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CommonLit Archive Everything You Need to Know about CommonLit's Free Diagnostic Assessment and Premium Assessment Series

• 3 min read
Rob Fleisher

Rob Fleisher

We know that it is critically important for teachers to collect accurate data on student reading performance. At CommonLit, we’re excited to offer two options to teachers and schools: the CommonLit Free Diagnostic Assessment and the CommonLit Assessment Series. In this blog post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about these two different products.

If you are already interested in receiving a quote for your school to get access to the Assessment Series, please fill out this quick form.

CommonLit’s Diagnostic Assessment: Free for Individual Teachers

The CommonLit Diagnostic is a completely free and easy-to-administer assessment that is designed to capture baseline data on student performance at the beginning of the school year.

This assessment, which is available for students in grades 3–12, includes three reading passages, 20+ multiple-choice questions, and will assess students on a wide range of skills. Teachers can schedule this assessment directly through their account on CommonLit.

The passage "'To Be Or Not To Be' Soliloquy" from the CommonLit diagnostic, with questions on the right.
CommonLit’s Diagnostic Assessment can be easily administered directly through CommonLit’s digital platform.

After students complete the Diagnostic, teachers will immediately be able to view key data insights. Teachers can see how students performed by standard and how they did compared to other students around the country who took the same grade-level diagnostic.

Note: Teachers will not be able to assign the Diagnostic Assessment multiple times throughout the school year or access a free Post-Assessment in SY 21–22.

A data chart that shows students' performance compared to grade-level peers.
CommonLit’s assessments allow teachers to see how their students are performing compared to their grade-level peers.

CommonLit’s Assessment Series: An Affordable Solution for Schools and Districts

While the Diagnostic Assessment is a one-time assessment, CommonLit’s new Assessment Series includes three benchmark assessments and makes it easy for schools and districts to seamlessly track student progress throughout the year. Each assessment included comes with three reading passages and 20+ multiple-choice questions.

The CommonLit Assessment Series is available for grades 3–12 and can be unlocked when schools purchase CommonLit School Essential PRO ($3,000 per school/per year).

A data chart showing student performance groups.
CommonLit’s Assessment Series provides easy-to-read data reports that help teachers identify student needs.

After teams purchase either of these packages, teachers will receive access to three specialized assessments. The first assessment is a Pre-Assessment that will allow teachers to collect baseline data on student performance at the beginning of the school year. Teachers will then have the option to assign a Mid-Year Assessment that can be used to identify student progress and learning gaps. Finally, teachers will have access to a Post-Assessment that will provide comprehensive data on the growth that students have made throughout the year.

As soon as students complete each assessment, teachers receive access to actionable standards-based data reports that they can use to inform instruction.

A data chart showing overall performance by student, broken down by skills.
CommonLit’s Assessment Series also includes detailed reports that provide teachers with standards-based data, comparative data, and scaled scores for each student.

When schools or districts opt to purchase CommonLit School Essentials PRO, administrators will also receive comprehensive school- and district-wide data reports to measure student performance.

Bringing the Assessment Series to your School and District

If your team is interested in requesting pricing information or meeting with our team about the Assessment Series, please fill out this quick form so we can get in touch with you!

If you teach in a hospital, refugee camp, prison, small reservation school, or other uncommon setting and have questions about access to the Assessment Series, please reach out to help@commonlit.org.