Under a recent change to Ohio law, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce must revise its current approved list of K-3 reading diagnostic assessments to include no more than five reading diagnostic assessments by June 30, 2026. The updated list will be effective beginning in the 2026-2027 school year.
The revised list must include three currently approved K-3 reading diagnostic assessments that were the most used statewide prior to Sept. 30, 2025. Accordingly, the Department has determined that the following approved K-3 reading diagnostic assessments were the three most used statewide prior to Sept. 30, 2025:
- I-Ready Assessment
- NWEA MAP Growth
- Acadience Reading K-6/Acadience Reading K-6 (formerly DIBELS Next)
As a result, the three assessments above will remain on the Department’s revised approved list of K-3 reading diagnostic assessments for the 2026-2027 school year.
Two additional assessments will be added to the Department’s revised approved list of K-3 Reading Diagnostics through a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process. The Department will begin accepting vendor applications for its RFQ process on Friday, December 5, 2025, and expects the process to conclude in early 2026.
Frequent updates will be shared with district leaders statewide and posted on the Department’s approved assessment webpage.
Please direct questions to ThirdGradeGuarantee@education.ohio.gov.