STUDENT ASSESSMENTS
The United States Department of Education, State of Wisconsin, and the Monticello School District each require a variety of assessments for a variety of purposes. Below is a list of the assessments, their subject matter, purpose, mandate, and if possible, time spent to schedule and take the assessment, and distribute results. Please direct any questions you have on these or other assessments to our District Assessment Coordinators:
WI Forward Testing, PreACT Secure and ACT: Ms. Wahl at wahlje@monticello.k12.wi.us
WIDA Access: Ms. Daniels at danieau@monticello.k12.wi.us
aimswebPLUS: Mrs. Indergand at inderjo@monticello.k12.wi.us
Spring 2026 Schedule
Spring testing season is upon us!
ACT: Juniors (High School Library) *March 25, 2026*
PreACT Secure: Freshmen (Collab Lab) & Sophomores (Computer Lab) *March 25, 2026*
WI Forward Testing: 3rd - 8th grade & 10th grade *March 16 - April 24, 2026 (no testing during Spring Break)*
Please help your students prepare by getting sufficient sleep & nutrition in the days leading up to/during testing. Remember no electronic devices are allowed during testing besides their school-issued Chromebook (all tests are conducted online). This includes phones & smartwatches/Fitbit-type arm bands.
Please help your child be in school on time & ready to avoid the need for make up tests!
Thank you for your cooperation!
PreACT and ACT Information
PreACT Secure is a summative assessment given to 9th and 10th grade students, that is aligned to the ACT and the ACT College and Career Readiness Standards. PreACT Secure measures what students have learned in the areas of English, Reading, Mathematics, and Science.
Educators will find that PreACT Secure closely mirrors the ACT in many ways, including implementation, test delivery, scoring, and reporting. PreACT Secure scores predict how students will perform on the ACT when they reach 11th grade and their readiness for college-level coursework.
PreACT Secure is an online assessment and takes 2 hours, 50 minutes to complete, including breaks. Students receive individual reports PreACT Secure Data and Results Help Page. It is in compliance with the Wisconsin State Statute 118.30.
Wisconsin high school students in grade 11 will take the ACT with writing® which includes Reading, Math, English, Science, Writing. The ACT is an in-person assessment that districts may administer on paper or online. Accommodations and EL supports are available in both testing formats. Scores from the administration of the ACT with writing (if taken with ACT Standard Time or ACT-approved accommodations) can be used by students for a variety of purposes including college admission, scholarships, course placement, and NCAA eligibility.
ACT with writing takes 3 hours, 55 minutes to complete, including breaks and is in compliance with ESSA and Wisconsin State Statute 118.30. Student Score Reports are available online and mailed 5-8 weeks after the assessment. For more information, please check out the ACT Data and Results Help Page.
Both PreACT Secure and ACT are administered annually in the spring.
For the ACT brochure and for more information, please click here.
WI Forward Exam Information
During the 2015-16 school year, Wisconsin rolled out an assessment called the Wisconsin Forward Exam. During 2023-24 Wisconsin administered a new version of the Forward Exam. The new exam is designed to gauge how well students are doing relative to the recently updated Wisconsin Academic Standards and how well districts and the state are supporting students to meet those standards. These standards outline what students should know and be able to do in order to be on track for future learning. The Forward Exam is untimed and is administered online in the spring of each school year at:
grades 3-8 in English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics,
grades 4 and 8 in Science and,
grades 4, 8, and 10 in Social Studies.
Accommodations and supports for students with disabilities and/or English language learners are built into the system so that the progress of students can be accurately measured.
The Forward Exam is a high quality, research-based, and affordable online assessment designed to test student’s grade-level knowledge and skills as described in the Wisconsin Academic Standards. It is a customized assessment with innovative item types that includes test questions reviewed and approved by Wisconsin educators. The Forward Exam is in compliance with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Wisconsin State Statute 118.30. Students receive individual reports. For more detailed information, you can check it out on the Forward Exam Data and Results Help Page.
Forward Exam Information for Families Brochure - Learn more about the Forward Exam
Dynamic Learning Maps (DLM)
The DLM™ assessment measures the academic progress of students with the most significant cognitive disabilities in the subject areas of ELA and Mathematics at grades 3-11, Science at grades 4 and 8-11, and in Social Studies at grades 4, 8, and 10. This is an untimed, online assessment delivered via the computer annually, in the spring; however, some students may need their teacher to present the items to them. The teacher will then enter the student’s response into the online platform.
The DLM system is designed to map a student’s learning throughout the year. The system will also use items and tasks that are embedded in day-to-day instruction. Instruction for these students is based upon the Wisconsin Essential Elements and aligns with the Wisconsin Academic Standards. This gives teachers the opportunity to see what students know during the year when teachers still have time to change instruction to better support student learning. The DLM is in compliance with the ESSA and Wisconsin State Statute 118.30.
Students receive individual reports. For more detailed information on reports, please go to the DLM Data and Results Help Page.
DLM has created a Guide to Practice Activities and Released Testlets and can be found on the DLM Wisconsin Webpage.
WIDA Access
Federal and state laws require that students identified as English Learners (ELs) be assessed annually to determine their level of English language proficiency (ELP) and ensure that they are progressing in achieving full English proficiency. This includes students who receive special education services.
In addition to meeting these statutory accountability requirements, the annual ELP assessment can be effectively used for planning and instructional purposes. It serves as the single most psychometrically valid and reliable measure of a student’s ELP and is in compliance with the ESSA and Wisconsin State Statute 115.96(1).
Most ELs will take the WIDA ACCESS assessment annually in the winter. ELs recognized under the individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA; 2004) as having a significant cognitive disability and who are expected to participate in the Wisconsin Alternate Assessment are eligible to take the WIDA Alternate ACCESS in place of the WIDA ACCESS.
The WIDA ACCESS test is untimed, and students have the time needed to produce scorable content. ACCESS typically takes 1-4.5 hours to complete, depending on grade and test format.
WIDA ACCESS is designed to measure English language proficiency. It is a large scale assessment that is based on the WIDA Consortium’s ELD Standards that form the core of Wisconsin’s approach to instructing and testing ELs.
WIDA ACCESS Information for Families Brochure
PDF student score reports are available in multiple languages, with paper copies provided in English during the spring. Districts distribute parent school reports either in late spring or early in the next school year. For more information, please go to the WIDA ACCESS Data and Reporting Help Page.
Sample test items for the online WIDA ACCESS assessment have been released to give parents, students, and teachers an idea of what this new assessment will be like.
These items can be found at the WIDA website.
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