DPI outlines assessment changes and plans to migrate student records to Infinite Campus in 2026

DPI and assessment staff described changes to statewide testing and plans to modernize student data systems during the joint education committee briefing.

Assistant Director Cara Welk explained that the statewide summative assessment for public schools will be administered using a new suite called NDA+ (the NDA+ summative and interim assessments). The summative assessment is administered to public school students in grades 3–8 and 10, and the department also operates an alternate assessment for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and the ACCESS assessment for English learners.

Welk said the new NDA+ system includes formative and interim tools districts can use throughout the year. “Interim assessments are meant to be those checkpoints throughout the school year,” she told the committee, adding that districts can use the state interim assessment or an approved alternative such as NWEA MAP or Renaissance STAR.

DPI also described a statewide student information migration away from PowerSchool. Superintendent Basler told the committee that after the 2025–26 school year the state will migrate all schools from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus during the summer of 2026 so districts will use a common student information system and gain access to more of the product suite at a single state contract price.

Jim Upgrin, who works with the state scholarship and e‑transcript systems, noted that many public schools already use PowerSchool and that some transcript and scholarship progress monitoring functions are integrated now; DPI said the migration should provide broader, systemwide access to e‑transcript and progress monitoring features.

Why it matters: A single statewide student information platform and an updated assessment suite will change how districts record grades, attendance, transcripts and assessment data, and will affect vendor licensing and district IT plans.