Types of Assessment

Acronym	Name
AAPPL	ACTFL Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Language
ACCESS	Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Learners
ACT	America College Testing
AP	College Board Advanced Placement
ASVAB	Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
CogAT	Cognitive Abilities Test
DLM	Dynamic Learning Maps
FitnessGram	FitnessGram State of Illinois Test
IAR	Illinois Assessment of Readiness
IOWA	Iowa Assessments
ISA	Illinois Science Assessment
KIDS	Kindergarten Individual Development Survey
NAEP	National Assessment of Educational Progress
NWEA MAP	NWEA MAP Growth
PSAT/NMSQT	Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test)

 

Assessment of Performance in Proficiency-Based Learning (AAPPL)

The AAPPL (Assessment of Performance in Proficiency-Based Learning) test is a proficiency-based online assessment used in Illinois for the State Seal of Biliteracy, evaluating a student's ability in listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a world language. Students can take the test at school with a proctor. It is a four-part online test with components in Interpersonal Listening/Speaking, Presentational Writing, and Interpretive Reading and Listening. 

Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State to State for English Learners (ACCESS)

The ACCESS test in Illinois is a state-mandated annual assessment for English Learners (ELs) from kindergarten through 12th grade to measure their English language proficiency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Students continue to take the test until they achieve an overall composite score of 4.8, which indicates proficiency and allows them to be reclassified as "Former ELs". The test can be administered online or through paper-based formats and provides scores on a scale of 1–6. 
WIDA ACCESS 2025-2026 Information for Families

ACT with writing and ACT Secure

The ACT is a required standardized test administered to eleventh graders and is required for high school graduation in Illinois. It assesses skills in four main areas: English, math, reading, and science. In addition, the ACT also includes an essay. The ACT is designed to show how ready a student is for college-level work. Scores can be used by colleges for admissions, scholarships, and course placement.

The PreACT Secure is a practice test for the ACT, administered online to all Illinois 10th graders in the spring as part of the state's required testing program. It assesses English, math, reading, and science skills to help students prepare for the state-mandated ACT for juniors and to provide feedback on their college and career readiness. 

The PreACT 9 Secure is a practice test for the ACT, administered online to all Illinois 9th graders in the spring as part of the state’s required testing program.  It assesses English, math, reading and science skills to help students prepare for the state-mandated ACT for juniors and to provide feedback on their college and career readiness. 
www.act.org  

Advanced Placement (AP)

AP, or Advanced Placement, is an optional College Board program that allows high school students to take college-level courses and exams. Students can earn college credit and/or advanced placement at colleges by earning qualifying scores on the exams. Taking AP courses can also give students an advantage in college admissions by showing they are prepared for and motivated to do college-level work.
What Is AP? – AP Students | College Board

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

The ASVAB (Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery) is a standardized, multiple-aptitude test used by the U.S. military to assess a potential recruit's strengths and predict their success in different training programs and jobs, covering areas like math, science, reading, and mechanical skills.  It is also used for career exploration by high school students. It measures aptitude in verbal, math, science, and technical domains.

Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT)

CogAT measures general thinking and problem-solving skills and indicates how well the student uses these skills to solve verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal problems. It provides a picture of the student’s strength and weakness.

Verbal Battery: The Verbal Battery is comprised of three subtests (Verbal Analogies, Verbal Classification, and Sentence Completion) that appraise deductive and inductive reasoning skills as well as flexibility, fluency and adaptability in working with verbal materials and solving verbal problems. Successful performance on these tests requires that students have a variety of verbal strategies that they can use effectively. This cluster of verbal reasoning ability plays an important role in developing skills in reading comprehension, critical thinking, writing, and other types of verbal learning tasks.

Nonverbal Battery: The Nonverbal Battery presents the most novel problems to students. The items on these subtests (Figure Matrices, Paper Folding, and Figure Classification ) use only geometric shapes and figures that have little direct relationship to formal school instruction. The subtests require no reading and no outside fund of knowledge. To perform successfully, students must have well-developed strategies for dealing with novel materials. Students must be flexible in using these strategies and be accurate in implementing them. All three subtests appraise general inductive reasoning skills as well as flexibility and fluency in using and adapting cognitive strategies.

