Assessment

The Shawano School District administers various formative and summative assessments throughout the school year. The district's assessment windows for the 2025-26 school year are listed alphabetically below.

Some additional links and information for assessments:

• Wisconsin DPI Assessment Website 

• Wisconsin ACT 20 - Early Literacy Assessment

   

• All state-mandated assessments (ACCESS, ACT, AimswebPlus, DLM, PreACT, and Wisconsin Forward) will have parent letters, emails, and/or voice messages sent home before the assessment explaining the assessment and the dates for assessment. Once results are released, the district will send letters home with the scores. Once the overall district and school scores can be publicly released, the scores can be found on the WISEdash Public Portal: https://wisedash.dpi.wi.gov/Dashboard/dashboard/22275.

  • WISEdash Public Support Site: https://dpi.wi.gov/wisedash/help/district-support

• Additional state-mandated assessment information for the district can be found in this pdf [Public Reporting Assessments]

• Shawano School District State Report Card Results: Sate Report Cards

• Please contact Jason Kuehl (Shawano School District Data & Assessment Coordinator) with any questions.

ACCESS for ELLs (A state-mandated assessment) - The assessment measures the English Language Proficiency of English learners (ELs) in grades K - 12. This assessment allows educators, students, and families to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English in the domains of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Only students in the English Language Learner (ELL) program take the assessment.

• Grades K-12 (When applicable, only ELL students)

• Subject: ELA

• Test Window: December 1, 2025 - January 30th, 2026

   

*If your student is in the ELL program, contact your ELL coordinator for more specific dates and information.

ACT Plus Writing Assessment (A state-mandated assessment) - An assessment to see if students are academically ready for college &/or career. The ACT can be used for college enrollment, scholarships, and NCAA eligibility requirements.

• Grade 11

• Subjects: ELA (English, Reading & Writing), Math, and Science

   

• Test Window #1

  • March 10-13 & 16-20, 2026 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

  • The exact date for the general student body ACT assessment is currently scheduled for Wednesday, March 11, 2026; however, this date is subject to change.

  • Historically, we have tested on the first day of window #1 or on Wednesday for early release

  • Students with accommodations may be tested on any of the days listed within the window.

  • Standard time testing will take approximately 4-5 hours.

  (Only if necessary)

• Test Window #2

  • March 24-27 & March 30-April 3, 2026 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

• Test Window #3

  • April 7-10 & April 13-17, 2026 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

     

AimswebPlus (WI ACT 20 Screener, Early Literacy Assessment, a state-mandated assessment) - A grade 4K-3 universal literacy screener used to assess students' reading readiness. Mandated by state law starting in 2024-25. DPI Information: https://dpi.wi.gov/wi-reads/early-literacy-assessment-and-act-20

• Grade 4K-3 (Universal)

• Subject: ELA

• 2025-26 Test Windows

  • Fall

     

    • August 1, 2025 - October 24, 2025 [DPI]

    • September 29, 2025 - October 20, 2025 [SSD]

  • Winter (Mid-Year)

    • December 1, 2025 - January 30, 2026 [DPI]

    • December 11, 2025 - January 16, 2026 [SSD]

  • Spring

    • March 16, 2026 - May 8, 2026 [DPI]

    • March 16, 2026 - April 7, 2026 [SSD]

Beginning in 2025, the Fall administration is a required administration for grades 4K-3. The fall screener should be administered within 45 calendar days after the beginning of the district's school year. The spring screener should be administered on or before the 45th day before the last day of the school year.

Concepts of Print (Teacher's College) - A grade K local assessment used to assess students' concept of print.

• Grade K (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM) (A state-mandated assessment) - An alternative State Test instead of the Wisconsin Forward Exam, ACT Aspire, or ACT Plus Writing. The DLM is for students with Intellectual Disabilities. In order to take the DLM a student must have it specified in his/her Individualized Education Plan. Usually, this is for only up to 1% of the student population.

• Grades 3-11 (When applicable)

• Subjects: ELA (English, Reading & Writing), Math, Science (Grades 4 & 8-11), and Social Studies (Grades 4, 8 & 10).

• Test Window: March 16th - April 24th, 2026*

*Each school/individual will be scheduled at different times. If this assessment applies to your student, please talk to his/her case managers for more specific details and dates.

Fact Fluency Interview (FFI) - Assesses students on math fluency for basic facts. Students may test out early. A student needs to have two consecutive tests at the highest level to test out.

• Grades 1-5 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: Math (Addition & Subtraction Grades 1-5; Multiplication/Division Grades 3-5)

Heggerty Letter ID - The assessment is used to find the student's Letter ID level.

• Grade 4K-1 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

Heggerty Letter Sounds - The assessment is used to find the student's Letter Sounds level.

• Grade K-1 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

Heggerty Phonemic Awareness - The assessment is used to find the student's phonemic awareness levels.

• Grade 4K-5 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

i-Ready Assessment - Used to universally screen students in reading and math.

• Grades K-8, except students who take the DLM

• Subject: Reading & Math

• Testing Windows

  • Universal (Grades K-8, except students who take the DLM)

    • Fall (Universal)

      • Sept. 8 - 19, 2025 [SSD: Grades K-8]

      • Sept. 8 - 26, 2025 [Portal Window]

         

    • Winter (Universal)

      • Dec. 8 - 19, 2025 [SSD:

        Grades 2-3]

      • Jan. 5 - 23, 2026 [SSD: Grades K-1, 4-8]

      • Dec. 8, 2025 - Feb. 13, 2026 [Portal Window]

         

    • Spring (Universal)

      • May 4 - 22, 2026 [SSD: Grades K-8]

      • April 20 - May 25, 2026 [Portal Window]

         

i-Ready Literacy Tasks - Used as a literacy diagnostic for specific tasks in literacy.

• Grades 4K-8 (Diagnostic, as needed)

• Subject: ELA

• Literacy Tasks Include:

  • Letter Naming Fluency

    • Lowercase (LNF-L)

    • Mixed case (LNF-M)

    • Uppercase (LNF-U)

  • Letter Sound Fluency

    • Lowercase (LSF-L)

    • Mixed case (LSF-M) [Can be used for progress monitoring]

    • Uppercase (LNF-U)

  • Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) - Grades 1-6 [Can be used for progress monitoring]

  • Phonological Awareness

    • Onset-Rime (PA-OR)

    • Phoneme Blending (PA-PB)

    • Phoneme Manipulation (PA-PM)

    • Phoneme Segmentation (PA-PS)

    • Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PA-PSF) [Can be used for progress monitoring]

    • Syllables (PA-S)

  • Pseudoword Decoding - Fluency (PD-F) [Can be used for progress monitoring]

  • Rapid Automatized Naming

    • Colors (RAN-C)

    • Letters (RAN-L)

    • Numbers (RAN-N)

    • Objects (RAN-O)

  • Spelling & Encoding (SE) - Grades 1-3

  • Word Recognition Fluency (WRF) - Grades K-3 [Can be used for progress monitoring]

     

Letter ID (Teacher's College) - A grade 4K - 1 local assessment used to assess students on letter identification.

• Grades 4K-1 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

   

Letter Sounds (Teacher's College) - A grade 4K - 1 local assessment used to assess students on letter sounds.

• Grades K-1 (Diagnostic, only as needed)

• Subject: ELA

   

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) - NAEP is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, NAEP assessments are conducted annually in reading and mathematics, with additional subjects tested each year such as science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, technology, and engineering literacy, the arts, and other subjects. NAEP collects and reports academic achievement at the national level and for certain assessments, at the state and district levels.

The assessment is only completed in the Shawano School District when requested by NAEP. It is usually for specific grades and tests and happens infrequently.

For the 2024-2025 School Year, our district has not been selected.

This assessment is only administered when selected by NAEP for participation and is administered by NAEP.

Number Development Assessment, Part 1 (NDAp1) - Used to find number sense levels for a student.

• Grades 4K-5 (Diagnostic, only as necessary)

• Subject: Math

Panorama Student/Staff Surveys - A survey for social/emotional learning (SEL) used by pupil services.

