Teaching Strategies GOLD®: Teaching Strategies Gold is an authentic observation-based assessment system for children from birth through Pre-Kindergarten. It blends ongoing observational assessment for all areas of development and learning with performance tasks for selected predictors of school success in the areas of literacy and numeracy.  

STAR Early Literacy: The STAR Early Literacy assessment measures students’ vocabulary, phonics, language, and numeracy skills, monitors achievement and growth, and tracks understanding of literacy concepts aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards. STAR Early Literacy is used in the district to measure Kindergarten through 2nd grade grade progress. 

STAR Reading:  The STAR Reading assessment measures 3rd-8th grade students’ reading comprehension, monitors achievement and growth, and tracks understanding of focus skills aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards.

STAR Math:  The STAR Math assessment measures Kindergarten -8th grade students’ math skills, monitors achievement and growth, and tracks sub-skills aligned to the Illinois Learning Standards. 

ACCESS:  ACCESS is a large-scale English language proficiency assessment administered to Kindergarten through 12th grade students annually who have been identified as English language learners. The ACCESS test monitors students' progress in acquiring academic English aligned to the WIDA English Language Development Standards and assesses each of the four language domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

KIDS Assessment (KIDS):  The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) is an observational tool designed to help teachers, administrators, families and policymakers better understand the developmental readiness of children entering kindergarten.  The KIDS assessment focuses on the knowledge, skills, and behaviors across four key domains that most impact long-term student success. The domains are: Approaches to Learning and Self-Regulation; Social and Emotional Development; Language and Literacy Development; and Cognition in Math.The KIDS assessment is a tool that teachers across the state of Illinois use to observe kindergarten students’ development in critical learning areas within the first 40 days of school. The observations take place as kindergarten students go about their daily routines of learning and playing in the classroom. Teachers use the observations to place each child’s abilities on a learning pathway and share the results with their families. Information from KIDS helps families understand what they can do at home to promote their children’s healthy growth and development.

Illinois Assessment of Readiness:  The Illinois Assessment of Readiness is a state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students starting in the 2018-2019 school year. The Illinois Assessment of Readiness measures the Illinois Learning​ Standards and will be administered in English Language Arts and Mathematics. 

Illinois Science Assessment (ISA):  The ISA is a science assessment given to all CES #95 students in grades 5th and 8th grade.  The assessment will be administered in an online format and measures the Illinois Learning Standards for Science.  

Illinois Physical Fitness Assessment: – The Illinois Physical Fitness Assessment is an annual state assessment designed to measure aerobic capacity, flexibility, muscular endurance, and muscular strength for all students in grades 3rd-8th grade in CES #95.  

PSAT 8/9:  – The PSAT 8/9 is a preliminary SAT test given to all 8th graders to establish a baseline measurement of college and career readiness as students enter high school measuring reading, writing, language and math skills.