Parents in San Diego Unified are receiving reports this school year on their elementary and middle school kids’ reading and math levels that they haven’t seen before.
Why it matters: The school district just switched to a new type of diagnostic testing called i-Ready that is meant to show how students are progressing and what their strengths and weaknesses are.
- The reports were released to parents in October and again in January.
How it works: These tests are given three times a year — in the fall, midway through the year and before summer break.
- Grades 3–8 take reading and grades 2–8 take math tests.
- This winter, first graders took the math test for the first time.
- Before summer break, kindergarteners will take a math test as well.
- Kindergarteners through second graders take a different reading test required by state law, Eileen Moreno, senior director for the school district, told Axios.
The tests are all done on the computer and are adaptive, meaning as a student answers questions it gets harder or easier, Moreno said.
- “It gives us much more detailed information about where the children’s strengths and needs are, which is what we need, because the whole purpose is to know what to do next,” she said.
Zoom in: Principals and the school district can also use the results to see strengths and weaknesses at the school and district level, Moreno said…