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i-Ready Diagnostic: Resources for Assessment Leaders

These resources provide an overview of i-Ready Diagnostic: how it works, what it measures, and how it delivers tailored student growth goals.

i-Ready Diagnostic

Pinpoint what students know and where they need support with adaptive Reading and Mathematics assessments for Grades K–12.

Starting in school year 2026–2027, i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading and for Mathematics will change to i-Ready Inform for Reading and for Mathematics.Learn more about what to expect

Overview

Overview Materials for i-Ready Diagnostic

i-Ready Diagnostic Flyer

Get information about i-Ready Diagnostic to download and share.

i-Ready Reports Book

See the reports that help educators make effective instructional decisions to drive student growth and help all students access grade-level instruction through i‑Ready’s rich, actionable data.

Video: Actionable Reports

Based on Diagnostic results, i-Ready reports provide detailed information on student performance by domain. Clear instructional recommendations, including a personalized instructional path, are provided as well as aggregate data for spotting trends across groups of students.

Whitepaper: Rigor of i-Ready Diagnostic

The i-Ready Diagnostic is built upon three pillars of credibility that provide evidence of the integrity of our assessment system: robust assessment design, powerful psychometrics, and extensive external validation. These components of the Diagnostic create a full picture of an assessment that is credible, technically rigorous, actionable, and data driven.

Study: National Center on Intensive Intervention

This study highlights the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) evaluation of i-Ready as an Academic Screening Tool and Progress Monitoring Tool. i-Ready is approved by NCII for both Academic Screening and Academic Progress Monitoring.

A Peek into the i-Ready Diagnostic Assessment

This assessment brief gives a peek into the science of the i-Ready Diagnostic assessment.

Highly Correlated to State Summatives

i-Ready Diagnostic is highly correlated to 46 state summative assessments.

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Science behind the Diagnostic

What It Measures and How It Works

What the Diagnostic Measures

The i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading and for Mathematics measures the concepts critical to preparing a student for grade-level success.

How the Diagnostic Works: A Deep Dive

The computer-adaptive i-Ready Diagnostic assessment has specific test flows, stopping rules, and other characteristics that make it an efficient and rigorous measure of student learning.

FAQ: What is the test flow of the i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading?

Test flow is the order in which students receive test items from each domain on the i-Ready Diagnostic. The i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading’s test flow varies by chronological grade level.

FAQ: What is the test flow of the i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics?

Test flow is the order in which students receive test items from each domain on the i-Ready Diagnostic. The i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics’ test flow varies by grade band.

i-Ready: Aligned with the Science of Reading

i-Ready Assessment and i-Ready Personalized Instruction are aligned with the Science of Reading in a number of ways.

Get the Facts: Assessing Phonological Awareness beyond Grade 1

Improper interpretation of screening data can lead to the misidentification of students in need of reading intervention. See why Phonological Awareness should not be the preliminary screening measure for students in Grades 2 and up.

How the Diagnostic Aligns with State Standards

This document outlines aspects of i-Ready content validity and the assessment process for documenting alignment to state standards.

FAQ: i-Ready Diagnostic: Guidance on Assessment Duration

The amount of time it takes a student to complete the Diagnostic can vary by grade, subject, and other factors.

Understanding the Difficulty and the Duration of the i-Ready Diagnostic

This document explains the level of difficulty of the i-Ready Diagnostic, the time it takes to complete the assessment, and how these elements help precisely determine what a student knows and can do.

Balancing Diagnostic Test Content and Duration

i-Ready Diagnostic balances test duration with instructional value for teachers. Learn more about the importance of balancing test content with test duration.

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Growth Model

i-Ready Diagnostic Growth Model

Curriculum Associates has conducted longitudinal, multiyear research into the growth of millions of students. Our research has confirmed what educators have long observed: Not all students grow at the same rate, nor should all students have the same growth goals. Based on this research, i-Ready’s growth model provides differentiated growth benchmarks that differ based on students’ performance on the beginning-of-year i-Ready Diagnostic.

Rationale and Background

i-Ready Diagnostic’s growth model provides two empirically derived measures for understanding student growth: Typical Growth and Stretch Growth^®. These two measures provide educators with realistic and ambitious growth targets to help more students reach proficiency.

Video: i-Ready Growth Model Overview

i-Ready Diagnostic’s growth model includes Typical Growth and Stretch Growth measures and is based on years of empirical research on the growth of i-Ready users.

