Iowa testing program outlines changes to statewide assessments to align with revised standards

Iowa Testing Programs presented proposed changes to the Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) intended to align the exam with recently revised state standards in English language arts and mathematics.

Department staff said the reading and language arts (writing/language) component would be unchanged for writing but that the reading blueprint will add passages and rebalance items across comprehension domains to match national benchmarks such as NAEP. For mathematics, staff proposed moving the high school math test and grades 3–8 math tests to multi‑stage adaptive delivery (the reading assessment already uses multi‑stage adaptive design).

Under the proposal, the number of math items would increase by several items per grade band — the department cited increases of roughly 6–7 items in grades 3–8 and a larger increase at the high school level — with estimated additional testing time of about 10 minutes in elementary and middle grades and about 20 minutes at high school level. Department staff emphasized the proposed testing time still falls well below some other states’ total test durations and that the increases are designed to improve coverage and alignment to standards.

A third‑party psychometric review will follow item specification edits, and staff said they aim to administer the aligned assessments in spring 2026. The department also noted it will commission independent post‑administration studies to validate alignment and performance.

Why it matters: Board members asked about instructional disruption and total time out of class. Staff said the extra testing time is modest relative to an instructional day and will allow the state to measure standards more fully.

What’s next: Iowa Testing Programs will finalize blueprints, run psychometric reviews, and share updates with the board ahead of any change to statewide administration.