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 Illinois Learning Standards incorporating the Common Core and will be administered in English language arts and mathematics to all students in grades 3-8.

Impact of Participation in the Illinois Assessment of Readiness

New, Unified Performance Levels and Right-Sized Proficiency Benchmarks for IAR, ISA, and ACT

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) has adopted new, research-informed, and right-sized assessment performance levels to give students, families, and educators better data on academic achievement and college readiness. Prior performance levels mislabeled many students in elementary and high school, often indicating that students were less academically successful and prepared for college than they actually were. The new, unified levels correct long-standing misalignment between Illinois’ state assessments and other real college and career readiness expectations.

What's New News and Updates

UPDATE: June 27, 2025

Action: Shipping Individual Student Reports

Spring 2025 Individual Student Reports (ISRs) by default will be shipped to districts later this fall. If the preference is to ship ISRs directly to schools rather than to the district, the district test coordinator will need to take an action in Launchpad before Sept. 1, 2025, to override the ISR shipping destination from district to schools.

Take the following steps in Launchpad to change the ISR shipping destination to schools:

Under Roster Data, click on Orgs and select your district.
Under the Actions tab, click Edit Org.
Turn on the District Shipping Override option to Ship Reports to Schools and click Save.

For other shipping preferences, please refer to the Update ISR Shipping Designation guidance documents.

IAR 2025 Assessment Correction and Score Review

The corrections window is now open. Please be sure to review the SIS Enrollment Verification and IAR Score Review and Corrections guidance documents.

Enrollment Verification Deadline -- July 31
Corrections Window Deadline – Aug. 22

IAR 2025 Preliminary Reports: Now Available!

The 2025 preliminary reports are available in the Illinois Administrative Platform. Please review Navigating Preliminary Student Reports to help you navigate access to the student reports.

Parent & Teacher Resources

Family Portal

The Parent Portal has been renamed the Family Portal. The Illinois Assessment of Readiness Family Portal is for parents/guardians to have online access to their child’s performance on the IAR tests for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.

The IAR Family Portal is expected to become available for use at the end of October 2025.

Parent Portal Resources:

Career and College Readiness Resources

The Illinois Assessment of Readiness for English language arts and mathematics for Grades 3-8 has been linked with the Lexile and Quantile Framework to support the development of students and determine if they are on track to graduate college and are career ready. Using the Lexile and Quantile score included on the Individual Student Report, parents and teachers can utilize the enhanced resources, tools, and capabilities through our state partnership with MetaMetrics.

Lexile and Quantile Hub
This online platform provides you with easy access to more than a dozen new and enhanced reading and mathematics tools.
Lexile and Quantile Growth Planner
This planner helps parents and teachers to identify the reading and math requirements needed for a desired career for students and use them to inform goal-setting.
Lexile and Quantile Career Database
This helps parents and teachers to compare and describe the reading and math requirements of career interests for students.

RESOURCES

VIDEOS

Manuals & Technology

Pearson has updated the TestNav system requirements for the 2023-2024 school year. Please review the technical bulletins and system requirement pages below to ensure your school devices are ready for the fall (if applicable) and spring administrations.

IMPORTANT:The updated TestNav app must be downloaded and installed prior to spring 2024 testing.

These test documents and materials are for the spring 2024 test administration.

2025 IAR/ISA Computer-Based & Paper-Based Test Administration and Proctoring Manual
2025 IAR/ISA Computer-Based & Paper-Based Test Coordinator Manual
2025 Infrastructure Trial Readiness Guide

IAR Key Dates

Events	Date(s)
OnDemand Reporting (Preliminary Machine & Human Scores)	Available now in Illinois Administrative Platform
ISBE Corrections Window	May 12-August 22, 2025
Preliminary Summative File Posted in Ill. Admin. Platform (No growth)	July 14, 2025
Assessment Enrollment Verification Deadline	July 31, 2025

Test Information & Resources

Test Guides & Manuals

District School Test Coordinator Test Management Activities for the Illinois Administrative Platform
2025 IAR/ISA Computer-Based & Paper-Based Test Administration and Proctoring Manual
2025 IAR/ISA Computer-Based & Paper-Based Test Coordinator Manual
2025 Infrastructure Trial Readiness Guide
2025 Field Definitions and Accommodations Supplement

Policies & Tools

TEST PREPARATION

Digital Library
Practice Test Items
Released Items
Illinois Student Readiness Tool
The Student Readiness Tool engages students in learning how to navigate TestNav tools, item types, and features that will appear on their assessments.

TECHNICAL REPORTS

Test Design

English Language Arts

The ELA/L summative assessment is available in Grades 3 – 8. Students read and analyze passages from real, authentic texts – both fiction and nonfiction – as well as multimedia. Students then draw upon what they’ve learned from these passages and multimedia, using that knowledge to respond in writing. These skills are critically important for students in college and the workplace.

Prose Constructed Response (PCR) Writing Guide
IAR Test Blueprints - ELA
(Blueprints include both Literary Analysis & Narrative Writing Task Forms)
IAR Test Writing Rubric - ELA
IAR ELA Evidence Statements
Evidence Tables and Evidence Statements describe the knowledge and skills that an assessment items or task elicits from students. These are aligned directly to the Common Core State Standards.
Performance Level Descriptors - ELA
Performance-level descriptors describe what a typical student at each level should be able to demonstrate based on his/her command of grade-level standards.
- ELA - Grades 3 - 5 PLD's
- ELA - Grades 6 - 8 PLD's
Literacy Task Models

MATHEMATICS

The mathematics summative assessment is available in Grades 3 – 8. Students solve multi-step math problems that require reasoning and address real-world situations. This requires students to reason mathematically, make sense of quantities and their relationships to solve real-world problems, and show their understanding. Many previous assessments focused mostly on rote procedure only.

