Every Moment Counts in a Student’s Learning Journey and Each Assessment Has an Important Role to Play
Standards
Skills
Skills
Skills
Standards
Standards/Skills
Standards
Just-in-Time Assessment
Part of the formative process—confirms that specific learning has taken place and provides data to inform instruction that follows
Who: All students
When: Ongoing/continuous as part of instruction
What Questions Does it Answer?
- What should I teach next?
- Are students mastering this standard?
- How can I group students to differentiate instruction according to their needs?
- Should I reteach before moving on?
- Should I form small groups for intervention?

Skills
Universal Screening (Academics & SEB)
Identify which students are in need of additional assistance to meet learning goals and whether universal instruction is effective
Who: All students
When: At beginning of year and 1 - 2x throughout
What Questions Does it Answer?
- Which students are at-risk?
- Which students may need an academic or SEB intervention?
- Are our universal efforts effective?
- If not, where and how can we improve them?

Skills
Diagnostic (Academics & SEB)
Pinpoint specific area of academic or SEB need
Who: Students, groups, and grades flagged by universal screening
When: Follow-up to universal screening assessment
What Questions Does it Answer?
- What is the specific area of need for each at-risk student?
- What intervention is recommended to meet class or individual student needs?

Skills
Progress Monitoring (Academics & SEB)
Evaluate progress toward goal per the rates of improvement for the specific skill being targeted by an intervention
Who: All students receiving Tier 2 or Tier 3 interventions
When: Weekly / Bi-weekly
What Questions Does it Answer?
- Is a student’s intervention working?
- Is it working fast enough?

Standards
Interim
Measure students’ standards proficiency
Who: All students in particular grade
When: Periodically/seasonally (e.g., fall, winter, spring)
What Questions Does it Answer?
- Are students mastering state standards?
- How do these results compare to past data?
- Are there specific student groups exceeding or struggling?

Standards/Skills
Summative
Evaluate, certify, and/or grade learning at the end of a specific period of instruction
Who: All students
When: End of year, end of course, end of unit
What Questions Does it Answer?
- Did students master the content (knowledge and skills)?
- Are we meeting district targets and goals?
- Are there specific student groups exceeding or struggling?
- Are our practices equitable?

What Sets Illuminate’s Assessment Tools Apart?

Eliminate silos, frustration, and inaction.
Discover a streamlined solution: all the right assessments, all the right data, but without all the extra logins.

Measure both academics and social-emotional behavior (SEB).
Combine academic assessments with our valid and reliable K-12 SEB screening and progress monitoring assessments and CORE SEL surveys to better understand the whole child.

Assess both standards and skills.
Get visibility into standards mastery as well as the skills that underpin those standards—and determine if an underlying skill gap is preventing a student from succeeding.

Discover data that teachers can trust.
Ensure accurate data around student learning and needs with valid, reliable, evidence-based screening and progress monitoring tools and 80,000 highest-quality standards- and DOK-aligned items.

Take the guesswork out of data.
Connect assessment to action with reports that help you understand and use assessment data—not just collect them.
Comprehensive Assessment Systems are Key to MTSS
In a data-driven multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), assessments are used to identify at-risk students, align the right supports, and determine if interventions and intervention programs are effective. Our assessments connect to our MTSS management and real-time dashboard tools, so your assessment data become part of the whole child data picture and essential MTSS processes.
Learn more about our MTSS Management solution.
Explore Our Comprehensive Assessment Resources
Go to our Comprehensive Assessment Toolkit page
Learn why your colleagues are choosing Illuminate’s comprehensive assessment tools:
