Student Assessment

Topics:

Academic Standards

Results of student assessments help make program, staffing, professional development, instructional, financial and personal decisions. They are an important component of both the Collecting/Analyzing Student data step and the Ongoing Data Collection step in the Iowa Professional Development Model. Statewide and district-wide summative assessments are mandated by Iowa Administrative Code (Chapter 12) and used for district accreditation and federal reporting, as defined by the  Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation. Formative assessments are ongoing and are used to inform the instructional process and develop student learning goals.

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Definitions

  • Summative Assessment. Summative Assessments are assessments OF learning, given at a point in time to measure and monitor student learning. They provide feedback to educators, students, parents, and community members and are used to make adjustments in instructional programs, report student progress, identify and place students, and grade students.
  • Formative Assessment. Formative Assessment is assessment FOR learning. It is a process used by teachers and students as part of instruction that provides feedback to adjust ongoing teaching and learning to improve students’ achievement of core content. Formative assessment practices provide students with clear learning targets, examples and models of strong and weak work, regular descriptive feedback, and the ability to self-assess, track learning, and set goals. (Adapted from Council of Chief State School Officers, FAST SCASS)
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Assessments & Accountability

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation requires that states annually assess all students on achievement of grade-level, state-adopted standards in reading, mathematics, and science. To meet the requirements of the legislation, Iowa school districts and buildings must report assessment results for all students in reading and mathematics in Grades 3–8 and one grade in high school. In science, student results are reported in one grade each for elementary, middle school, and high school. No more than 1% of students with significant cognitive disabilities must also be assessed in reading, mathematics, and science using an alternate assessment. Students identified as English language learners (ELL) are additionally assessed in Grades K–12 on achievement of state-adopted English language proficiency standards.

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New 2026 Iowa State Summative Assessment

The state summative assessment for all Iowa students meeting the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is developed by Iowa Testing Programs (ITP) at the University of Iowa as per the Iowa Legislature (HF 2235). It was first administered in the spring of 2019 through spring 2025. Now, Iowa has administered a new state summative assessment in the spring of 2026. This assessment aligns to the rigorous Iowa Academic Standards in English language arts and mathematics adopted by the State Board of Education in 2024 and first implemented in the 2024-25 school year. 

Aligning the state summative assessment to Iowa’s new Academic Standards holds all students to high expectations and better reflects what is being taught in Iowa classrooms and how students are progressing toward grade-level expectations. Please note that the 2019-2025 state summative assessment and the 2026 state summative assessment will not be comparable as the 2026 assessment includes new content and questions aligned to new academic standards, new proposed performance level descriptors, and four new proposed achievement levels with new cut points.

Assessments are administered in the following subjects and grade levels:

  • Mathematics: Grades 3–11
  • English-Language Arts, including reading and writing: Grades 3–11
  • Science: Grades 5, 8 and 11

Setting High Expectations for Iowa Students on the New 2026 Iowa State Summative Assessment 

Following the administration of the new state summative assessment in spring 2026, the next step is to finalize Performance Level Descriptors (PLDs) and achievement levels aligned to Iowa’s new Academic Standards.

PLDs describe the knowledge and skills students must demonstrate in each of Iowa’s four new achievement levels. The PLD bridges the test score to what a student knows and can do. The achievement levels identify where a student’s performance falls on a continuum of performance. 

Previously, student performance on Iowa’s state summative assessment included three achievement levels: Advanced, Proficient and Not Yet Proficient. The proposed new achievement levels will report student performance at four levels: Below, Approaching, Meeting and Exceeding Grade-Level Expectations. 

Timeline for the New 2026 Iowa State Summative Assessment 

In April and May 2026, the Department conducted a statewide survey to gather feedback on the proposed performance level descriptors (PLDs). In June 2026, approximately 155 Iowa educators from across the state met for five days to advise on the cut points for the four proposed achievement levels: Below, Approaching, Meeting and Exceeding Grade-level Expectations.

This fall once school is back in session, the Department will gather additional stakeholder feedback through regional public listening sessions. Similar to the process followed for the adoption of new academic standards, a second committee, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), will review community feedback in their final proposed recommendations. The proposed recommendations will be taken to the Iowa State Board of Education for consideration. While the Department cannot commit to a date on behalf of the State Board of Education, we are likely to follow a similar timeline to when the assessment standard setting was last revised in 2019 when the cut points and the percentage of students at the new performance levels were released in November of that year.

Iowa has communicated these proposed changes to our statewide summative assessment following State Board of Education adoption of new rigorous academic standards for mathematics in April 2024, and for English language arts in June 2024, through:

  • Curriculum Network meetings attended by school district curriculum directors from across Iowa were held throughout 2025 and 2026.
  • Statewide superintendents meetings throughout the 2025-26 school year.
  • Multiple staff presentations during State Board of Education meetings in 2025 and 2026.
  • A statewide public survey in April and May 2026.
  • Invitations to participate in performance setting committees sent to over 40,000 subscribers in 2026.
  • Approximately 155 educators served on the performance setting committees in June 2026.
  • Updates were provided at the National Conference on Student Assessment
  • Updates were provided at the School Administrators of Iowa summer conference in August 2026.
  • Community engagement and listening sessions will also be conducted in fall 2026 after the start of the school year.

Why Setting High Expectations on the New 2026 Iowa State Summative Assessment is Important

Iowa remains committed to high expectations for all learners and transparency to parents and the public. 

Iowa’s state summative assessment is built specifically to measure student progress in learning aligned to Iowa Academic Standards. It is given in all public schools and accredited nonpublic schools in Iowa, and results are obtained at the student, classroom, grade level, school and district level. 

