Grades 3-8: Assessments
Literacy Screening & Diagnostic Assessments:
At the beginning, middle and end of each school year, teachers measure the literacy skills of all CPP-8th grade students.
This process, known as “screening,” allows teachers and caregivers to understand their students’ strengths and areas for additional support. Screeners do not impact students’ grades and do not diagnose reading disabilities. Instead, they are used to design and deliver appropriately challenging materials and academic supports for each learner. Screeners are required in grades K-3 under MA regulation 603 CMR 28.03(1)(f).
When Will I Receive My Students’ Screener Results?
Parents/Guardians will receive mCLASS & i-Ready reports that include their chid's results within 30-days of each screening.
Parents/Guardians of students whose scores reveal a need for significant academic support will receive information about how the school will address their child’s needs, and have an opportunity to meet with their child’s teachers.
Screening is just one way educators collect information about each student’s learning needs. We are grateful for your continued support and partnership with the screening process! For questions about the early literacy universal screening your child’s testing results, contact your child's teacher or your school's literacy coach.
What Literacy Screeners Are Used In Grades 3-8?
K-8 Assessments:
Screeners:
All 3-8 students complete the i-Ready (3-8) literacy screener/diagnostic 2-3x annually. These screeners provide educators and caregivers with important information about each students’ strengths and areas for continued support.
3-8: i-Ready is a computer adaptive screener. This means that as students are assessed, questions are adjusted (made easier or harder) based on their responses, capturing information related to grade-specific standards, in addition to foundational literacy skills. Because of its adaptive nature, i-Ready typically takes 45-90 minutes to complete.
Learn more about the i-Ready diagnostic screener below.
Visit the i-Ready caregiver hub here.
i-Ready connects to a personalized learning program that students can access inside and outside of school. This adaptive online program (i-Ready Personalized Instruction) provides each student with an engaging sequence of unique lessons to address their specific needs based on diagnostic data.
Learn more about i-Ready Personalized Instruction here.
MCAS:
DESE requires that students in grades 3-5, 8 &10 participate in the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) each spring. Learn about the ELA State Assessment "MCAS" for students in grades 3-8: here
Unit (Curriculum Embedded) Assessments:
In addition to district and state-mandated screeners, each curricular unit includes brief, formal and informal assessments of student learning. These ongoing checks for understanding of students’ domain knowledge and literacy skills allow teachers, students and caregivers to know how students are independently performing and progressing relative to grade-level standards and goals.
Beginning-of-Year Screeners:
Grades 3-8: 9/3-9/27
Middle-of-Year Screeners:
Grades 3-8: 1/3-1/24
End-of-Year Screeners:
Grades 3-8: 5/19-6/13
i-Ready Screener & Diagnostic Assessment (3-8)
i-Ready Screener & Diagnostic Assessment (3-8)
All 3rd-8th grade students typically complete the i-Ready Screener 3x annually. i-Ready is an adaptive assessment, or a type of computer adaptive test, that matches the difficulty of test questions to the ability of each student. As students answer questions correctly, the test gets more difficult. As students answer questions incorrectly, the test gets easier. This allows educators to gain a deep understanding of students' strengths and challenges across literacy domains and standards.
Where Can I See My Child’s i-Ready Diagnostic Results?
Follow the directions below to view your child’s most recent diagnostic report. You can also watch this brief video from iReady or CPS’s own video for caregivers to better understand the information in the report. English: "How To Understand My Diagnistic Results?"
Log in to your student’s i-Ready Dashboard through CPS ClassLink (launchpad.classlink.com/cpsd) using their CPS Google credentials. Then click on the i-Ready icon.
Enter Your Child's CPS Google Username:
[YOGFirstInitialLastname@cpsd.us (ex. 23asmith@cpsd.us)]
Enter Your Child's CPS Google Password:
(grades 3-5): MM DD YYYY (student birthdate)
(grades 6-8): Set by your student
Click on the For Families dropdown and select the For Families report.
Enter Cambridge’s Report Code: FRMKKJ
What if My Child’s Diagnostic Results Are Below Grade-Level?
Differentiated intervention opportunities are provided to students whose results show a need for additional academic support. We will continue to update you on your child’s progress and invite you to meet with us - virtually or in-person - to discuss any questions or concerns related to your child’s diagnostic report and/or their intervention plan. Please contact your child’s teacher to schedule a meeting.
How Can I Support My Child’s Progress At Home?
We encourage families to provide their students with time (up to 20 minutes/day) to complete additional math and reading lessons at home using i-Ready Personalized Instruction. See more information below.
i-Ready Family Center (3-8)
The i-Ready Family Center is the place to learn how you can support and encourage your student’s success with i-Ready.