• Grades 4K-12

• Subject: SEL

   

• Test Window: Fall and Spring

   

  • Fall Window: September 22nd, 2025 - October 3rd, 2025

  • Spring Window: TBD - TBD

     

• The Teacher Perception Survey is completed by the teachers for Hillcrest and LEADS (Grades 4K-2)

• The Student Survey is completed by the students for grades 3-12

   

   

preACT Secure Assessment (A state-mandated assessment) - A college &/or career-readiness assessment for freshman and sophomore students.

• Grades 9 & 10

• Subjects: ELA (English, Reading), Math, and Science

   

• Test Window: Spring

  • March 17 - April 25, 2025 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

  • The tentative date for the general student body PreACT Secure assessment is currently scheduled for Wednesday, March 19, 2025.

     

• Assessment is taken online - Standard and Accommodations

• The testing will take approximately 3 - 3.5 hours. The tests are a little shorter than the ACT and there is no writing section.

• Students with accommodations may take the assessment on a different day within the window.

   

Progress Learning Assessment [Formerly called Horizon] (Administered Locally) - A college &/or career-readiness assessment for grade 9-12 students. The assessment mimics the preACT/ACT testing. The assessment helps teachers and students prepare for state-mandated preACT/ACT assessments in the Spring. The assessments also help teachers monitor student growth. Teachers can also use the scores to help with curriculum analysis.

• Grades 9-12

• Subjects: ELA (English, Reading), Math, and Science

   

• Test Windows: Fall, Winter, & Spring

  • Fall: Sept. 8-11th, 2025

  • Winter: Jan. 26-29th, 2026

  • Spring: May 4-7th, 2026

     

• Assessment is taken online - Standard and Accommodations

  • All students universally assigned 200% Time and Text-to-Speech. All students can use these supports if needed.

• The testing will take approximately 3.5 hours in total, but will be administered by individual tests in the classrooms and not all at once.

• If a student misses a class, they will be scheduled for a makeup test.

   

Wisconsin Forward Exam (A state-mandated assessment) - A state-mandated assessment for students in grades 3-8. Students will take the assessment online in English language arts (ELA) and mathematics, and in science at grades 4 and 8, and social studies at grades 4, 8, and 10.

• Grades: 3-8, 10 (As applicable)

• Subjects: ELA, Math, Science, & Social Studies

  • Grade 3, 5, 6, 7 - ELA & Math Only

  • Grade 4, 8 - ELA, Math, Science, & Social Studies

  • Grade 10 - Social Studies Only (The students take the preACT Secure assessment for the other subjects)

• Test Window: March 16 - April 24, 2026

  • Each school will assess using different schedules to get the assessments completed during the window. More information will be sent to parents when it becomes available.

Words Their Way Primary Spelling - A grade 1-5 assessment used to assess students' spelling.

• Grades 1-5 (Universal)

• Subject: ELA

Forward Exam Resources

Purpose: To have all the resources needed for the Shawano School District's (SSD) Forward Exam Proctor Training. 

  SSD Wisconsin Forward Proctor Training

• Staff must watch the proctor training video in its entirety before they can proctor. Training videos can be found at DPI Forward Training.

   

• Each school will determine on its own testing schedule. See the DPI Forward Calendar for the test window dates.

   

• Please sign and return the confidentiality form to your building's School Assessment Coordinator (SAC) after the training. 

   

Student Online Tools Testing (OTT) Practice & Tutorials

• Click on "Online Tools Training" hyperlink in white near the middle of this site for the practice test.

• Click on "DRS INSIGHT Online Assessments Tutorials" hyperlink in yellow near the bottom to view the online testing tutorial videos.

DPI Website Links for Wisconsin Forward Exam

• DPI Website for Forward Exam
  http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward
  
   

• DPI Website for Forward Exam Resources
  This includes the Test Administration Manual (TAM)
  http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/resources
  
   

• DPI Website for Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/accommodations
  
   

• DPI Website for Forward Exam Training Files http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/trainings
  
   

• DPI Website for Forward Exam Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
  Continuously updated throughout testing window
  http://dpi.wi.gov/assessment/forward/faq?

Practice and Tutorial Site