00:05 Welcome to this overview of the True Progress Diagnostic—when to use it and the important questions it helps answer.

00:14 When our core curriculum and instruction are flowing well, nearly all of our students make expected progress or even exceed it. Sometimes, a student may find themselves either below or above the learning zone of the core curriculum. In these cases, we need to provide targeted support to ensure they make optimal progress.

00:36 The Diagnostic assessment helps answer two fundamental questions:

1. Which foundational skills has my student mastered?

2. Which foundational skills present opportunities for improvement?

00:50 The Diagnostic efficiently answers these questions. On average, it takes students 35 minutes to complete. It quickly checks mastery of specific skills in a particular subject at a specific grade level.

01:05 Let's dive into an example. The True Progress Screener identified a third-grade student who is slightly below the level of the core curriculum in English Language Arts. The Screener automatically placed her to take the level two Diagnostic. Her overall score is 69% correct, confirming the Screener's finding that she may need support in some foundational areas to thrive in the core curriculum.

01:34 The Diagnostic assesses each skill with four or more questions. When a student answers 75% or more of the questions correctly for a specific skill, it indicates proficiency, and these are presented in green. Skills with less than a 75% correct score are marked in red and indicate opportunities for improvement.

01:54 If you're curious about what exactly a skill entails or how it was assessed, you can hover over the checkmark or X to see the test question, the student response, and the expected correct answer.

02:09 Let's look at another student indicated by the Screener as needing support. This student has a Math Screener score in green, indicating that he may be learning at a level above the range of the core curriculum. This seventh-grade student took the level seven Diagnostic to check mastery of the seventh-grade core curriculum.

02:31 The student scored 92% correct, and no single skill was below the 75% correct threshold. This suggests that the student is ready to engage with curriculum beyond the current seventh-grade core and may need to do so to make meaningful progress. The next week, the student took the level eight Diagnostic.

- Angles, bivariate data, and interpreting data all appear quite strong.

- Understanding Pi, the Pythagorean theorem, and volume are opportunities for progress.

03:05 Another valuable use of the Diagnostic is for small group instruction. Here, a group of first-grade students were identified by the Screener and other measures as below the level of the core curriculum in Reading, and in need of support with foundational skills. We can look at this group's results for the level K ELA Diagnostic in aggregate to see their opportunities for progress as a group. We can also identify areas of proficiency that might require less or no attention.

03:38 The True Progress Diagnostic assesses each foundational skill at a specific grade level to provide an indicator of proficiency and need.

The Diagnostic assessment was created in response to teacher requests for an additional assessment that provides more information at the skill level and specifically for students who could have done better on the screener assessment.

The Screener answers, "Who may need more help or support?"

The Diagnostic assessment answers, "What skills might the student need help with?"

The Diagnostic assessment is a fixed-form test of 40 questions. Track My Progress offers a diagnostic assessment for each grade level from PK through grade twelve. There is a new diagnostic assessment for each of the four assessment windows.

We suggest that all students take the universal Screener assessment. Students with red (and possibly yellow) scores could be considered for the Diagnostic assessment. After completing the Screener assessment, students will be placed into the appropriate grade level of the Diagnostic assessment.

Results from the Diagnostic assessment can be found by clicking Skills at the top left of the screen and then selecting the grade, class, and student name. Learn more here.

After students complete the Screener assessment, the Diagnostic assessment will become available. You can see what a student's next assessment will be by consulting the Activity tab. You can also change the next assessment assignment from the Activity tab. See this article for instructions.

For Diagnostic assessments, Math and ELA are currently available.