Testing
WIDA
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires state education agencies to establish and implement standardized, statewide entrance and exit procedures for English learners (ELs). In accordance with federal regulations, all states are required to:
Identify the languages other than English present in their student population;
Assess the language proficiency of students in order to place them in the appropriate language development program; and
Administer an annual assessment of English proficiency, which includes measuring a student’s oral language, reading, and writing skills in English.
WIDA provides the English language proficiency placement and annual assessments administered in Indiana. WIDA Screener assessments are used to identify and inform initial programmatic placement of English Learners. WIDA ACCESS summative assessments are administered annually to determine an EL’s current level of English proficiency and to monitor students’ progress in learning academic English. WIDA ACCESS assessments are also used for accountability purposes
WIDA Screener and ACCESS test items are written from the model performance indicators of WIDA's five English Language Development (ELD) standards: Social & Instructional Language, Language of Language Arts, Language of Mathematics, Language of Science, and Language of Social Studies.
WIDA Alternate ACCESS aligns to four of WIDA's English Language Development Standards and associated Alternate Model Performance Indicators and is administered to students who have significant cognitive disabilities
ILEARN
Indiana’s Learning Evaluation and Assessment Readiness Network (ILEARN) is the summative accountability assessment for Indiana students in grades three through eight and high school biology. ILEARN measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana Academic Standards for English/Language Arts for grades three through eight, Mathematics for grades three through eight, Science for grades four and six, and Social Studies for grade five.
Students are required to participate in the ILEARN Biology End-of-Course Assessment (ECA) upon completion of the high school biology course to fulfill a federal participation requirement. The ILEARN U.S. Government ECA is available per state legislation as an optional assessment for students upon completion of the high school U.S. Government course. A student may only have one test attempt for any given ILEARN assessment. There are no retest opportunities available for ILEARN assessments.
IREAD
The Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3) is a grade three reading assessment developed in accordance with state legislation. IREAD-3 is designed to measure foundational reading skills based on Indiana Academic Standards through grade three. The Indiana State Board of Education set forth guidance schools must use when making decisions about grade-level promotion, instructional plans, and Good Cause Exemption eligibility for individual students. The intent is to ensure each student receives the appropriate reading remediation based on IREAD-3 test data and their individual learning needs.
IAM
Indiana’s Alternate Measure (I AM) measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana’s Content Connectors aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. I AM is the summative accountability assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8 and high school. It assesses English/Language Arts (Grades 3-8 and 10), Mathematics (Grades 3-8 and 10), Science (Grades 4, 6, and Biology), and Social Studies (Grade 5).