Littleton Public Schools Moves to i-Ready Assessment in Reading and Mathematics for Elementary Students
In 2015/16, Littleton Public Schools piloted the i-Ready diagnostic assessment in reading and math. The pilot was used to determine if the addition of i-Ready was the appropriate school and teacher tool to help determine students instructional level and measure academic growth from year to year. The pilot was successful and for grades kindergarten through fifth Littleton Public Schools is replacing the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment with the i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment by Curriculum Associates. Littleton Public School teachers and administrators are excited for this new level of information that i-Ready assessments will provide. This fall, all students in grades kindergarten through fifth will take a diagnostic assessment in reading and mathematics.
i-Ready is an online program that will help us assess each students’ individual needs and monitor their progress throughout the school year. The assessment provider, Curriculum Associates, follows the highest level of student data privacy standards and are signators of the Student Data Privacy Pledge. The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive test that adjusts each question to suit an individual student’s performance. Its purpose is not to give a score or grade but instead to determine individual academic needs. Students will take an assessment specifically created for his or her learning level. The i-Ready assessments are closely aligned to the Colorado Academic Standards and provide teachers detailed information in the various domains of literacy and numeracy.
In addition to providing invaluable data regarding individual academic needs, the i-Ready assessment is specifically designed to measure growth toward the grade level expectations in reading and mathematics. i-Ready results will become another piece of data that is reviewed along with classroom work, teacher observations and other achievement information in order to make the best instructional decisions possible for each student.
For parents of students with disabilities, this test will accommodate most students at their instructional level, rather than only on content at their assigned grade level. This is very different than many other standardized assessments. We anticipate that for the majority of students with disabilities, this test will be appropriate. For those students who cannot participate in the i-Ready assessment process, their special education staff will use alternative means to measure their educational progress.