Stretch Growth: A Path toward Proficiency

Researchers at Curriculum Associates conducted a large-scale study using two years of i-Ready Diagnostic data to examine to what degree meeting i-Ready’s Stretch Growth targets puts students on a path toward proficiency. The study provides validity evidence for i-Ready’s Stretch Growth targets as a growth goal that is ambitious yet attainable and demonstrates how reaching Stretch Growth in two consecutive years puts students on a path toward proficiency.

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High School

i-Ready Diagnostic in High School

The i-Ready Diagnostic in high school provides a longitudinal view of how students are performing, identifies students who may need more support, and connects educators to resources that will ensure all students have what they need to succeed. The Diagnostic in high school can help uncover areas that require reteaching while providing support for on-grade level instruction.

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Video: i-Ready Diagnostic for High School Overview

Learn about the unique ways in which the i-Ready Diagnostic for high school assesses students in Grades 9–12.

i-Ready Reports Book for High School

See the reports that help Grades 9–12 educators make effective instructional decisions to drive student growth and help all high school students prepare for college and career success through i-Ready’s rich, actionable data.

Measuring Growth in High School

i-Ready has two different approaches to measuring growth among high school students.

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Sample Items

Diagnostic Sample Items

In our development process, content editors follow meticulous steps to create test items. Curriculum Associates also enlists the help of experienced teachers to review assessment items. Finally, we employ a series of cognitive labs to gain a deeper understanding of the cognitive processes students use when responding to assessment items. The sample items showcased here represent our various item types and tools across grade levels.

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Diagnostic Item Types

The i-Ready Diagnostic has unique item types for Reading and for Mathematics that assess student proficiency in varying ways.

Foundational Reading Skills Items

Younger students will encounter questions on the Diagnostic developed specifically to address foundational skills in a way consistent with the Science of Reading.

Math Tools Available on the Diagnostic

The i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics has a number of virtual math tools to aid students in responding to questions and to assess students in innovative ways.

Sample High School Diagnostic Items

The i-Ready Diagnostic assesses high school students using questions specifically developed for students in Grades 9–12.

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Diagnostic Scores and Placement Tables

The i-Ready Diagnostic provides a complete picture of student performance with scores that relate to their grade level and national norms. The scores that result from the Diagnostic describe student performance against grade-level criteria as well as against their peers. Information about Diagnostic scoring and placement is available below.

Placement levels provide a criterion-referenced indication of a student’s performance based on grade level. It is determined based on specific scale score ranges for each chronological grade (i.e., the grade in which the student is currently enrolled). Students receive a placement that indicates if they are above grade level, on grade level, one grade level below, or two or more grade levels below.

Lexile®, Lexile® Framework, Quantile®, and Quantile® Framework are trademarks of MetaMetrics, Inc. and are registered in the United States and abroad.Copyright © 2025 MetaMetrics, Inc. All rights reserved.

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i-Ready Diagnostic Grades K–12 Scale Score Placement Tables

Learn more about i-Ready’s grade-level placements, including the definitions and scale scores associated with each placement.

Greater Insight into Student Performance

i-Ready’s 5-Level Placements were developed to provide better insight into student performance relative to grade-level proficiency. They mirror the same placements that are used to calculate student growth in the i-Ready growth model.

Understanding Score Types on the i-Ready Diagnostic

Learn how i-Ready’s norm-referenced and criterion-referenced data can help inform instruction and planning.

Using Lexile® Measures from the Diagnostic Results Report

Curriculum Associates partnered with MetaMetrics to conduct a linking study between the i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading and the Lexile^® Framework for Reading.

Using Quantile® Measures from the Diagnostic Results Report

Curriculum Associates partnered with MetaMetrics to conduct a linking study between the i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics and the Quantile^® Framework for Mathematics.

The i-Ready Reading Difficulty Indicator (iRDI)

Data from the i-Ready Diagnostic for Reading can be used with cut scores from the iRDI to determine which students in Grades K–8 exhibit a reading difficulty.

The i-Ready Mathematics Difficulty Indicator (iMDI)

Data from the i-Ready Diagnostic for Mathematics can be used with iMDI cut scores to determine which students in Grades K–8 exhibit a mathematics difficulty.

FAQ: i-Ready Export Dictionary

Administrators may wish to access i-Ready data in different environments. Exports allow leaders to download detailed student-level data for an entire school or district.

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Diagnostic Norms

i-Ready Diagnostic national norms provide a way for educators to understand student scores as they compare to the performance of students across the country. Norms are reported as percentile ranks that describe how a student’s score compares to the performance of nationally representative samples of student scores in the same grade level taking the Diagnostic at the same time of year.

