Step 1 — Assess
The cycle begins with a short adaptive assessment or screener. Because the test adapts, it takes a fraction of the time of a fixed test while still placing the student on a reliable scale. Schools typically screen all students a few times a year and monitor at-risk students more frequently.
Step 2 — Interpret the data
Results appear as reports that answer practical questions: who is on track, who is at risk, which skills the class has not mastered, and how much growth has occurred since the last window. Benchmarks and national norms give the numbers context.
Progress monitoring
Frequent, brief measurement of a specific skill to check whether an intervention is actually working.
Step 3 — Instruct with targeted next steps
Results are converted into recommended skills, groupings, and resources aligned to the curriculum. This is where the intelligence layer matters: the teacher gets a short list of what to do next instead of a spreadsheet to interpret alone.
Step 4 — Practice, then monitor
Students work in adaptive practice and reading tools that meet them at their level, and their performance feeds straight back into the data. The next screening or progress check closes the loop, confirming growth or signaling that the plan needs to change. The loop is continuous, not annual.