Embedded Assessments

Frequent, Authentic and Helpful Measurements of Student Ability

LightSail embeds assessments right into the student reading experience. Short, relevant questions appear with frequency as a student progresses through a text, making assessment feel authentic and low-stakes.  

LightSail is partnered with MetaMetrics, the creators of the Lexile framework, to embed quick vocabulary assessments, called cloze items, throughout each book.  These assessments allow LightSail to accurately pinpoint a student’s reading level while also predicting future performance.

Students will also encounter multiple choice and short response questions at the ends of chapters. These questions look more closely at a student’s comprehension of a particular book and how a student is performing on a particular skill, strategy, or standard. The short response questions are written at a deep level and require text evidence and critical thinking. Teachers can see how students are performing on the embedded multiple choice or short response questions and they can drill down to specific standards in order to inform targeted instruction.

Unlike other literacy tools, teachers do not need to write their own assessments to use LightSail.  Every book comes complete with in- texts assessments so that schools can begin using LightSail without any effort whatsoever; yet, LightSail is also customizable.  Teachers can turn on or off almost anything within LightSail, including the assessments by individual student or whole class.

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