In considering the new performance standards, it is important to consider other assessments such as the National Assessment of Student Progress (NAEP). NAEP is designed with items that are fair to students across the country and provides a common measure of student achievement. NAEP, which only tests a sample of students in each state, is given every two years in grades 4 and 8, assessing Reading and Mathematics. NAEP also assesses different grade and content areas periodically, but often only national results are available. The difference between student performance outcomes reported on state summative assessments and what NAEP reports as being “proficient” is referred to as “the honesty gap.” 

By ensuring Iowa’s new state summative assessment reflects high expectations for all learners, better aligns how student performance is reported with national benchmarks, including NAEP, and describes student learning as Below, Approaching, Meeting and Exceeding grade-level expectations, Iowa will provide families with clearer information about student progress, support stronger instructional decisions and help target supports where they are needed most.

Following State Board Approval, these results will reset the baseline for future progress on the 2026 state summative assessment and thus, performance will shift. Therefore, these results should not be compared to previous years because the 2026 state summative assessment is aligned to Iowa’s new rigorous academic standards with new content, new questions and the new achievement levels, which are different from the previous assessment.

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Additional Required Student Assessments

To meet federal requirements, Iowa uses  Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) for alternate assessments and  English Language Proficiency Assessments for the 21st Century (ELPA21) for English language proficiency.

To meet state mandates, Iowa uses Teaching Strategies' GOLD to assess preschool. To meet Early Literacy Implementation (ELI) requirements for Grades K–3, districts select from a Department-approved assessment list. Districts must use the Early Literacy Alternate Assessment (ELAA) to meet ELI requirements when assessing students with significant cognitive disabilities.

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) tests are administered periodically to a representative sample of students in Grades 4 and 8 nationwide in math, reading, science, writing, the arts, civics, economics, geography, and U.S. history. NAEP, known as the nation’s report card, is the only state-by-state comparison of student progress. Since Fall 2003, all states have been required to participate. See Iowa NAEP Results.

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Statewide Assessment Resources

The  State of Iowa Test Security Manual (627.81 KB) .pdf  and the  Statewide Assessment System Accessibility Manual (1.17 MB) .pdf  should be followed by all assessment stakeholders in Iowa. See the latest manuals and supporting resources below:

Reporting of Testing Incidents

A test administrator/proctor who has witnessed a testing incident should contact the school administrator and the district assessment coordinator. Testing incidents and accommodation errors are reported by district assessment coordinators through the Testing Incident Reporting application available through the Iowa Education Portal. District Assessment Coordinators need an account and access to the reporting application within the portal. If the coordinator needs access to the portal and/or the reporting application, contact the district’s portal security officer.

Reporting Results

The Annual Condition of Education Report provides statewide demographic, curriculum, staffing, financial, and achievement data to help districts and policymakers evaluate the state's educational system and ensure it is meeting the needs of students and communities.

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Opting Out of Testing

The Iowa Department of Education receives requests from parents and others that students be “opted out” of statewide assessments, district-wide assessments, and other assessments of student performance. The law provides for no “opt out.”

  1. The law requires that all Iowa students be assessed. Under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-95 (hereinafter ESSA), each State shall demonstrate that it has a statewide accountability plan that takes into account the achievement of “all public elementary school and secondary school students.” ESSA, § 1111(b)(2)(A)(i), (b)(2)(C)(i), (ix) (emphasis added). The United States Department of Education has adopted rules implementing these statutory provisions. See, e.g., 34 C.F.R. §§ 200.2(b)(1), 200.6

    Similarly, Iowa statute requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules regarding the assessment of and reporting of student achievement. Iowa Code § 256.7(21). Pursuant to that statutory authority, the State Board promulgated a rule requiring “assessment of student progress for all students.” Iowa Admin. Code r. 281—12.8(1)(f) (emphasis added).

    The requirement in federal and state law to report participation rates on statewide assessments does not change the obligation imposed by the plain language of state and federal law to assess all children.

    The Iowa Code and implementing administrative rules also require all students to be assessed in multiple other contexts. See, e.g., Iowa Code § 279.68 (early literacy statute); Iowa Admin. Code ch. 281—62.
  2. The law contains no provision for parents to opt children out of assessments. None of the statutes, regulations, and rules in state or federal law give the parents the authority to “opt” their children out of accountability assessments. They use the term “all”, and “all” as a statutory term “usually does not admit of an exception, addition or exclusion.” Consolidated Freightways Corp. v. Nicholas, 258 Iowa 115, 137 N.W.2d 900 (1965). The statutory scheme at issue conforms to this longstanding general rule.

    ESSA contains limited provisions that allow children to participate in different assessment activities, but those are narrowly drawn and do not amount to a parental “opt out.” See, e.g., 34 C.F.R. § 200.6. ESSA’s parental involvement provisions also do not contain a provision allowing for “opting out.” ESSA § 1118. Likewise, Iowa education law contains references to unilateral parent “opt outs,” which are conspicuously absent from the statutes on assessment. See, e.g., Iowa Code §§ 256.11(6)(a) (physical education, physical activity, or CPR course, if conflicts with religious belief); 279.50(5) (human growth and development instruction). In the absence of such a specific authorization of parents to opt children out of assessments, the Department lacks the authority to approve of granting such requests.
  3. Local school districts determine the consequences for withholding children from testing. Although the law requires all children to be assessed, the law also does not specify consequences for parents who withhold their children from assessment. In the absence of specific consequences spelled out in statute, the general rule of local control is followed: consequences for participating or not participating in required assessments are determined at the local level. The Department will not interfere in those local determinations if those are reasonable.
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