Standardized Assessment Information

Educators in Zionsville Community Schools use a variety of standardized assessment tools to learn more about student needs and achievement.  Some of these tests are required by state law.  Others have been thoughtfully chosen by ZCS teachers to provide information about student needs so that they may adjust instruction appropriately during the school year. 

IREAD-3 (Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination) (Grade 3)

The IREAD-3 assessment is a test of basic reading skills that was developed by the Indiana Department of Education in accordance with Public Law 109. This law requires all third grade students to be assessed in reading foundational skills and to meet third grade proficiency before moving on to fourth grade.  State law mandates remediation, retesting, and possible grade level retention for students not meeting proficiency on the IREAD-3 assessment. 

ILEARN (Grades 3-8 and 10)

ILEARN measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana Academic Standards. ILEARN is the summative accountability assessment for Indiana students and assesses:

• English/Language Arts (Grades 3-8)
• Mathematics (Grades 3-8)
• Science (Grades 4 and 6)
• Social Studies (Grade 5)
• Biology (High School)

ILEARN is a standards-based, computer-adaptive test. The goal of a standards-based, computer-adaptive test is to enact a complex blueprint that ensures breadth of coverage of the state’s content standards, as well as the depth of knowledge of those standards as also defined in the standards.

• Within the constraint of matching the blueprint, items are selected to maximize test information at the student’s estimated ability level.
• The difficulty of the test will adjust to each student’s skills, providing a better measure of what the student knows and can do.
• Adaptive tests measure the same content for all students on the basis of the test blueprint.
• More precise: CATs more precisely measure the ability of students who struggle and those who excel.
• More secure: Maintaining test security on a CAT is easier than on paper-based tests, because the items administered vary from student to student.
• More engaging: Because item selection is targeted to the individual’s level of mastery, the items are maximally engaging to students.

IAM (Indiana’s Alternate Measure) (Grades 3-8 and 10)

IAM measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana’s Alternate Academic Standards or Content Connectors. IAM is the summative accountability assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8. It assesses:

• English/Language Arts (Grades 3-8 and 10)
• Mathematics (Grades 3-8 and 10)
• Science (Grades 4 and 6 and 10)
• Social Studies (Grade 5)

College Board PSAT/NMSQT (Grades 9-11)

Students in grades 9, 10 and 11 will take the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), a standardized test administered by the College Board and co-sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).  Approximately 3.5 million students take the PSAT/NMSQT each year.  The PSAT/NMSQT provides students a chance for early preparation for the SAT as it measures the same skills, format, directions, and question types.  Additionally, students who take the PSAT/NMSQT receive free access to personalized online college-planning guides and tools driven by their test results which assist them with college major and career exploration. Each student’s Score Report will provide personalized feedback on test performance, ability to see questions answered incorrectly and suggestions to improve academic skills where assistance is still necessary.

Advanced Placement (AP) Assessments (Optional, High School)

Advanced Placement (AP) is a program created by the College Board which offers college-level curricula and examinations to high school students.  The AP curriculum for each of the various subjects is created for the College Board by a panel of experts and college-level educators in that field of study. For a high school course to have the AP designation, the course must be audited by the College Board to ascertain that it satisfies the AP curriculum. Students may opt to take the AP examinations for various courses in May. American colleges and universities often grant placement and course credit to students who obtain high scores on the examinations which are scored using a 1-5 point system.   

CogAT (Grades K and 2)

 Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) (Grades K-8)

Students in grades K-8 take the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) tests each fall, and K-4 in the spring along with some of our 5-8 students for benchmark purposes (and, at teacher option, in winter). This brief computerized assessment (about 40-50 questions each in math, reading, and language skills) creates a personalized assessment experience by adapting to each student’s learning level as the student progresses through the test. The bank of questions has a broad range, and thus, it offers a measure of growth and achievement beyond grade level standards which is extremely helpful for teachers with high performing students to determine whether their students are adequately challenged by instruction.  NWEA is a growth-based assessment and provides national norms and expectations for typical learner growth in a year of instruction.  Scores are used to determine readiness levels for learning various concepts and student growth percentiles.