Latest iReady scores show student improvement across Glendale Unified

A mid-year review of students’ scores on iReady assessments show that they are making gains compared to results from the start of this school year, but across Glendale, 54% of students tested at or above their grade level in math, while 52% tested at their grade level or above in reading.

The iReady assessment program is not a state level one, but rather a program purchased by Glendale Unified last summer to use over the next five years at a cost of $3.4 million. It is a computerized program accessed by students online either at home or in school, and also provides lessons for them in math and reading.

In response to the data stored in each student’s profile, Glendale teachers are using the scores to craft their own lessons.

Glendale students took the iReady assessments in August and September. Since then, 45% of Glendale students in the third through ninth grades showed an improvement in their results by scoring at least 14 points higher in January and February than they did at the start of the school year, according to Lynn Marso, assistant superintendent of Glendale Unified.

Marso also said during a recent school board meeting that 52% of students made gains in reading when they were tested in January and February compared to how they scored in August and September.

The iReady program initially stirred concerns among teachers because the Glendale school board voted to spend money on the program without first reaching out to teachers for their opinions on it.

One of the core reasons for purchasing iReady was the rollout of California’s new state standardized exam, which students across the state are taking on computers this spring.

Much like the new state exam, the iReady program is adaptive, meaning that it responds to students’ answers by asking students a more difficult question if they answer a question correctly, and they receive an easier question if they answer a question incorrectly.

The iReady program also stores students’ data, giving teachers percentages on where students stand in English and math, and whether they are working at, below or above their grade level.

Across the state, educators are bracing for the scores from the state’s new exam because it is tailored to the new Common Core curriculum, and it replaces the former California Star exam, which was a pencil-and-paper, multiple-choice test.

Marso also confirmed at the meeting that Glendale school officials expect to see lower scores on the new computerized exam compared to the 2013 scores of the former exam.

“We will be most likely looking at a bit of a dip in our first year,” she said.

School administrators and teachers are tracking students’ progress on the iReady exams, with some schools focusing more on improving students’ math scores and others hoping for improvements in reading comprehension.