New state assessment program helps Arizona teachers use data to personalize lessons

Arizona has a new option for schools looking to improve students’ results on state standardized tests.

NAVVY+ is an online program that allows districts to conduct assessments for students. The program then uses the results to let districts know where students excel and struggle so curriculum can be adjusted accordingly.

Every public and charter school in Arizona is required to complete state and federal assessments each school year.

NAVVY+ assessments do not fulfill that requirement. The program instead aims to help schools determine individual strengths and weaknesses to better prepare for the official testing.

Some Arizona districts identified as needing improvement started using NAVVY+ in the 2025-26 school year.

Maricopa Unified official says NAVVY+ made a noticeable difference

Brandi Williams, instructional systems coordinator with the Maricopa Unified School District, which uses NAVVY+, said the program makes it easy to take action based on the data it provides.

“We have mapped out when each of the essential standards is mastered and then we assess as a district using the NAVVY+ competency checks,” she said. “It’s allowed us to see in the district office where are gaps in our curriculum resources so that we can ensure that students are exposed to all components of the standards.”

Williams said the elementary school participating in the NAVVY+ program saw a measurable impact in standardized test results over the past year.

“We saw a 5% increase in third-grade ELA [English language arts], a 3% increase in math across [the board]. We did not use NAVVY+ in our middle school last year, and they’re the only ones who didn’t have [academic] growth,” she said.

Williams added that the results prompted the district to bring middle school students into the program this year.

Standardized test program was developed with Arizona Department of Education

NAVVY+ is being used in the state within Project Momentum, a framework from the Arizona Department of Education designed to boost student achievement.

Maria Ramirez, advanced specialist at Pearson NAVVY+, said the program was created alongside the Arizona Department of Education.

“NAVVY+ creates those assessments that are available with either blueprints or those that are built on their own,” she said. “They can create competency checks that basically provide them at-grade-level standards as well as build-your-own where they can use them as a classroom formative and check on the students’ level of understanding.”

All Arizona schools can now use NAVVY+ in the 2026-27 school year.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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