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Trusted by educators for nearly 90 years, the Iowa Assessments provide the most current and nationally representative normative comparison f...
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The Elevation Point
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2 min read
New Research Finds that Mental Health Screener Can Help School Psychologists Identify Student Needs Earlier
In nationwide study, latest prototype of DESSA risk screener enabled early identification of hidden risk factors among middle school student...
2 min read
How Miscategorizing ML Students Costs Them Opportunities – and Costs Your District Millions
In K–12 education, multilingual learners (MLs) face unique and complex challenges. Many come from homes without strong English-language supp...
2 min read
CogAT® Releases Post-Pandemic Norms; Nation's Largest Sample Sets New Bar for Research-Backed Ability Assessment
Grounded in data from more than 2.8 million assessments, updated age- and grade-based norms offer the nation’s largest and most representati...
3 min read
Educator Spotlight: How Dr. Ray Sanchez Is Revolutionizing Multilingual Education in Tarrytown Schools
Ray Sanchez is an educator with over 25 years of experience working in public schools in New York State. Since 2023, he has served as the su...
2 min read
Ainsley Conner’s Commitment to Enhancing Instruction for Gifted and Talented Students
Ainsley Conner is an educator truly dedicated to gifted education – not only is she an academic specialist in the Advanced Learner Programs ...
2 min read
Roberto Cruze’s Mission for More Equitable GT Enrollment in TUSD
Since 2019, Roberto Cruze has been leading the charge to create more equitable gifted and talented (G&T) enrollment strategies at Tucson Uni...
2 min read
Educator Spotlight: Audra Rowell’s Mission to Expand Gifted Education in Northwest ISD
Audra Rowell has been a driving force in gifted education for over thirty years, ensuring gifted learners receive the opportunities and supp...
2 min read
CogAT Wins Excellence in Equity Award for Multilingual Learning Innovation
At Riverside Insights, we believe every student deserves a fair chance to succeed, regardless of their background. That’s why we’re thrilled...
2 min read
Educator Spotlight: Christine Williamson and Her Mission to Transform Gifted Education at KIPP New Jersey
Christine Williamson, Director of Gifted and Talented at KIPP New Jersey, is on a mission to transform how her schools identify and support ...
2 min read
ESGI™ Awarded Research-Based Design: ESSA Tier 4 Product Certification
Washington, D.C. -- ESGI (Educational Software for Guiding Instruction), the industry-leading platform that provides actionable insights to ...
4 min read
Getting Value and Equity from Your Universal Screening Process: A Comprehensive Approach
Universal screening has been a game-changer in identifying gifted and talented students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds....
3 min read
From Data to Action: How easyCBM Transforms Student Assessment
It’s no secret that the ability to identify students who need extra support is like having a superpower. That’s where easyCBM® comes in—a ga...
1 min read
Understanding Student Potential: The Role of Ability Data
We often know what students have achieved through tests and quizzes, but do we understand how they learn? With widening opportunity gaps, an...
2 min read
Using Ability Tests in Gifted and Talented Programs: Key Insights
Understanding Student Profiles: How Ability Tests Help
4 min read
easyCBM Provides Three References for Interpreting Student Performance
Reference points are essential for interpreting student performance and determining instructional decisions. For example, knowing that a stu...
A super quick read.
Gifted under-identification: How to improve diverse student access to gifted programming
Gifted under-identification: How to improve diverse student access to gifted programming
3 min read
“Stretch or Support” Student Ability with Data – and Games!
Kids like games – but on occasion, they don’t particularly enjoy learning in school. What happens when schools systematically incorporate ga...
2 min read
Edtech Predictions for 2024
eSchoolNews recently asked a wide-ranging group of education experts – including three Riverside Insights contributors – to share their 2024...
A super quick read.
Riverside Insights Debuts All-New CogAT.com
Riverside Insights Debuts CogAT.com Portal to Support Strengths-based, Differentiated Learning that Helps All Students Thrive New CogAT in t...
2 min read
This Child is Gifted. Now What?
School communities often have robust processes for identifying gifted and talented students through assessments like the Cognitive Abilities...
2 min read
Supporting Emerging Bilinguals: Part 2
Part 2: Servicing Emerging Bilingual Students in Gifted Education
3 min read
Enhance Quantitative Reasoning Skills
Students in all grade levels have varying levels of readiness that require differentiation of instruction. However, some states like New Yor...
2 min read
Supporting Emerging Bilinguals: Part 1
How do we find the sweet spot of intersectionality between gifted and Emergent Bilingual?
