Savvas Learning Company Debuts State-of-the-Art Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments

PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY — February 16, 2022 — Savvas Learning Company, a K-12 next-generation learning solutions leader, is excited to announce the launch of its new Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments (LSDA) for use with its literacy solutions.

Delivered on the award-winning Savvas Realize learning management system, the Savvas LSDA works directly with Savvas Learning Company’s core K-8 literacy programs, including myView Literacy Grades K-5, ReadyGEN Grades K-6, and myPerspectives English Language Arts Grades 6-8. Equipped with multistage adaptive technology, it provides a power-packed toolkit that allows educators to test less and teach more, accelerating learning for all students.

“After three school years of disrupted education, assessing students’ literacy skills is more critical than ever,” said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company. “Our new LSDA program offers easy-to-administer screeners that provide a clear picture of where students are when they come into a classroom, and purposeful diagnostic assessments that deliver powerful results, helping educators address the needs of every learner.”

Savvas developed the Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments in collaboration with the highly acclaimed nonprofit WestEd. Providing a seamless assessment and curriculum solution for summer learning programs and the start of the new school year, the Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments are designed to maximize the power of instruction. It identifies each student’s greatest opportunities for growth by pairing actionable data and targeted recommendations with personalized instructional content to help students master grade-level skills.

The screener and diagnostic assessments work in tandem to generate scoring results that are both “criterion-referenced” and “norm-referenced” — meaning they compare student performance to grade-level expectations and to that of their peers across the country, respectively. The assessments and the results are also deemed valid since they accurately measure what they are intended to measure. The Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments empower teachers by giving them deep insights into their students’ literacy skills and seamless access to instructional content to personalize learning for every student.

What sets the comprehensive LSDA apart is that it combines all of the following:

• Universal Screener — Given by a teacher to the entire class, this short screener assesses proficiency in prior year’s literacy skills and identifies the diagnostic most appropriate to assign to an individual student.
• Multistage Adaptive Diagnostic Assessment — Adjusting to the individual’s misconceptions and proficiencies in real-time, this adaptive diagnostic digs deeper to pinpoint each student’s strengths and growth opportunities in skills areas such as phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension.
• Scoring and Flexible Instructional Recommendations — Robust data and reporting from the diagnostic assessments generate personalized instructional content with on-, above-, or below-level suggestions.

“What makes the Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments so beneficial to teachers,” said Leigh Ann Garcia, vice president of product management and marketing of PreK-12 Literacy for Savvas Learning Company, “is that the assessment scores point to personalized instructional links and interactive resources directly on Savvas Realize, saving them time.”

The release of the LSDA follows the successful launch last year of the Savvas Math Screener and Diagnostic Assessments (MSDA) for enVision Mathematics Grades K-8, recently named a winner of the Tech & Learning Awards of Excellence Best of 2021.

As it did in developing its MSDA, Savvas once again collaborated with WestEd to produce the Savvas Literacy Screener and Diagnostic Assessments. Savvas chose to work with WestEd because of the agency’s mission to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults.

“Our staff has experience working with a range of audiences, from preschool teachers to federal policymakers, to accelerate success for every learner,” said Glen Harvey, CEO of WestEd. “In collaboration with Savvas, we’ve developed powerful new assessments that are valid, reliable, and reflect industry best practices. We are proud that these vital tools will help teachers understand where their students are on their path to college- and career-readiness in literacy.”