Assessments
At Carmel Clay Schools we believe that no single assessment of academic progress can tell the full story. However, testing can be a helpful tool in assessing whether students are mastering academic standards. Below you will find information on the various assessment tools used at Carmel Clay Schools.
- Acadience
- Dyslexia Intervention
- Naturalization Exam
- NWEA MAP Growth
- IAM
- ILEARN
- IREAD
- SAT (11th Grade)
- WIDA Access
Acadience
Acadience Universal Screening is a series of short, standardized tests that give us a quick snapshot of your child's foundational reading skills. We use these screenings to help us see which students may need extra support in certain areas, so we can be proactive in providing that help. Think of it like a quick check-up with a doctor; it doesn't give a full diagnosis but helps us find out if there's a specific area that needs a closer look.
Dyslexia Intervention
Early Literacy Intervention and Indiana Dyslexia Legislation
Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, Indiana’s public and charter schools must meet added requirements to identify, as early as possible, struggling readers who show risk factors for dyslexia. Schools must provide systematic, sequential, and multisensory instruction to meet these students’ needs. All students in grades kindergarten through second grade will undergo universal screeners to check their skills in six different areas. These areas are: phonological and phonemic awareness (ability to separate and change sounds in words), alphabet knowledge (name different letters), sound symbol relationship (phonics), decoding (reading), rapid naming (quickly name common objects), and encoding (spelling). Students who fall below a set score or benchmark on the universal screener will be considered by their school to be “at risk” or “at some risk” for the characteristics of dyslexia. Students who are considered “at risk” or “at some risk” will receive targeted, intensive instruction to grow their foundational literacy skills.
Dyslexia as defined by IC 20-18-2-3.5 is a specific learning disability that:
- is neurological in origin and characterized by:
- difficulties with accurate or fluent word recognition; and
- poor spelling and encoding abilities;
- typically results from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom instruction;
- may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge; and
- may require the provision of special education services after an eligibility determination is made in accordance with 511 IAC 7-40.
In accordance with this law, each school corporation and charter school shall report on the school corporation or charter school's website the following information:
WHAT INTERVENTION PROGRAMS ARE USED TO ASSIST STUDENTS WHO SHOW RISK FACTORS FOR DYSLEXIA?
Students in Carmel Clay Schools who need intervention in foundational literacy skills receive additional direct, explicit, and multisensory instruction utilizing the following programs:
- Orton-Gillingham
- Wilson Just Words Intervention
- Wilson Reading System
- Rewards
- UFLI
- Phonics and Spelling through Phoneme-Grapheme Mapping
HOW MANY STUDENTS RECEIVED A DYSLEXIA INTERVENTION DURING THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR?
In grades K-2, 179 students, or 6% of all K-2 students, received a flag indicating potential risk factors for dyslexia on the dyslexia screener. These students received targeted intervention in literacy skills related to dyslexia (phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, alphabet knowledge, and/or encoding).
Naturalization Exam
Carmel Clay Schools Naturalization Exam Results
Background
In Indiana, each student enrolled in a U.S. Government course where credit is awarded for General, Core 40, Core 40 with Academic Honors, or Core 40 with Technical Honors designation is required to take the naturalization examination provided by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as administered by the student’s high school. U.S. Government courses include Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, dual credit, and Cambridge International courses. Students do not need to pass the naturalization examination in order to pass the U.S. Government course. Retests are not required or published in the results.
Indiana Code 20-30-5-7(d) requires, not later than November 1, 2022, and not later than November 1 each year thereafter, the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to report student data from the naturalization examination to the Indiana General Assembly.
Test Materials and Process
General information regarding the naturalization examination can be found here. The 2020 naturalization examination contains 128 items. Students participating in the naturalization examination complete 20 of the 128 items. These items are presented orally by the U.S. Government instructor. The U.S. Government instructor is responsible for selecting the 20 items to present to students. The total number of students, student scores, and student passing rates are collected at the school level for each semester or trimester the course is offered (Indiana Department of Education, 2021).
