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Amanda Peterson, Director of Educational Improvement & Support at the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, recently joined the ND A+ Office Hours for an informative session on the connections between the ND A+ assessment system and North Dakota’s accountability framework. During the session, she discussed key topics including the state’s accountability system and timelines, ND Insights and the K-12 Reporting and Analytics Portal, and how these processes culminate in determining school status designations.
Amanda also highlighted recent updates, including the relabeling of the Approaching Proficient performance level and adjustments to student achievement scoring. She emphasized the two major accountability components directly connected to the ND A+ Summative Assessment—achievement and growth.
The slide deck from the session is available for those interested in further exploring these connections.
Accountability Update
NDDPI has finalized all 2024–2025 accountability data, and the data review period has officially closed. The public release of the updated Insights dashboard is scheduled for the first week of December. This brief delay will allow NDDPI to refine visuals, strengthen communication materials, and enhance supports to help educators and families better understand the new assessment results. Additional details about the release and the upcoming webinar will be shared soon. Please contact Amanda Peterson at (701) 328-3545 if you have any questions.
NDDPI and Pearson have introduced a new feature in ADAM to help District Administrators easily access and verify comprehensive, aggregated data on students with accommodations across subjects and grade levels. This enhancement is now live and available to users with the District Administrator role.
District Administrators can access the new functionality by navigating to Operations > Session Explorer in ADAM. Within this tool, users can apply filters such as specific students, administration or program year, subject or grade, organization, and demographic details. After filtering, results can be exported and downloaded in an Excel format, allowing administrators to review, update, and verify accommodations information before reuploading it to ADAM.
Additional guidance, including screenshots and step-by-step navigation instructions, will soon be added to the ND A+ Interim Assessment Test Administration Manual under ND A+ Portal > Administration Resources > Interim Resources.
The finalized North Dakota writing rubrics are now available on the ND A+ Portal under Administration Resources > Summative Resources > Writing Rubrics.
In September 2025, North Dakota educators participated in a Writing Item Review Meeting where they:
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Reviewed and provided feedback on the rubrics used to score North Dakota writing items.
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Ensured the rubrics are clear, effective, and aligned with the state’s writing expectations.
These finalized rubrics reflect educator input and are designed to support consistent, high-quality scoring across the state.
NDDPI, in partnership with Pearson, is excited to announce the statewide rollout of WriteUp!, an innovative program designed to support literacy outcomes for students across North Dakota. Following a successful pilot, WriteUp! is now ready to make a broader impact—bringing powerful tools and AI-driven writing support to grades 3-12 classrooms at schools that have opted in to use the ND A+ Interim Assessments.
WriteUp! is an AI-powered writing feedback platform that delivers instant, actionable insights aligned to North Dakota’s writing rubrics. It helps students reflect, revise, and refine their writing in real time while fostering continuous growth and mastery of essential literacy skills.
For teachers, WriteUp! streamlines the feedback process—making it easier to monitor progress, personalize instruction, and support every student's writing journey. The result is a more responsive, engaging, and effective approach to literacy instruction. Each student will have up to five attempts per writing prompt to refine their responses using the feedback provided.
WriteUp! will be available in LaunchPad on Dec. 8, 2025, for grades 3-12 at schools participating in the ND A+ Interim Assessments. Training materials and resources for teachers and students will be available on the ND A+ Portal in early December.
Looking to enhance your assessment learning or connect with peers across North Dakota?
Join us for weekly ND A+ Office Hours—your just-in-time community forum for support, collaboration, and shared learning! Explore the ND A+ Professional Learning Calendar for more information.
🗓 Ongoing Support for 2025–2026
As in previous years, ND A+ Office Hours remain open for the 2025–2026 school year. Join us whenever it fits your schedule for live discussions and updates.
So far this year, we’ve focused on Setting Up for ND A+ Success, covering:
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Assessment Administration
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Navvy Setup and Logistics
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Interim Report Interpretation
We’ve also explored Summative Data and Navvy Check Validity & Reliability to support Integrating ND A+ with Purposeful Use.
💡 We Heard You!
Many educators shared that accessing Office Hours hasn’t always been easy.
In response…
Starting in November 2025, we’ve moved Office Hours to Microsoft Teams, making it easier to access, engage, and connect with the ND A+ community in real time.
📅 Weekly Thursdays | 3–4 p.m. CT
🔗 Click here to join us!
📥 Download the .ics calendar invitation
Need help adding the meeting to your calendar?
⚠️ Good to Know
Whether you pop in for a quick question or stay for the full hour, this space is designed to meet you where you are. Each session blends focused learning with open Q&A to support just-in-time needs.
🎥 Please note: To keep sessions flexible and responsive, some portions may not be recorded.
👉 Click here to ask about recording availability.
📅 Save the Date: Upcoming Connections
ND A+ Office Hours Theme for November:
Framing the Narrative: Interim & Formative Data Working Together
Weekly Topics:
ND A+ Office Hours Theme for December:
Sustaining ND A+ Success
Weekly Topics:
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12/4/2025 – Interim II Pretesting Activities
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12/11/2025 – Interim II Pretesting Activities
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12/18/2025 – ND A+ Town Hall: Ask the Experts
💬 Have a Topic Request?
We’d love your input! Click here to share what you’d like to learn or who you’d like to hear from to support your assessment literacy journey.
Did you know...that the ND A+ assessment system continues to expand and strengthen across North Dakota? Each component—summative, interim, and formative (Navvy)—plays an essential role in supporting student learning.
ND A+ State Summative
The 2024–2025 school year marked the first administration of the ND A+ Summative Assessment. Following successful standard setting, these results are now being used in the first statewide accountability process, focusing on achievement and growth.
ND A+ Interims
Now in its third year of administration, participation in the ND A+ Interim Assessments continues to grow:
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125,000 assessments completed in the first year
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200,000 in the second year
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Over 100,000 already completed in the fall 2025 window
A new predictive reporting feature—linking interim results to summative performance—is coming soon!
ND A+ Navvy (Classroom Formative)
In its second year of implementation, ND A+ Navvy is gaining momentum in classrooms across the state. Nearly 100,000 Checks were administered last year, and educators have already completed more than 20,000 Checks this year.
Together, these efforts reflect North Dakota’s commitment to building a cohesive, data-informed assessment system that supports learning at every level.
Want to better understand the ND A+ (North Dakota Academic Progression of Learning and Understanding of Students) assessment system? A variety of helpful tools and resources are available to support your learning and implementation.
🔹 ND A+ Overview Video Get a quick introduction to the assessment system with a short video available on the ND A+ Portal.
🔹 ND A+ Blueprints Developed with input from North Dakota educators, these blueprints outline:
- The state standards assessed
- Reporting categories
- Distribution of items by reporting category and score points. They guide the design of both ND A+ Summative and ND A+ Interim assessments.
📍 Find them under the Administration Resources tab > Summative Resources on the ND A+ Portal.
🔹 Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) Also created with educator collaboration, ALDs describe what students at each achievement level are expected to know and do, based on North Dakota Content Standards.
📍 Available under Administration Resources > Summative Resources on the ND A+ Portal.
📌 Visit the ND A+ Portal to explore these and other helpful resources.
Monthly assessment newsletters are now conveniently stored in one central location: https://www.nd.gov/dpi/newsletters, under the Assessment Newsletter tab.
Starting with the 2025–2026 school year, newsletters will be available only for the current school year. This fresh-start approach helps keep content timely and relevant.
Be sure to check back regularly so you don’t miss any important updates!
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