What are the three True Progress assessments?

Purpose: To identify students who may need additional support to meet expected progress during the school year.

The Screener is a 30-question computer-adaptive assessment that produces a nationally normed scale score, percentile score, grade-level equivalent, and proficiency level for every student. It measures where each student's learning sits relative to national norms, independent school averages, and the school's own curriculum expectations.

Students are placed into one of four proficiency levels: Level 1 (furthest below curriculum expectations), Level 2 (below curriculum expectations), Level 3 (at curriculum expectations), and Level 4 (above curriculum expectations). Students whose scores indicate Level 1 or Level 2 learning — shown in red or yellow — are the students to follow more closely and bring to team discussion.

Every student in the school, K–8, takes the Screener. It can be administered up to four times per year. Average testing time is 25 minutes.

The Screener is available in ELA and Math and has been the foundation of the True Progress platform since 2012.

Purpose: To identify the specific areas where the data indicates gaps in learning for students whose Screener scores warrant a closer look.

The Diagnostic is a fixed-form assessment of 40 questions focused on a specific grade level of content. Where the Screener tells educators which students are learning below curriculum expectations, the Diagnostic tells educators where in the curriculum the gaps are. For students whose Screener data indicates Level 1 or Level 2 learning, a summary score is not enough to guide instruction — knowing a response is needed is not the same as knowing what that response should address. The Diagnostic provides that specificity.

Educators most often give the Diagnostic to students with red or yellow Screener scores. Interventionists and tutors also use it to inform their work with individual students. The Diagnostic can be given at any time — it does not need to follow a Screener administration. After a student completes the Screener, the appropriate grade-level Diagnostic is automatically assigned. A new Diagnostic is available for each of the four assessment windows.

The Diagnostic is available in ELA and Math for grades PK–8. Average testing time is 35 minutes.

Purpose: To produce a detailed map of learning across 12 fundamental dimensions for students with the most complex learning profiles or the most persistent gaps.

The Inventory is the most comprehensive assessment in the True Progress suite. It is designed for use by specialists and interventionists with students for whom the Screener and Diagnostic have not produced enough information to explain what is happening or guide what comes next.

Where the Screener and Diagnostic produce summary and skill-level data, the Inventory maps learning across 12 dimensions spanning PK through grade 8. The assessment begins two years below the student's enrolled grade level and adapts up or down based on the student's pattern of responses — revealing distinctions that a single summary score cannot show. A student whose Math Screener data shows consistently declining scores may have data indicating strong algebra and operations alongside data well below curriculum expectations in measurement, geometry, and graphs. The Inventory makes that distinction visible and gives the specialist clear entry points for instruction.

The 12 Math dimensions: Concept of Number, Measurement, Geometry, Data, Graphs, Algebra, Place Value, Fluency, Applications, Operations, Mathematical Language, Patterns

The 12 ELA dimensions: Decoding Nonsense Words, Decoding Real Words, Grammar, Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension Informational (Inferential), Reading Comprehension Literature (Inferential), Reading Comprehension (Surface), Segmenting Syllables, Sight Words Recognition, Spelling, Vocabulary, Writing

The Inventory is administered in 15–20 minute sessions over several days until complete. Total testing time ranges from 25 to 80 minutes or more depending on the student's level.

The Screener, Diagnostic, and Inventory are not interchangeable — each is designed for a specific purpose and a specific group of students.

The Screener gives the full picture across the school. The Diagnostic focuses that picture for students whose data indicates learning below curriculum expectations. The Inventory goes deeper still for students whose learning profiles require the most precise instructional mapping.

No assessment answers every question. What the three together do is reduce the number of students whose learning needs go undetected — and give educators increasingly specific data to act on when the broad picture isn't enough.