The Iowa Assessments

The Proven Leader in Measuring Growth and College Readiness

The Proven Leader in Measuring Growth and College Readiness

Explore Recommended Assessments

The Proven Leader in Measuring Growth and College Readiness

The Iowa Assessments are rigorous, norms-referenced
measures of what students have learned.

The Iowa Assessments are rigorous,
norms-referenced measures
of what students have learned.

The Iowa Assessments are rigorous, norms-referenced measures of what students have learned.

Assessment Before Learning

Before instruction begins each fall, educators frequently find value in benchmarking student knowledge and skills using a diagnostic assessment.

This type of assessment provides a clear picture of what students know and what students need to learn, allowing educators to immediately differentiate instruction, group students by skill or domain area, and maximize planning time and instructional resources.

Assess less. Measure more.

The Iowa Assessments’ efficient test design and powerful reporting gives you insights you can trust in less testing time. These psychometrically sound assessments measure student achievement and growth against next generation learning standards for grades K-12 and provide detailed reports with accurate and actionable information at skill and item levels. 

Results from the Iowa Assessments are reported with both norm-referenced and criterion-reference scales, allowing educators to utilize the data for a variety of purposes, including tracking student readiness. 

Actionable, Easy-to-Read Insights

The Iowa Assessments have useful scores and reports to easily identify what students know before learning begins. The Class Item Response Record goes down to the skill and item level, allowing educators to quickly group students and see what each student got incorrect by skill. Visuals in reports like the Class Performance Profile Report and the List of Student Scores Report helps educators identify and act on trends and learning gaps among students, along with student strengths and weaknesses for instructional grouping.  

Up-to-date national norms inform the Standard Score, Percentile Ranks, and a list of other scores, allowing detailed, equitable comparison. Local norms, calculated to the same exacting standards, are available at no extra charge. 

Track College and Career Readiness

The Iowa Assessments indicate College and Career Readiness for the ACT® / SAT ® starting in Grade 6 – two years before any other existing assessment system.   

The Iowa Assessments generate readiness reports showing where students in Grades 6-12 land on the college and career preparedness scale, informing decisions related to curricula and teacher performance. In addition, individual student data helps identify students who may require intervention or advanced courses and programs, or those who would benefit from accelerated coursework. 

Flexibility to Fit Your Assessment Program

The Iowa Assessments offer you flexibility in determining College and Career Readiness by enabling the online administration of stand-alone single subject matter tests, in multiple forms.

The single subject administration of the Iowa Assessments allows schools to monitor student learning in reading, math, or science and track student proficiency in a format that works for school or district. 

Use Reports for Differentiated Instruction

The Iowa Assessments offer actionable, easy-to-read reports that allow educators to begin interventions or adjust curricula to ensure students are “on track” for success before they enter high school. Reports offer skill and core domain alignment and reporting and Lexile® and Quantile® measures to readily differentiate instruction, group students, and ensure College and Career Readiness.  

Why focus on longitudinal growth?

Learning is a continuous process, and individuals learn incrementally and at different rates. When we measure progress, we avoid applying arbitrary labels to students or placing them in buckets.

Instead, by monitoring growth, we focus on setting long-term goals and understanding student progress towards college and career readiness. Using growth data can help you plan instruction and implement swift curriculum changes based on what students know and can do.  

Vertical Scaling and the Assessment of Growth

The Iowa Assessments enable administrators and educators to monitor growth using a continuous, research-based, vertical scale to accurately measure academic progress from kindergarten through high school.  

Vertical scaling facilitates an enhanced Iowa Growth Model and Standard Score Scale, enabling educators to identify a child’s location on the learning continuum and, depending on the student’s current achievement level, predicts expected Iowa Standard Scores for future years.

Key Features to Enable Tracking Growth

The Iowa Assessments track growth with: 

  • Accurate longitudinal data reporting within and across school years
  • A vertical scale that provides a reliable and consistent measure of growth
  • Standard score growth continuum that provides more accurate data than other competing instruments 
  • Enhanced tools for differentiation that accurately assess the growth of low- and high-performing students 
  • Universal Screening that can be used within the Response to Intervention framework

Configuration Options

Ideal for:

  • Assessing student performance and College and Career Readiness in Reading, ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies 
  • Identifying longitudinal (year-over-year) achievement growth using a continuous, research-based, vertical scale 
  • Evaluate student mastery of next generation skills and rigorous learning standards for Grades K-12 

Benefits:

  • Up-to-date norms for the most current national comparisons 
  • Multiple modes of administration including online and paper-and-pencil  
  • Prediction of SAT®/ACT® scores that begins at grade 6, two years earlier than other achievement assessments 
  • A research-based vertical scale that is a reliable and defensible measurement of within-year and between-year growth in achievement with longitudinal reporting 
  • Reports to next-generation content standards which provides an independent measure of content mastery in preparation for accountability testing 

Ages:
5 - 18

Admin. Time:

2 - 5 hours,
depending on level

Subjects Include:

  • Reading
  • ELA
  • Math
  • Science
  • Social Studies

Ideal for:

  • Assessing student performance and College and Career Readiness in Reading, ELA, and Math 
  • Identifying longitudinal (year-over-year) achievement growth using a continuous, research-based, vertical scale 

Benefits:

  • Up-to-date norms for the most current national comparisons 
  • Multiple modes of administration including online and paper-and-pencil  
  • Prediction of SAT®/ACT® scores that begins at grade 6, two years earlier than other achievement assessments 
  • A research-based vertical scale that is a reliable and defensible measurement of within-year and between-year growth in achievement with longitudinal reporting 
  • Reports to next-generation content standards which provides an independent measure of content mastery in preparation for accountability testing

Ages:
7 - 18

Admin. Time:

2 - 4 hours, depending on level

Subjects Include:

  • Reading
  • ELA
  • Math

Ideal for:

  • Assessing student performance in Reading, Language, and Math using a shorter version of the Reading and Math tests 
  • Identifying longitudinal (year-over-year) achievement growth in a format that flexibly integrates into school schedules

Benefits:

  • Up-to-date norms for the most current national comparisons 
  • Multiple modes of administration including online and paper-and-pencil  
  • Prediction of SAT®/ACT® scores that begins at grade 6, two years earlier than other achievement assessments 
  • A research-based vertical scale that is a reliable and defensible measurement of within-year and between-year growth in achievement with longitudinal reporting 
  • Reports to next-generation content standards which provides an independent measure of content mastery in preparation for accountability testing

Ages:
7 - 14

Admin. Time:

1 hour, 40 mins

Subjects Include:

  • Reading
  • Language
  • Math

Ideal for:

  • Monitoring student learning in Reading, Math, or Science 
  • Flexibly and quickly tracking single-subject proficiency

Benefits:

  • Up-to-date norms for the most current national comparisons 
  • Prediction of SAT®/ACT® scores that begins at grade 6, two years earlier than other achievement assessments 
  • A research-based vertical scale that is a reliable and defensible measurement of within-year and between-year growth in achievement with longitudinal reporting 
  • Reports to next-generation content standards which provides an independent measure of content mastery in preparation for accountability testing

Please Note: Iowa Single-Subject is available for online administration only.

Ages:
2 - 90+

Admin. Time:

20 - 60 minutes, depending on level and subject(s)

Subjects Include:

  • Reading
  • Math
  • Science

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