IAR Math Test Scoring Expectations
IAR Test Blueprints – Mathematics
IAR Test Structure - Mathematics
IAR Math Evidence Statements
Evidence Statement Tables and Evidence Statements describe the knowledge and skills that an assessment item or a task elicits from students. These are aligned directly to the Common Core State Standards.
Performance Level Descriptors - Mathematics
Performance-level descriptors describe what a typical student at each level should be able to demonstrate based on his/her command of grade-level standards.

IAR Performance Levels

Results on assessments are reported for ELA and Mathematics according to five performance levels that delineate the knowledge, skills and practices students are able to demonstrate:

Level 1: Did not yet meet expectations
Level 2: Partially met expectations
Level 3: Approached expectations
Level 4: Met expectations
Level 5: Exceeded expectations

IAR Performance Level Cut Scores

Notice: Please be aware that ISBE is engaging in a unified standard-setting across all grade levels and content areas of our general education content assessments (ELA, math, and science). As part of that work, educator committees are currently working to draft new PLDs in each content area. More information is available and being updated regularly on the ISBE Better Systems for Better Outcomes webpage.

Training Presentations & Webinars

TRAININGS TO PREPARE TEST COORDINATORS FOR THE ILLINOIS ADMINISTRATIVE PLATFORM

Access short training modules that provide a step-by-step walkthrough on using the Illinois Administration Platform and tasks for online testing. Additionally, access previously recorded live trainings.
NAVIGATING THE IAR
Provides an overarching insight to the innerworkings and intended uses of the Illinois Assessment of Readiness.
WEEKLY ASSESSMENT UPDATE PRESENTATION & WEBINARS

ISBE’s Assessment Department provides the most recent updates in Illinois assessments. The webinar also serves as an open forum for questions and concerns about testing. The webinar is suggested for test coordinators, administrators, and technology staff. See the ISBE Presentations and Webinars Archive webpage.
Unpacking IAR and ISA Results to Inform Instructional Practices for 2024

This professional learning opportunity provides a suggested protocol for unpacking the IAR and ISA. It is tailored to support district and school teams as they unpack their spring 2024 English language arts/literacy and mathematics (IAR) and science (ISA) results to help school leadership teams identify patterns and trends in student achievement, reflect on instructional practices, and translate those insights into actionable classroom activities.

Archived Materials

2024

2023

2022

2021

2021 Test Administration Manual for Paper Administration
2021 Test Administration Manual for Online Administration
2021 Test Coordinator Manual
2021 Accessibility Features & Accommodations Manual
IAR Fall 2021 Test Administration Training Webinar Presentation (August 3, 2021)
IAR Fall 2021 Test Administration Training Webinar Recording (August 3, 2021)
2021 IAR Assessment Training Webinar Series via Zoom

January 26, 2021: Test Administrator Webinar Training Information via Zoom (users with 0-2 years of experience)

January 28, 2021: Test Administrator Webinar Training Information via Zoom (users with 2+ years of experience)

February 4, 2021: Technology Coordinator Training

2020

IAR Student Mobility Guidance
Spring 2020 IAR Individual Student Reports (ISRs)
August 30, 2019: Assessments Deep Dive Webinar

2020 IAR, SAT, PSAT 10, PSAT 8/9, and DLM-AA Pre-ID Guidance
2019-20 State Assessment Dates
Guide for Manual Accommodations Entry in PAN
2020 Test Administration Manual for Paper Administration
2020 Test Administration Manual for Online Administration
2020 Test Coordination Manual
2020 Accessibility Features & Accommodations Manual
The 8th edition of this manual has one major change. Any student may receive the math test in Spanish. In past years, a student needed the EL designation in order to receive the math test in Spanish.
2020 Parent Letter for IAR Assessment

Spanish Version

Schools Participating in the 2020 IAR ELA Field Test
2020 IAR File to Upload Accessibility Features and Accommodations to Student Records
Note: The template is an aid and cannot be used to upload the student information.

Student Registration/Personal Needs Profile Field Definitions
Student Registration/Personal Needs Profile Layout(Updated 12/10/2019)
Student Registration/Personal Needs Profile Template(Updated 01/30/2020)

2020 Guide for Manual Accommodations Entry in PAN
2020 IAR-Approved Word-to-Word Dictionaries for EL Accommodations
2020 Schedule of Units and Testing Times(Updated 09/30/2019)
2020 Infrastructure Trial Mock Data Files

2019

2018-19 Assessment Participation by Students with Disabilities(questions? call 217-782-5589)
Spring 2019 New Meridian Technical Report for IAR
2019 IAR Test Coordinator Manual
2019 IAR Test Administrator Manual for Computer-Based Administration (Updated 2/13/2019, page 9 only)
2019 IAR Test Administrator Manual for Paper-Based Administration
Parent letter for the 2019 IAR Results
Summary Files Posted on Pearson Access Next (PAN)
Pearson has posted summary reports/files (under Published Reports) on Pearson Access Next. District/school staff with the District Coordinator role, School Test Coordinator role, or Report Access role will be able to view the reports (at the district and/or school level).

Resources

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New, Unified Performance Levels and Right-Sized Proficiency Benchmarks for IAR, ISA, and ACT

What's New News and Updates

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UPDATE: June 27, 2025