Reading Diagnostic Assessments

Approved Reading Diagnostic Assessments 2026-2027

Under a recent change to Ohio law, the Department of Education and Workforce must revise its current approved list of K-3 reading diagnostic assessments for administration in the 2026-2027 school year.

Beginning in the 2026-2027 school year, the Department’s approved list will consist of the following K-3 reading diagnostic assessments:

• i-Ready Assessment 
• NWEA MAP Growth
• Acadience Reading K-6 / Acadience Reading K-6 (formerly DIBELS Next)
• Star CBM
• Exact Path
• mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition

Please send questions about the K-3 Reading Diagnostic to ThirdGradeGuarantee@education.ohio.gov

K-3 Reading Diagnostic Live Q&A Webinar  On Wednesday, March 25th at 3 PM, the Department hosted a live question and answer session about the K-3 reading diagnostic. During the webinar, team members from the Department's Office of Literacy Achievement resonded to questions from districts and schools about the recent changes to the K-3 Reading Diagnostic required under Ohio law. Here is a link to the webinar recording.

Reading Diagnostic Assessments 2025-2026 

The reading diagnostic, also known as a screener, must be administered by September 30th for grades one, two and three and by the 20th day of instruction for kindergarten students. The reading diagnostic measures whether a student is on track or not on track for reading at grade level according to the previous year’s end-of-year standards.

• RIMP Intervention Video Series
• Guidance Document for Administering Literacy Assessments to Students with Low Incidence Disabilities and Complex Communications Needs (January 2024)

• State-developed Diagnostics (Will be discontinued July 1, 2026)

• Third Grade Reading Guarantee Guidance Manual

Vendor	Reading Diagnostic	On-Track Score/Percentile
Acadience Learning Inc. (dba Dynamic Measurement Group)	Acadience Reading K-6	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten:  13 and above Grade 1: 97 and above Grade 2: 109 and above Grade 3: 180 and above
Lexia Voyager Sopris, Inc.	Acadience Reading K-6 (formerly DIBELS Next)	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten: 13 Grade 1: 97 Grade 2: 109 Grade 3: 180
Pearson Assessment	aimswebPlus	Scores from the individual measures are combined into a composite, which provides the broadest assessment of overall reading proficiency. The composite score is used to determine who is on-track for success and who needs additional help and/or assessment. As in prior years, aimswebPlus recommends using the 15th and 45th national percentile as comparable to the cut scores used in the Ohio Diagnostic Assessment, as follows:   On-Track: 45th national percentile Further assessment may be needed (On-Track): 16th to 45th national percentile Not On-Track: 15th national percentile
Edmentum, Inc.	Exact Path	Exact Path utilizes grade level proficiency (GLP) across all grades and subjects for on track student indicators.   Below: Not On-Track Approaching: On-Track Meets: On-Track Exceeds: On-Track
Renaissance Learning, Inc.	FastBridge	On-Track: At or above the 40th percentile
Curriculum Associates, LLC	i-Ready® Assessment	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten: 332 Grade 1: 378 Grade 2: 440 Grade 3: 495 *i-Ready® Diagnostic with Literacy Tasks: cut scores apply to only the Diagnostic portion of the Diagnostic with Literacy Tasks. For TGRG use, Literacy Task results are not incorporated into on-track determinations.
Ohio Department of Children and Youth	KRA-R2 and KRA 2.0 Language and Literacy	Language and Literacy Domain - The cut score refers to the Language and Literacy subscore only, not the overall score. On-Track: 263 (scaled score) and above Not On-Track: 262 (scaled score) or lower
NWEA	MAP Growth	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten (MAP Growth K-2): 134 Grade 1 (MAP Growth K-2):  150 Grade 2 (MAP Growth K-2 or MAP Growth):  156 Grade 3 (MAP Growth): 174
NWEA	MAP Reading Fluency	Not On-Track: K–3 students who take the MAP Reading Fluency™ assessment and receive an orange universal screener flag in the Screener Outcomes report in either Foundational Skills or Oral Reading or a purple dyslexia screener flag are not on-track.
Amplify Education, Inc.	mCLASS DIBELS 8th Edition	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten: 306 Grade 1: 330 Grade 2:  329 Grade 3: 332
Ohio Department of Education and Workforce	Ohio Reading Diagnostic	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten: 14 Grade 1: 13 Grade 2:  9 Grade 3: 15
Renaissance Learning, Inc.	Star CBM	Grade Level and On-Track Percentile Kindergarten: At or above the 20th percentile Grade 1: At or above the 20th percentile Grade 2: At or above the 20th percentile Grade 3:  At or above the 30th percentile
Renaissance Learning, Inc.	Star Early Literacy	On-Track: At or above the 40th percentile
Renaissance Learning, Inc.	Star Reading	On-Track: At or above the 40th percentile
Riverside Insights	The Iowa  Assessments™	Grade Level and On-Track Score Kindergarten: 122 Grade 1:  133 Grade 2: 148 Grade 3: 163

Scoring information was provided to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce by each approved vendor. For further information about an assessment’s on-track scores and percentiles, please contact the vendor directly.

Last Modified: 3/30/2026 11:58:22 AM

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