Grade 7 Reading Instruments

In accordance with the , each local education agency is required to administer at the beginning of Grade 7 a reading instrument adopted by the commissioner to each student whose performance on the assessment instrument in reading administered under , to the student in Grade 6 who did not demonstrate reading proficiency, as determined by the commissioner. The local education agency shall administer the reading instrument in accordance with the commissioner's recommendations under the .

In November 2022, the ɬÀï·¬ Education Agency (TEA) notified publishers that reading diagnostic instruments for students in Grade 7 , could be submitted for review for inclusion on the 2023-2027 Commissioner's List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments. The ɬÀï·¬staff completed their review in July 2023.

A future review of reading instruments for Grade 7 is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2026.

2023–2027 Commissioner's List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments

ÌýThe following reading instruments have been reviewed and show reliable and valid measurement of the skills in the domains indicated with an X. The required domains for Grade 7 are Phonics/Word Analysis (PH/WA), Text Comprehension – Reading (TC-R), and Fluency (FL). Students must be assessed in all required domains. The vocabulary (VO) domain is recommended. Some instruments may include additional domains such as Phonological/Phonemic Awareness (P/PA), Phonics/Word Recognition (PH/WR), and Text Comprehension – Listening (TC-L).

Option Reading Instruments P/PA PH/WR PH/WA TC-L TC-R FL VO
1 i-Ready Assessment for Reading (Curriculum Associates, LLC) X X X Ìý X X X
2 Istation’s Indicators of Progress (ISIP) (Istation) Ìý Ìý X Ìý X X X
3 LION for Reading (Liberty Source) Ìý Ìý X Ìý X X X
4 Map® Suite (MAP Growth TM Reading and MAP Reading Fluency TM) (NWEA) X X X Ìý X X X
5 MindPlay Literacy (MindPlay Education LLC) X X X Ìý X X X
6 STAR Reading (Renaissance Learning, Inc) Ìý Ìý X Ìý X X X
7 ɬÀï·¬ Middle School Fluency Assessment (TMSFA) (State offered free option) Ìý Ìý X Ìý X X Ìý

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the requires each local education agency to administer Grade 7 Reading Instruments adopted by the commissioner.

requires each local education agency to administer at the beginning of the seventh grade a reading diagnostic instrument adopted by the commissioner to each student whose performance on the grade 6 ɬÀï·¬ reading assessment did not meet the passing standard.Ìý
The admission, review, and dismissal committee or the Section 504 committee for each student who was administered an alternate form of the state assessment in reading may determine if the diagnostic assessment is appropriate for use with that student.

The passing standard for ɬÀï·¬ assessments is Approaches Grade Level. A student who scores at or above this level has passed the ɬÀï·¬ test, but a student who scores within Did Not Meet Grade Level has not passed. More information about the passing standards, including a separate questions and answers document, is available on the ɬÀï·¬ Performance Standards webpage at .

The passing standard for ɬÀï·¬ assessments is Approaches Grade Level. A student who scores at or above this level has passed the ɬÀï·¬ test, but a student who scores within Did Not Meet Grade Level has not passed. More information about the passing standards, including a separate questions and answers document, is available on the ɬÀï·¬ Performance Standards web page.

Per , local education agencies must administer during the first six weeks of the school year.

No,Ìý requires each local education agency to administer at the beginning of the seventh grade a reading instrument adopted by the commissioner.

No, waivers to use a reading instrument not included on the 2023-2027 Commissioner's List of Approved Grade 7 Reading Instruments are not available.

A local education agency must provide additional reading instruction and intervention as appropriate to improve the student's reading skills in the areas of need identified by the diagnostic reading assessment.

Yes, requires that local education agencies provide parents with a report in writing with the results of the reading instrument. This report must be shared with the parents no later than 60 calendar days after the date on which the reading instrument was administered to the student.

No, districts are not required to report the results of the grade 7 reading instruments to TEA. Local education agencies are required to comply with all the reading instruments requirements established in and compliance with this chapter could be subject to review during an audit.

Yes, the option is available to local education agencies free of charge.

The TMSFA grade 7 materials and online training about its administration can be found in ɬÀï·¬ Gateway. TMSFA .

No, the TMSFA is a reading instrument designed to assess student’s proficiency in reading fluency, word analysis and text comprehension.

For more information about dyslexia screening processes please visit the ɬÀï·¬Special Populations, Dyslexia and Related Disorders webpage.

Yes, if a local education agency chooses to use Map Suite to assess grade 7 students whose performance on the Grade 6 ɬÀï·¬ Reading assessment did not demonstrate reading proficiency, the local education agency must administer both Map Growth and MAP Reading Fluency. Ìý

Using MAP Growth only or MAP Reading Fluency only does not meet the requirements of the .Ìý

For more information about MAP Suite, please see the .

Yes, if a local education agency chooses to use the i-Ready Assessment for Reading to address the ɬÀï·¬ Grade 7 screening requirements it must administer two assessments from the i-Ready Assessment Suite: (1) The i-Ready Diagnostic, and (2) the i-Ready Literacy Task for Passage Reading Fluency to meet the requirements of the .Ìý

The i-Ready Diagnostic is a digital adaptive group-administered assessment that addresses the ɬÀï·¬ requirements for phonics/word analysis, text comprehension—reading, and vocabulary.Ìý

The i-Ready Literacy Task for Passage Reading Fluency is a one-on-one administered assessment and addresses the ɬÀï·¬ requirement for fluency. Ìý
Both assessments are included as part of the same license; any local education agency who has access to one assessment automatically has access to the other at no additional charge.Ìý

Detailed guidance on using the i-Ready Assessment Suite to address the ɬÀï·¬ Grade 7 screening requirements is available at . For any additional questions, please feel free to contact your .

Contact Information

Curriculum Standards and Student Support Division
(512) 463-9581

For questions or additional information, please submit a Curriculum Request Form through the ɬÀï·¬Help Desk.

Please from the English language arts and reading team.

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Reading Language Arts and Social Studies Team

Jim Doris
Social Studies/Reading Language Arts Director

Guiomar Andújar
Spanish Content Specialist

Tamara Robert
Reading Language Arts Content Specialist

Tim Bryant
K-8 Reading Language Arts and Social Studies Content Specialist

Jenny GaonaÌý
Social Studies Content Specialist