Assessment

The J.O. Combs Unified School District utilizes a comprehensive and balanced assessment system to guide instruction and ensure student growth.

The J.O. Combs Unified School District is dedicated to education placement decisions that will best serve the children in our community. Decisions to accept a child for early kindergarten admission will be based on a clear indication that the child exhibits skills in areas of development that will most likely assure a successful kindergarten experience. The screening will be conducted by a team of kindergarten experts and parents will be notified regarding admission within one week. All decisions by the team are final and there will not be additional opportunities for re-screening.

By law, students must turn 5 by December 31st of the school year to qualify for early kindergarten testing. Please note that the list below describes general concepts that the early kindergarten test will be assessing:

Social Development: How well student separates from parents, follows directions, and interacts with adults and peers

Motor Skills: Physical activity, holding a pencil, and using scissors
Basic Academic Skills: Knowing shapes, colors, letters, and numbers

If your child has not yet demonstrated these skills, we would like to recommend that you consider our Kinder Prep preschool. Please refer to the Community Education (webpage) section of our website for additional information regarding Kinder Prep.

Early Kindergarten Screening Registration Information:

We will have three (3) opportunities available to parents/guardians for having their child screened for Early Kindergarten Registration. Those screenings will be held at the J.O. Combs District Office Board Room on the following dates:

Wednesday, May 6, 2026, 2PM-5PM
Thursday, June 11, 2026, 9AM-12PM & 1PM-3PM

Kindergarten Early Admission Screening Request (Google Form)

**You must complete the form in order to screen your child for early kindergarten admission**

District Benchmark Assessments

As part of a comprehensive and balanced assessment system, J.O. Combs Unified School District administers benchmark assessments in ELA and Mathematics using Illuminate DnA online assessments. These are district created and aligned to district curriculum and the Arizona Academic Standards. These assessments are used as evidence of student learning for longer-term instructional planning. The district uses benchmark assessments to identify curricular gaps between learning expectations and assessment, ensure that the standards are being taught and learned, and identify structural or instructional changes that might be helpful.

AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and ACT

Students in grades 3-8 are assessed annually each spring through state mandated achievement tests in English Language Arts and Mathematics and in grades 5, 8, and 11 in Science. Students in 9th and 11th grade will participate in taking the ACT Aspire and ACT respectively, which will assess students in reading, writing, math, and science. These statewide assessments are used to ensure alignment between district curriculum and instruction and the Arizona Academic Standards, while also providing the district with valuable information on student learning needs. All assessment is conducted online through computer based testing.

Arizona Department of Education AASA Information (website)
Arizona Department of Education AzSCI Information (website)
AG Opinion on Parent Requests to Opt Out of State Testing (website)

Arizona law (ARS § 15-741.G) allows parents/guardians to request that their child take state assessments using a paper/pencil format instead of computer-based testing.

Parents wishing to make this request must complete the district’s Paper/Pencil Test Request Form, accessible using this link. The district will then submit the request to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) as required.

Requests for Spring 2026 testing must be submitted no later than January 30, 2026.

Logo Image

Logo Title

In This Section

Move On When Reading

Early Kindergarten Screening

District Benchmark Assessments

AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and ACT

Logo Title

Links & Resources