Reporting
The Indiana Department of Education requires that all Indiana school districts publish naturalization examination results to the district’s website. Retests are not required or published in the results.
Carmel High School Naturalization Exam Results for 2024-2025
- Number of students taking the exam: 1192
- Number of students who passed the exam on their first attempt: 1091
- Pass rate of the naturalization exam with regard to the number of students who participated: 91%
NWEA MAP Growth
Carmel Clay Schools administers the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment to a select group of students in grades 1 and 5. This research-based, adaptive test helps identify students’ instructional levels and academic growth in English Language Arts and Mathematics. Results are used, along with multiple other measures, to help determine eligibility for high ability services and to inform instruction.
IAM
I AM measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana’s Content Connectors aligned to the Indiana Academic Standards. I AM is the summative accountability assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities in grades 3-8 and 10. It assesses:
- English/Language Arts (Grades 3-8 and 10)
- Mathematics (Grades 3-8 and 10)
- Science (Grades 4, 6, and Biology)
- Social Studies (Grade 5)
ILEARN
ILEARN measures student achievement and growth according to Indiana Academic Standards. ILEARN is the summative accountability assessment for Indiana students and assesses:
- English/Language Arts (Grades 3-8)
- Mathematics (Grades 3-8)
- Science (Grades 4 and 6)
- Social Studies (Grade 5)
- Biology (High School)
Parents and guardians have an opportunity to review and/or request a rescore for any eligible open-ended items. Parents who are interested in this process should contact their student’s school to make an appointment. Parents or guardians must sign and date a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) at the school before the meeting. A rescore request may only be submitted during the rescore window, which ends on May 30, 2025. ILEARN rescore requests may result in an increased or decreased scale score. There are no open-ended items for High School ILEARN Biology. Final results for all ILEARN assessments become available after July 1st annually.
IREAD
Grade 2
All Carmel Clay Elementary schools will administer the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD-3) to all second grade students. Individual Student Reports for IREAD are sent to parents via School Messenger. Scores are also uploaded into Power School Family Access under “Test Scores.”
What do the test results mean for my Second Grade child?
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If my child receives… |
This means your child… |
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PASS |
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ON TRACK |
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AT RISK |
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Grade 3
All Carmel Clay Elementary Schools administer the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) to students in Grade 3. Individual Student Reports for IREAD-3 are sent to parents via School Messenger. Scores are also uploaded into Power Schools Access under “Test Scores.”
- A PASS score of 446 or above indicates that the student has met the expected level of learning.
- A DID NOT PASS is a score of 445 or lower.
Our staff works diligently to implement best practice instructional strategies to help develop growing readers in Grade 3. If your child did not pass IREAD-3, he/she will retake the test in May after receiving remediation organized by each school.
SAT (11th Grade)
Grade 11 (junior cohort) students will participate in the SAT School Day per the federal accountability requirement.
All Grade 11 (junior cohort) students participate in the SAT School Day each year in March. Scores will include standard SAT scores as well as Indiana-specific proficiency levels.
- English/Language Arts (54 questions)
- Mathematics (44 questions)
WIDA Access
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), requires state education agencies to establish and implement standardized, statewide entrance and exit procedures for English learners (Section 3113). In accordance with federal regulations, all states are required to:
- identify the languages other than English present in their student population;
- assess the language proficiency of students in order to place them in the appropriate language development program; and
- administer an annual assessment of English proficiency, which includes measuring a student’s oral language, reading, and writing skills in English.
The purpose of the English Language Proficiency Assessments is to determine a student's level of English proficiency. WIDA ACCESS is the English Language Proficiency Assessment administered in Indiana. The W-APT placement test (kindergarten) and the WIDA Screener (grades 1-12) function as a screener that is used for both initial and English Language (EL) program placement of students who are identified as Limited English Proficient (LEP). The annual assessment, ACCESS and Alternate Access, is administered to determine a student's current level of English proficiency. The annual assessment is also used for accountability purposes.