2 min read
A Parent's Guide to Ability and Student Learning
The Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) is an assessment given in many school systems to provide a view into a student’s reasoning abilities....
A super quick read.
The Latest on Assessment from Northwestern CTD
"Classroom instruction is the reason why we have assessment in schools. We want to help our educators understand what students know and are ...
2 min read
A Structured and Systematized Approach to Progress Monitoring
As educators, we understand the importance of monitoring students' progress during the year. Yet, how do we effectively and efficiently impl...
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A super quick read.
Supporting ELs in Class: Instruction is Just the Tip of the Iceberg
Making small changes in the classroom can make a big impact for all students, possibly a life-changing one for English learners.
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1 min read
5 Practical Ways to Support English Learners in the Classroom
Using common sense tactics, teachers can help English learners overcome hurdles and achieve in the classroom
1 min read
Predictions for Gifted Education in 2023
New York City’s decision to put on hold the city’s gifted programming has sparked discussions nationwide around the impact and equity of gif...
2 min read
Supercharge Data Discussions with the Iowa Assessments
"Normative information can be used as a measure of growth and is especially valuable in times of change and interruption."
3 min read
Beyond GT Identification: Are your students actually making academic gains?
"While assessing students and identifying them for appropriate instructional services is important, what we as educators do after that is ev...
3 min read
Best Practices for Gifted Placement and Programming
Best Practices for Gifted Placement and Programming
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A super quick read.
Why Universal Screening is a more Equitable Identifier of Gifted Students
Why universal screening is a more equitable identifier of gifted and talented students
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2 min read
Destination, Data Insights: Celebrate Student Achievement & Growth!
Destination, Data Insights: It's Time to Celebrate Student Achievement & Growth!
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2 min read
For Educators By Educators: Advancing Equity in Your Classrooms
Advancing Equity in Your Classrooms
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3 min read
Voice of a Gifted Coordinator: Why CogAT for Gifted Identification?
Why Should Schools and Districts Choose the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) for Gifted Indentification? Adam Laningham, previously the Gi...
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2 min read
For Educators By Educators: Being Creative in Amplifying Student Potential
Who said class had to be boring? Students can learn unique skills through classroom creativity.
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A super quick read.
Case Study: Introducing Multiple Pathways to Enable Talented Students
“As we do this, there’s going to be more students at every school that will qualify for service because we’ve frankly been overlooking peopl...
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2 min read
Riverside Wins Inaugural Accessibility Award from Excellence in Equity
Equity begins with accessibility. At Riverside, we believe that equity means understanding how all students learn best so that we can give e...
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2 min read
Destination, Data Insights: Implementing Quick Checks of Learning to Accelerate Student Knowledge
Destination, Data Insights: Implementing Quick Checks of Learning to Accelerate Student Knowledge
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2 min read
For Educators By Educators: Over-testing our kids (and what to do about it)
Our students are over-tested. What can we do about it? Over-testing students is a widespread issue among schools that can undermine the effi...
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2 min read
Destination Data Insights: Assessing Your Assessments
Destination Data Insights: Assessing Your Assessments
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2 min read
Best Practices for Progress Monitoring: Part 3
A Fireside Chat with Rutherford County: Best Practices for Progress Monitoring Part 3
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1 min read
Cognitively Speaking: A Closer Look at Local Norms
A Deeper Dive into Local Norms Gifted and talented services are most effective when they serve students for whom the standard curriculum is ...
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2 min read
Best Practices for Progress Monitoring: Part 1
A Fireside Chat with Rutherford County: Best Practices for Progress Monitoring - Part 1
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2 min read
Create Robust Intervention Systems District-wide
Create Robust Intervention Systems District-wide: A Fireside Chat with Rutherford County
3 min read
Ability Data: Bridging the Gap Between Student Potential & Achievement
Ability Data: Bridging the Gap Between Student Potential and Student Achievement
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2 min read
Beyond BDI-3® : Using the BEAS to Screen for Dyscalculia
Go beyond BDI-3 and discover how the BEAS addition can support dyscalculia screening and intervention initiatives.
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1 min read
Spot Algebra Readiness and Intervention Needs with the IAAT™
Your students need to pass Algebra I. Here are the critical first steps to ensure they do.
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2 min read
Engage Your Learners with a Schoolwide Enrichment Model
Engage Your Learners with a Schoolwide Enrichment Model
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2 min read
Quick Steps to Support Learning Growth for ALL Students Year-Round
We don’t know what students learned these past two years. Here are 3 steps to find out.
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A super quick read.
