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Universal Screening Assessment System

The purpose of the Universal Screening Assessment System in Mathematics for grades PK-2 and grades 3-8 is to create an item bank from which a computerized adaptive universal screening test can be administered to allow teachers to identify students who are at-risk for not meeting the curricular expectations. All students are administered universal screening tests in fall, winter, and early spring. Information is reported to teachers for making two instructional decisions: (1) identify students who are struggling in mathematics, and (2) identify the intensity of instructional support students will need to improve their performance.

Istation PK-8 Inventory

Istation PK-8 Inventory is a formative assessment administered to students identified by the Universal Screener as needing additional support. The purpose of the assessment is to provide teachers with a detailed list of the content standards with which students have and have not demonstrated proficiency. In addition to targeting content from the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics (2011) and multiple states’ mathematics content standards (e.g., Texas, Florida, New York, California, and Virginia), items on the Istation Inventory also target varying research-based levels of cognitive engagement (e.g., procedural fluency, conceptual understanding, strategic competence, and adaptive reasoning) as specified in the aforementioned content standards. The Istation Inventory is designed so that teachers can use students’ performance results to support instructional planning decisions for students struggling in mathematics.

Teacher Resources

The purpose of the Teacher Resources for Grades 3-8 is to provide teachers with research-based instructional recommendations that can be implemented with students who are identified as struggling in mathematics by the grade-level appropriate Universal Screening test and/or other data sources. The research-based instructional practices are based on NCTM Curriculum Focal Points (2006) and research reported in the Practice Guide published by the Institute of Education Sciences (Gersten et al.,2009). The Practice Guide documents research-based instructional strategies for supporting the mathematics achievement of struggling students, including (but not limited to) the provision of explicit and systematic instruction, attention to word problem solving (with an explicit focus on underlying problem structures), an in-depth focus on whole numbers for Grades K-5 and rational numbers for Grades 4-8, and incorporation of opportunities for students to work with visual representations of mathematical representations during mathematics instruction.