IOWA Form E FAQ

IOWA Form E tests are not timed in Levels 5-8. It is timed for Levels 9-18 and takes from two and one-half hours to five hours of actual working time for the students to complete, depending upon the grade level and the test taken.

Each section for the IOWA Form E is no longer than 35 minutes. No more than two or three tests should be given in one day. The tests should be spread out over 3 to 4 days.

See what is tested at each level and the completion times for each section.

The IOWA test is designed so that almost all students have time to complete the test. Levels 5-8 of the IOWA test are untimed. The percentage of students completing the final question in each section of each subtest varies by grade and format. Approximately 94-99% of students complete the tests in the time allotted. Please read and adhere to the testing directions for the timing of each test section. See what is tested at each level and the completion times for each section.

The IOWA Assessments are achievement tests that assess students’ skills in Reading, Language, Mathematics, Social Studies, and Science. The tests assess both foundational skills and higher-order thinking skills. The IOWA Assessments provide national and local comparisons.

The IOWA Form E is a nationally normed achievement test. Your child’s scores are compared to the scores of other children who have taken the test, the norming population for the test. There is no direct correlation between the number of correct answers and the percentiles reported. If, for example, a student scores at the fifty-seventh percentile, it indicates that a student scored higher than fifty-seven percent of students who took this test in the national sampling group for his grade level, not that the student got fifty-seven percent of the questions correct.

In addition to meeting state testing requirements, Iowa Assessments can provide information that may be used to improve instruction and student learning. Teachers can use test results both to inform parents of an individual student’s progress and to evaluate the progress of an entire class. Educators can monitor growth by comparing results from multiple test administrations to determine whether individuals and groups are progressing as planned.

Achievement tests also help identify strengths and weaknesses in different learning areas by serving as a supplement to teacher observations and other classroom assessments. Weaknesses can help explain learning difficulties in related areas and form a basis for improving instruction, while strengths can provide a foundation on which to build additional skills.

The first option is for Fall testing. The second option is for Spring testing. For example, Grade 1 Level 6 is for 1st graders in the Fall of the school year. Grade 1 Level 7 is for 1st graders in the Spring of the school year.

The IOWA tests students in Reading (Levels 5-14), Language (Levels 5-8), Math (Levels 5-14), Vocabulary (Levels 5-14), Spelling (Levels 7-14), Word Analysis (Levels 5-9), Listening (Levels 5-9), Social Studies (Levels 7-14), Science (Levels 7-14). All questions are read aloud by the teacher. Click the following link for a detailed chart of the IOWA Form E Scope & Sequence.

The IOWA Form E for high school tests students in the areas of Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Written Expression, Math, Computation, Science, and Social Studies. Click the following link for a detailed chart of the IOWA Form E Scope & Sequence.

You can read this document for descriptions of the types of test questions on the IOWA Form E. For sample test questions, visit our test preparation products page to prepare your child for the test. There are practice tests, helpful test-taking hints, & answer keys.

It is not necessary to administer all the tests in a battery; however, in order to obtain total and composite scores on score reports, you must administer certain tests. For example, to obtain an English Language Arts Total for Level 5 and 5/6 tests, you must administer the Reading, Language, and Vocabulary tests.

The Iowa Assessments can be administered with accommodations or modifications to students whose special needs may make it difficult for them to demonstrate their achievement when standard testing procedures are used.

Most students requiring accommodations or modifications will have been identified as eligible for special education services and will have an Individualized Education Program (IEP), an Individualized Accommodation Plan (IAP), or a Section 504 Plan. The IEP or other plan ordinarily indicates whether the student should receive testing accommodations or modifications during standardized assessments and what the nature of those accommodations or modifications should be.

The Iowa Assessments can be administered to English language learners (ELLs). Depending on the level of English language proficiency, some students may benefit from receiving accommodations during testing. The purpose of using accommodations with English language learners is to be able to measure skills and knowledge related to the curriculum without significant interference from their limited opportunity to learn English and use it during assessment. Local, school-system, or state guidelines should be followed when making decisions related to accommodations for ELL students.

The Iowa Assessments are built to reflect a cross-section of leading standard sets; we find that state, local, national, and international standards overlap about 80-90%. It is to this overlap that the Iowa Assessments blueprint is built – and not to any single standard set. The blueprint for the Iowa Assessments is created by independently reviewing and drawing from all major standard sets including those from leading states (such as TEKS in Texas and Virginia’s Standards of Learning), international benchmarks (such as PISA, TIMMS, and PIRLS), and national organizations (*NCTM, NCTE, IRA, and NCSS). At the time the blueprint for the Iowa Assessments Forms E, F, and G was created, the CCSS were still being drafted and were not part of the initial reviews. The CCSS were published in draft from around the time that the Form E standardization studies were underway. When the CCSS were finalized and adopted by the majority of US states, Riverside provided a post hoc Common Core report to reflect student performance where the CCSS interact with the EFG test blueprints at the content domain level (rather than at standard level). Riverside provides a similar domain report for the TEKS in the state of Texas. However, the Iowa Assessments were built independently of any specific standard set and are not a “Common Core assessment.” *PISA – Program for International School Assessment *TIMMS – Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study *PIRLS – Progress in International Reading Literacy Study *NCTM – National Council of Teachers of Mathematics *NCTE – National Council of Teachers of English *IRA – International Reading Association *NCSS – National Council of Social Studies *CCSS – Common Core State Standards