How Kids Are Performing: Tracking the Midyear Impact of COVID-19 on Reading and Mathematics Achievement: Winter 2020-2021 Edition examines how students are performing at the midway point of the 2020-2021 school year. Based on insights from millions of student assessments, the report explores key questions, including: 1. How are students growing during the first half of the 2020-2021 school year compared with typical school-year growth? 2. How much is the pandemic impacting student performance as of the middle of the 2020-2021 school year? 3. Are we gaining ground? How do the winter pandemic achievement impacts compare to fall? The full report is available online: <https://renaissance.widen.net/s/zvq8rnrp9t/r63370>.

FastBridge earlyReading Decodable Words has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyReading Letter Sounds has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyReading Nonsense Words has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyMath Decomposing has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyMath Match Quantity has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyReading Letter Names has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyMath Number Sequence has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyMath Numeral Identification has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyReading Onset Sounds has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

FastBridge earlyReading Sight Words has been rated highly by the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII) as academic progress monitoring assessment. The Full Review is available online: <https://charts.intensiveintervention.org/aprogressmonitoring>.

From the abstract: "A key consideration when giving any computerized adaptive test (CAT) is how much adaptation is present when the test is used in practice. This study introduces a new framework to measure the amount of adaptation of Rasch-based CATs based on looking at the differences between the selected item locations (Rasch item difficulty parameters) of the administered items and target item locations determined from provisional ability estimates at the start of each item. Several new indices based on this framework are introduced and compared to previously suggested measures of adaptation using simulated and real test data. Results from the simulation indicate that some previously suggested indices are not as sensitive to changes in item pool size and the use of constraints as the new indices and may not work as well under different item selection rules. The simulation study and real data example (Star Reading) also illustrate the utility of using the new indices to measure adaptation at both a group and individual level. Discussion is provided on how one may use several of the indices to measure adaptation of Rasch-based CATs in practice."Citation: Wyse, A. E., & McBride, J. R. (2021). A framework for measuring the amount of adaptation of Rasch-based computerized adaptive tests. Journal of Educational Measurement, 58(1), 83-103. The full report is available online: <https://doi.org/10.1111/jedm.12267>.

This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Australia's National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and Star Reading.The Full Report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R63191>.