Illuminate Blog
Follow our latest stories on educators, students and classroom technology
2020 Illuminators of the Year and Platinum Level Users Awarded
We were delighted to honor our 2020 Illuminators of the Year and certify six new Platinum Level Users at the 2020 Illuminate Education User Conference – West in Anaheim, CA…
Evaluating the Strength of Tier 1 Core Instruction in Math
Introduction The Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) model is a system of academic and behavioral supports that includes four essential components: (1) multi-tiered levels of prevention and support, (2) evidence-based…
Leveraging High-Quality Custom Interims to Move the Needle on Student Outcomes
About Alliance College-Ready Public Schools Alliance College-Ready Public Schools is the largest public charter school network in Los Angeles. Ninety-seven percent of Alliance scholars are African American, Black, or Latinx;…
Understanding and Using Spring Screening Data
Universal screening is the administration of a reading, math, or social-emotional behavior assessment for the purpose of identifying students who may benefit from additional instructional support or intervention. Screening information…
Sharing Assessment Results With Parents
With the assessments being more frequently used in schools, parents often have questions about how their children are doing. However, often the test reports created for teachers and administrators are…
How to Grow Data Literacy for Whole Child Data
Within an MTSS framework, we have a great opportunity to understand the intersection of all student data-including academic, attendance, social-emotional behavior, and intervention data-and dig deeper to find the meaning…
What is MTSS? How to Explain MTSS to Almost Anyone
What is MTSS and why are districts implementing MTSS? This article explains MTSS in a way to help all stakeholders understand this important framework, from staff members to parents and students. Table of…
Creating a Culture of Data: Keys to Making the Shift and Making it Stick
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to work with district and school leaders all over the country. I get to share in celebrating their successes, but also in…
Illuminator Spotlight: Jonalee Castillo
Spotlight On: Jonalee Castillo, 2nd Grade Teacher School Description: The O’Farrell Charter School (K-12), CA Avid National Demonstration School Student Population (K-12): 1,689 Title 1 School – Free/Reduced Lunch schoolwide …
[Infographic] What’s a Comprehensive Assessment System?
Every student has a unique learning journey. To support each student, educators need the right tools at their disposal to measure, monitor, and verify students’ learning as they progress. Those…