CogAT Selected for Statewide Universal Screening in Arizona
Arizona Department of Education Selects Riverside’s CogAT for Statewide Universal Screening of all Second-Grade Students for Gifted Educatio...
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A super quick read.
Cognitively Speaking: Why and How to Use Local Norms
Why do schools need local norms? Case #1 EWS An extremely wealthy suburb (EWS) in the Northeast has a problem. They have “too many gifted st...
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5 min read
Exploring Models to Address Learning Gaps for ELs
The new school year has begun, and most children are eagerly returning to their classrooms. For most students, it’s been approximately eight...
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2 min read
Skip, Repeat, or Intervene: Considerations for Students with IEP
Many students with IEPs missed valuable instruction time during the 2020-2021 school year, and educators are wondering how to make up for in...
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3 min read
Implementing Differentiation in the Classroom: 4 Key Questions Answered
Differentiating instruction has been a topic of conversation among educational researchers and educators alike in recent years. But what is ...
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10 min read
4 Steps for Adjusting the IEP Process this Fall
As I shared last school year, writing individualized education programs (IEPs) can get a bad reputation. Before, educators were concerned ab...
3 min read
The Risks of NOT Testing -- How the Absence of Data Impacts Students
How can the absence of assessment data impact a student's potential for learning? The notion of assessment in education has taken a negative...
A super quick read.
Case Study: A Playbook for Advancing Equity and Inclusion in Gifted and Special Ed Programs
"One Size Does Not Fit All" in Texas' Sixth-Most Diverse District
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2 min read
Why Schools are Moving to Online Testing and Why You Should Too [Free Downloadable]
“I have been assessing students with the CogAT screener all summer with much success! There has been very little troubleshooting that has be...
2 min read
Using CogAT® to Guide Learning During and After COVID-19
As school systems work through their plans for the return to school, whether back-to-the-classroom, remote or e-learning, or a blend, every ...
5 min read
How CogAT® Provides Insight into Student Ability and Learning
In our public schools, the most common use of the Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT) is for identification of high ability students for accel...
A super quick read.
Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) Explained in 6 Minutes
Has your son or daughter been given CogAT® at school? Or, are you an educator looking to inform parents about what insights CogAT can provid...
6 min read
Four Ways to Use Visuals when Teaching English Language Learners
If you were to walk into my high school Language Arts classroom mid-unit you might see students working in cooperative groups using good old...
2 min read
Spatially Talented Kids: Developing an Under-appreciated Skillset
What is spatial reasoning? Why is it important? Spatial thinking skills include the ability to imagine objects and to change or transform th...
1 min read
Getting Value and Equity from Your Universal Screening Process
The Importance of Using the Right Measures for Universal Screening Evidence suggests that universal screening is the most fair and unbiased ...
1 min read
Measuring Reasoning Skills Among English Learner Students
Ability tests differ from achievement tests. While achievement tests measure classroom learning, ability tests prompt students to demonstrat...
1 min read
Using CogAT Score Profiles to Differentiate Instruction
School systems are always trying to make the most of their resources, which includes optimizing the uses and benefits of assessments into wh...
2 min read
Spotlight on Iowa Assessments: Content Validity Evidence in the Item Development Process
Test items (questions) are the backbone of every test. They are the manifestation of the content standards, meaning they are the bridge from...
2 min read
Spotlight on Iowa Assessments: College and Career Readiness
Amid the rising costs of college education and an increasing number of students who arrive on campus unprepared for the rigors of postsecond...
A super quick read.
Getting to Know CogAT
Watch these videos from CogAT co-author, Dr. Joni Lakin to get an introduction and overview of CogAT.
1 min read
Spotlight on Iowa Assessments: Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Interpretations
The purposes of achievement testing are diverse and varied, but the common denominator to all purposes is information. Tests may be formativ...
A super quick read.
An Interview with Dr. Joni Lakin, Author of CogAT
Co-author Dr. Lakin explains how she came to be involved in the development of CogAT and how CogAT can uniquely support instruction for all ...
A super quick read.
The Essentials: Using Ability Tests in Gifted and Talented Identification Programs
The Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) Form 7 introduced many exciting new features such as a revised Primary Battery and new quantitative i...
1 min read
Universal Screening in Gifted and Talented Identification: Implementation and Overcoming Challenges
We’ve been excited to see gifted and talented education in so many popular press articles in recent months. One of the motivators of this su...
A super quick read.
Introducing Form 8 for CogAT
We are excited to announce the introduction of CogAT® Form 8, an equivalent form to CogAT Form 7 . Form 8 preserves all of the exciting new ...
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