Assessment - District Assessment Schedule

The Shawano School District administers various formative and summative assessments throughout the school year. The district's assessment windows for the 2023-24 school year are listed alphabetically below.

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 4, 2023 - February 2nd, 2024

*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) - A written assessment to see if students are academically ready for college. 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 12-15 & 18-22, 2024 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

    • The exact date for the general student body ACT assessment is TBD

    • Historically, we have tested on the first day of window #1

    (Only if necessary)

  • Test Window #2

    • March 26-29 & April 1-5, 2024 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

  • Test Window #3

    • April 9-12 & April 15-19, 2024 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

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 18th - April 26th, 2024*

*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)

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

Fountas and Pinnell Running Record Benchmark - The assessment is used to find the student's reading level.

  • Grade K-5 (Universal)

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall (Not for grade K or as needed for other grades/students)

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • Students may assess out of the assessment early if high enough level.

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

  • Grade 4K-1 (Universal)

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • Students may assess out of the assessment early if high enough level.

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

  • Grade K-1 (Universal)

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • Students may assess out of the assessment early if high enough level.

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

  • Grade 4K-5 (Universal for Grades 4K-2; Diagnostic, only as needed for Grades 3-5)

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • Students may assess out of the assessment early if high enough level.

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

[The district will not assess with STAR starting 2023-24, the district is moving to i-Ready]

  • Grades K-8, Select Students in special education at the high school

  • Subject: Reading & Math

  • Testing Windows

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

      • Fall (Universal)

        • Sept. 11-22, 2023 (Grades 1-8)

        • Oct. 2-13, 2023 (Grade K)

      • Winter (Universal)

        • Jan. 8-18, 2024 (Grades 1-8)

        • Jan. 23 - Feb. 2, 2024 (Grade K)

      • Spring (Universal)

        • May 6-17, 2024 (Grades K-8)


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

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • For Grade 1 students, only below benchmark students after the Fall window.

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

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

  • For Grade 1 students, only below benchmark students after the Fall window.

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 2023-2024 School Year, our district has been selected.

  • Grade: 4 (Mathematics & Reading) & 8 (Mathematics & Reading)

    • Randomly selected subgroups, not the entire grade

  • Test Window: TBD

    *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. Students may test out early. A student needs to have two consecutive tests at the highest level to test out of that specific subtest.

  • Grades 4K-5 (Universal for Grades 4K-2 - Select Subtests based on Grade; Diagnostic, only as necessary for Grades 3-5)

  • Subject: Math

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring

preACT Assessment (Paper-based in the Fall) - An college-readiness assessment for freshman and sophomore students. This is replacing the ACT Aspire assessment freshman and sophomore students took in previous years.

  • Grades 9 & 10

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

  • Test Window: Fall Only [Exact Date: TBD]

    • (Paper Only - Standard and Accommodations)

  • The testing will take approximately 3 hours and 25 minutes.

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

preACT Secure Assessment (A state-mandated assessment) - An college-readiness assessment for freshman and sophomore students. This replaced the ACT Aspire assessment freshman and sophomore students took in previous years (Last year for Aspire was 2022-23).

  • Grades 9 & 10

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

  • Test Window: Spring

    • March 18th - April 26th, 2024 (Online Administration & Accommodations)

    • The exact date for the general student body PreACT Secure assessment is TBD.

  • The testing will take approximately 3 hours and 25 minutes.

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

STAR/Renaissance Assessment - Used to universally screen students in reading and math.

[Will not assess with STAR starting 2023-24, the district is moving to i-Ready]

  • Grades K-8

    • Grade K-1 take the STAR Early Literacy Assessment

    • Grade 2-8 take the STAR Reading and STAR Math Assessments

    • The November and March Windows are used for progress monitoring select students

  • Subject: Reading & Math

  • Testing Windows

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

      • Fall (Universal) - TBD

      • Winter (Universal) - TBD

      • Spring (Universal) - TBD

    • Additional extra windows for select students:

      • TBD (Usually in November)

        • Select special education & tier 3 intervention students

        • Optional for all Hillcrest/LEADS classrooms (Teacher dependent)

      • TBD (Usually in March)

        • Select special education & tier 3 intervention students

        • Optional for all Hillcrest/LEADS classrooms (Teacher dependent)

Wisconsin Forward Exam (A state-mandated assessment) - The assessment replaced the Badger Exam from the 2014-15 School Year. Students in grades 3-8 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 18th - April 26th, 2024

*Each school will be scheduled at different times throughout the window. More information will be sent to parents when it becomes available.

Words Their Way Primary Spelling - A grade 1-2 assessment used to assess students' spelling.

  • Grades 1-2 (Universal)

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring


Writing Prompts - Specific local writing prompts scored and leveled to monitor students' writing growth.

  • Grades: 4K-5

  • Subject: ELA

  • Test Windows

    • Fall

    • Winter

    • Spring