Data on norms is reviewed regularly so updates to norms can be made when warranted.

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Feature Overview: Understanding i-Ready’s New Norms

Curriculum Associates used data from more than five million students to develop post-pandemic national norms. Interpretation of the new norms underscores the potential they offer, in combination with i-Ready’s criterion-referenced data, to inform rigorous instruction and student growth.

i-Ready Diagnostic National Norms Tables for Grades K–8: Fall 2016–Spring 2024

This document contains the norms in use from fall 2016 to spring 2024.

i-Ready Diagnostic National Norms Tables for Grades 9–10: Fall 2016–Spring 2024

This document contains the norms in use from fall 2016 to spring 2024.

i-Ready Diagnostic National Norms Tables for Grades K–8: For Use in the 2024–2025 School Year

Norms within i-Ready provide a way for educators to compare how their students are performing relative to other students across the country.

i-Ready Diagnostic National Norms Tables for Grades 9–10: For Use in the 2024–2025 School Year

Norms within i-Ready provide a way for educators to compare how their students are performing relative to other students across the country.

Video: i-Ready Introduces New National Norms in the 2024–2025 School Year

Watch a short presentation on i-Ready’s new norms and how they can be used to better understand student performance.

Whitepaper: Understanding New National Norms

Read about i-Ready’s new norms, why we they have been created, and how they can be used to better understand student performance.

Using New Norms to Inform Instruction or Tiered Intervention

New norms may have implications for districts that use percentile ranks to make instructional decisions about students, such as determining which students receive Tier 2 and Tier 3 intervention services or for determining eligibility requirements for certain coursework.

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Data Resources

i-Ready data files and resources can be used for internal dashboards and local program analysis to support district initiatives and goal setting.

FAQ: i-Ready Export Dictionary

Administrators may wish to access i-Ready data in different environments. Exports allow leaders to download detailed student-level data for an entire school or district.

i-Ready Diagnostic Grades K–12 Scale Score Placement Tables

Learn more about i-Ready’s grade-level placements, including the definitions and scale scores associated with each placement.

i-Ready Data Crosswalks: Grades K–8 Tables

This document provides crosswalks that make connections across score types. These connections include: scale scores to placement levels, absolute placements to relative placements, absolute placement levels to Lexile range, and grade-level placements to percentile rank.

i-Ready Data Crosswalks: High School Tables

Diagnostic Data Tables

This document includes a comparison of percentile rank to scale score with placement-level changes for each testing season. It also features the scale scores associated with each placement.

Comparing Old and New Norms: Grades K–8 Tables

This document includes old norms and new norms side by side to make informed decisions regarding benchmarking and identification for programs.

Comparing Old and New Norms: High School Tables

This document includes old norms and new norms side by side to make informed decisions regarding benchmarking and identification for programs.

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Projected Proficiency

New for school year 2025–2026!

Projected Proficiency is Curriculum Associates' approach to provide a way to understand the relationship between i-Ready Diagnostic scores and proficiency-level classifications on statewide Grades 3–8 examinations.

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Projections for 4-Level State Assessments

i-Ready’s Projected Proficiency reports give educators information that can help them plan a pathway for students who need more time to reach proficient on the state assessment and can summarize the progress of on-grade level students as they achieve high expectations.

Projections for 5-Level State Assessments

Guidance for Using Projected Proficiency Reports

Up to three benchmark comparison projections are provided to let an educator view what proficiency will look like based on different scenarios.

Why Projections May Differ from State Results

There are many factors that could impact the accuracy of projected proficiency projections for any school, class, or district.

Videos: How Does Projected Proficiency Work?

These short (two to three minutes each) videos describe the feature and its uses.

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Growth Monitoring

The i-Ready Growth Monitoring feature provides a way to test specific student groups between Diagnostics to evaluate and report on projected student growth. These periodic checks between Diagnostics are designed to answer the questions, “What is my student’s projected end-of-year growth?” and “What is the likelihood that my students will meet their growth measures?” The Growth Monitoring assessments can be used as a tool to indicate when specific students may need additional support to accelerate growth and gauge the effectiveness of support programs.

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Understand How i-Ready Growth Monitoring Works

Growth Monitoring and Diagnostic assessments are designed to help educators understand students’ projected end-of-year growth and progress toward growth goals.

National Center on Intensive Intervention

This study highlights National Center on Intensive Intervention' evaluation of i-Ready as an Academic Screening Tool and Progress Monitoring Tool. i-Ready is approved by NCII for both Academic Screening and Academic Progress Monitoring.

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