Quantitative Battery: The Quantitative battery is comprised of three subtests (Number Analogies, Number Puzzles, and Number Series) that appraise deductive and inductive reasoning skills as well as flexibility and fluency in working with quantitative symbols and concepts. The equation building test also appraises the ability to organize, structure, and give meaning to an unordered set of numerals and mathematical symbols. Successful performance on these subtests requires that students have a variety of strategies for working with quantitative materials. The reasoning skills appraised by this battery are significantly related to high-level problem solving, not only in mathematics but also in other disciplines. 

 

The Iowa Assessments are standardized norm-referenced assessments measuring student achievement in the areas of English Language Arts and Mathematics. The results of these assessments are part of the eligibility determination process for accelerated and gifted programs.

Components of the Test:

Reading	Administered in two parts, this test contains passages that vary in length from a few lines to a full page. Both literary passages (e.g., fiction, folk tales, essays, and poetry) and informational passages (e.g., expository science and social studies materials, procedural texts, and general nonfiction) are included. Many of the passages are excerpts from previously published works. A significant number of questions may require students to draw inferences or to generalize about what they have read.
Vocabulary	Each question presents a word in the context of a short phrase or sentence, and students select the answer that is the closest synonym for that word. Approximately equal numbers of nouns, verbs, and modifiers are included. Target words represent general vocabulary content rather than the specialized vocabulary used in various subject-matter areas.
Math	Administered in two parts. Students must demonstrate an understanding of Mathematics concepts, relationships, visual representations, and problem-solving. The questions deal with number sense and operations, algebraic patterns and connections, data analysis, probability, statistics, geometry, and measurement.

 

Reading the IOWA Assessments Results
National Percentile Rank (NPR) – The NPR indicates the percent of students in the same grade who obtained a lower grade than your student. NPR scores from 75-99 are in the above-average range. NPR scores from 1-24 are in the below-average range. Scores from 25-74 are in the low average to high average range. 

ISA

The Illinois Science Assessment (ISA) is a required state assessment administered to students in grades 5 and 8. It measures how well students understand key science concepts and skills based on the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which focus on science content, scientific practices, and real-world problem solving. Please refer to the following Illinois Science Assessment Score Report Interpretation Guide for additional information.

Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS)

The "KIDS" state of Illinois test is actually a Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS), which is an observational assessment for kindergarten students, not a traditional standardized test. It is designed to be completed by teachers as they observe students during their daily classroom activities, focusing on areas like cognitive, physical, social, and emotional development. The goal is to help teachers understand each child's development and learning pathway to support their growth and to share information with families.

NAEP

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) provides important information about student academic achievement and learning experiences in various subjects. Also known as The Nation’s Report Card, NAEP has provided meaningful results to improve education policy and practice since 1969. Results are available for the nation, states, and 28 urban districts.

NAEP is a congressionally mandated program that is overseen and administered by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. The National Assessment Governing Board, an independent body appointed by the Secretary of Education, sets NAEP policy.
Assessments | NAEP 

NWEA MAP Growth

NWEA MAP Growth is an online, adaptive assessment designed to evaluate individual student reading and mathematics achievement and growth.  This assessment is administered three times per year to students in kindergarten through eighth grade and is aligned with the Illinois English Language Arts and Mathematics Learning Standards.  

• NWEA  Family Tool Kit 
• NWEA MAP Growth Practice Test  (Session name:  GROW, Session Password:  GROW)

NWEA MAP Reading Fluency

NWEA MAP Reading Fluency is an online assessment that helps teachers understand how well students in grades K-5 are developing early reading skills. It assesses listening comprehension, phonics, word recognition, and oral reading fluency.

PSAT/NMSQT

The PSAT/NMSQT (Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is a standardized test administered to high school students in the fall of the 11th grade. It facilitates practice for the SAT, giving students a low-pressure way to familiarize themselves with the types of questions and timing of the test. In addition, there are scholarship opportunities with possible qualification for the National Merit Scholarship Program. 
College Board - PSAT NMSQT