ACCESS for ELLs (ACCESS) is the collective name for WIDA's suite of summative English language proficiency assessments. Educators use ACCESS results, along with other WIDA resources, to make decisions about students' English academic language and to facilitate their language development.

Students Assessed: ELLs in Kindergarten – 12th Grade

Assessment Purpose:

• Helps students and families understand students’ current level of English language proficiency along the developmental continuum.
• Serves as one of the multiple measures used to determine whether students are prepared to exit English language support programs.
• Generates information that assists in determining whether ELLs have attained the language proficiency needed to participate meaningfully in content area classrooms without program support.
• Provides teachers with information they can subsequently use to enhance instruction and learning in programs for their English language learners.
• Provides districts with information that will help them evaluate the effectiveness of their ESL/bilingual programs.
• Meets, and exceeds, federal requirements for the monitoring and reporting of ELLs' progress toward English language proficiency.

aimswebPlus offers nationally-normed, skills-based benchmark assessments and progress monitoring integrated into one application across reading and math domains. aimswebPlus informs daily instruction and provides growth results in reading and math achievement using curriculum-based assessment and standards-aligned content.

Students Assessed: All Kindergarten – 1st Grade

Assessment Purpose:

• Helps educators identify learning gaps and potential challenges early in a student's academic journey.
• Provides a systematic and efficient way to monitor students' progress over time.
• Helps educators determine which students may benefit from more targeted and intensive instruction to address specific learning challenges or disabilities.

Since 1968, The Cognative Abilities Test (CogAT) has assessed general, abstract reasoning skills following the universally accepted CHC theory on human cognitive abilities. The assessment relies on age-specific, up-to-date national and local norms.

Students Assessed: All 2nd and 4th grade students

Assessment Purpose:

• Helps identify students for gifted programming or additional testing. 
• Provides information to drive differentiated instruction based on learning strengths and areas of opportunity. 
• Provides detailed information on students’ Verbal, Quantitative, and Figural (Nonverbal) reasoning. 

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) is the state assessment and accountability measure for Illinois students enrolled in a public school district. IAR assesses the New Illinois Learning Standards Incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English Language Arts and Mathematics. 

Students Assessed: All 3rd – 8th Grade Students

The Illinois Science Assessment is a state-mandated assessment that measures students’ proficiency with the Illinois learning standards for science.

Students Assessed: All 5th, 8th, and 11th Grade Students

The Kindergarten Individual Development Survey (KIDS) is an observational tool designed to help teachers, administrators, families, and policymakers better understand the developmental readiness of children entering kindergarten.​

Students Assessed: All Kindergartners

MAP is a universal screening tool designed to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses in reading, language, and mathematics.

Students Assessed: All Kindergarten – 8th Grade

Assessment Purpose:

• MAP tests present students with engaging, age-appropriate content. As a student responds to questions, the test responds to the student, adjusting up or down in difficulty.
• MAP assesses current academic skills/readiness to learn, identifies students in need of further intervention or assessment, and informs instructional practices/materials.
• This assessment is used as a benchmark and is taken in fall, winter, and spring.

State-mandated assessment that measures students’ college readiness and prepares students to take the ACT in 11th grade.

Students Assessed: All 8th, 9th and 10th grade students

State-mandated assessment that measures students’ college readiness. Beginning in spring 2025, ISBE requires all public-school students in grade 11 to take the ACT.

Students Assessed: All 11th grade students