Argumentative Essay — Georgia Milestones Practice Test -6th Grade Argumentative Essay

7th Grade

By 7th grade, students should have a more advanced command of language conventions, including the ability to correctly identify sentence types:

Passages continue to increase in difficulty. For example, 7th grade students could be asked questions based on an excerpt from the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in Eighty Days:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th  Grade Reading sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th Grade Reading sample

An extended constructed response question concerning narrative techniques would resemble the following example, also based on Around the World in Eighty Days:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th  Grade ECR sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th Grade ECR sample

Essay prompts use more advanced language, such as the mention of “claims” in the following argumentative essay prompt:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th  Grade Essay sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 7th Grade Essay sample

8th Grade

8th grade students should have an even more advanced vocabulary associated with language conventions, as in the example below:

Students may be asked to deal with more advanced narrative techniques in their extended constructed responses, such as theorizing about a character’s inner dialogue:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 8th  Grade  ECR sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test - 8th Grade ECR sample

Informational essays have more requirements and may cover more abstract topics, as in this sample prompt:

Georgia Milestones Practice Test -8th  Grade Essay sample — Georgia Milestones Practice Test -8th Grade Essay sample

These are rigorous assessments, but remember that there are plenty of resources available to help your child prepare. Be sure to spend some time working with Georgia Milestones practice tests prior to test day. There are GMAS practice tests available for each grade level.