What is i-Ready? - Educators Technology (2024)

i-Ready is an online instruction and assessment platform that covers reading and mathematics. As a teacher, you can use i-Ready to identifystudents learning needs, provide differentiated instruction, and monitor students learning progress throughout the school year.

i-ready provides students with adaptive tests to determinetheir grade level and to identify areas they need help with. Based on results from these tests, i-Ready provides individualized interactive lessons that address the learning needs of each student.i-Ready also offers a wide varietyof learning games designed to help K-8 students practice and learn math. Students can play these games after they finish taking lessons.

What Is i-Ready Diagnostic?

i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that matches the difficulty of test questions to students learning needs. As students answer correctly, the questions get more difficult and as they answer incorrectly questions get easier. The purpose of i-Ready Diagnostic is to identify the academic strengths and the opportunities for growth for each student.

Teachers use Diagnosticinsights to understand students uniquelearning needs and their learning progress. This diagnostic data is key to creating and providingindividualizedinstruction that support each student’s learning.

How Does i-Ready Diagnostic Work?

When students first log in they will be promoted to take a diagnostic test based on their chronological grade level. As students answer the questions, the test adjusts up and down using questions of varying difficultyuntil it finally reaches the level of difficultycorresponding to each students learning needs.

‘The i-Ready Diagnostic is designed for students to get about 50 percent of the questions correct and 50 percent incorrect. The test will find a “just right” placement level for your student in the quickest, most efficient way possible.’

Watch videoto learn more about i-Ready Diagnostic

What Are the Subjects Covered by i-Ready Diagnostic?

i-Read Diagnostic covers two main areas: reading and mathematics. As for reading, the Diagnostic targets the following sub-skills: phonologicalawareness, phonics, high-frequency words, vocabulary, comprehension literature, and comprehension informational text. The mathematicalskills covered by the Diagnostic are: number and operations, algebraand algebra thinking, measurement and data, and geometry.

What is For Families Report?

For Families is a diagnostic report that provides insights on students performance. More specifically, For Families reports contains informationthat shows how students performed in the test in relation to their grade level, how they performed in relation to students in the same grade level nationwide, and how students performed in specific learning areas called domains. Teachers havethe option to share this report with parents.

i-Ready Online Lessons

Following the results of the diagnostic students are provided with customized online lessons to help them work on areas they need help with. Lessons are interactive and include both example and practice problem activities. As students progress through the lessons, they earn rewards that they can use towards getting educational games to play in the website.

From the i-Ready dashboard, teachers can view students progress and assign specific lessons to select students. The key is to provide quality differentiated instruction that directly addresses students learning gaps. Clicking on My Progress will enable teachers to access detailed data about students performance including time spent on lessons, lessons passed, completed work, and more.

i-Ready Professional Development Resources for Teachers

i-Ready offers a large collection of professional development resources to help teachers optimize their instructional practice using the affordances of i-Ready technology. Schools can even hire PD specialists to help with designing custom PD plans for teachers. There are lessons for both new users, practicing users, and advanced users. Also, lessons can be delivered both online and in person. PD resources start from $2500.

How Much Does i-Ready Cost?

i-Ready offers different pricing packages for schools and districts. Schools are required to make a minimum purchase of 150 student licences.’This may be 150 total licenses of a single subject or a combination of two subjects that equal a total of 150′ . Student licenses start with $6 per student per year. Also note that ‘i-Ready Personalized Instruction is not sold for home-school or private home use’.

Final thoughts

In sum, i-Ready emerges as a multifaceted platform that does more than just scratch the surface of educational needs; it delves deep into the fabric of individual learning. Its adaptive diagnostic tests pave the way for truly personalized instruction, pinpointing each student’s academic prowess and the areas ripe for development. The thoughtful construction of i-Ready’s individualized lessons, coupled with the engaging learning games, ensures that education is not just tailored, but also engaging for K-8 learners.

The actionable insights from the For Families report stand as a testament to i-Ready’s commitment to fostering a collaborative environment among educators, students, and parents. With professional development resources that bolster a teacher’s ability to harness this technology-driven tool, i-Ready’s cost consideration seems to be a worthwhile investment for schools and districts aiming to elevate their educational strategies and, ultimately, enhance student outcomes.