What Is i-Ready Inform?

Inform vs. i-Ready Diagnostic

The simplest way to think about the change is this: the tool families already know is not being replaced by a completely different assessment. Curriculum Associates is repositioning the product name around what the assessment is supposed to do after testing: inform instruction. That means the familiar score concepts remain intact.

In practical terms, schools are still using an adaptive reading and mathematics assessment that produces a scale score, national percentile, placement level, and domain-level insights. The report may eventually say Inform where it used to say i-Ready Diagnostic, but the parent questions do not really change: what does this score mean, is my child on track, and what should happen next?

Does the Score System Change?

No. The rename does not reset the scoring scale or invalidate prior reports. A score of 500 still means the same point on the i-Ready vertical scale, and percentile interpretation still depends on the annual national norms for the student's grade and testing season. Placement levels still function as the quick summary layer: Well Below, Below, On Grade, Above, and Well Above Grade Level.

That continuity matters because families often compare Fall, Winter, and Spring scores over time. If your child used the older Diagnostic label in Fall and the newer Inform label later, you should still read those reports as part of the same longitudinal story unless your school explicitly tells you a different assessment was administered.

What Parents Need to Do

Most families do not need to do anything operationally. You do not need to relearn a new scoring system, rebuild your own spreadsheets, or reinterpret old percentile tables from scratch. The more important step is recognizing that you may see mixed naming for a while. Teachers, district dashboards, and family-facing PDFs may not all switch labels on the same day.

If you receive a report labeled Inform, treat it as the continuation of the same assessment framework. Check the score, compare the percentile, look at the placement level, and ask whether the child is showing adequate growth from the prior testing window. If you are helping another parent, it is useful to clarify that Inform is a naming transition, not a brand-new test with unrelated norms.

Timeline and Rollout

Based on Curriculum Associates' public announcement, the rename was introduced on October 30, 2025. The company said the transition would begin during the 2025–2026 school year and be fully in place by the start of 2026–2027. That means the period around spring and summer 2026 is exactly when many families should expect to encounter both names in different places.

The same announcement also noted a shorter assessment experience for the 2026–2027 school year. That is worth watching because timing, student stamina, and test length can all affect how families talk about the product. But even with that operational update, the central interpretation layer on this site remains valid: score meaning, percentile context, placement levels, and growth tracking still anchor the conversation.