A sincere thank-you to the community of USNS educators for your continued efforts to improve mathematics instruction and learning for all students. Your feedback, care, and expertise help inform the ongoing improvement of the Universal Screeners for Number Sense.
The 2026 versions of the USNS assessment guide include corrections, clarified directions, and formatting improvements. The assessment tasks remain substantially unchanged.
Fall 2026 Updates
The Fall 2026 guide includes minor formatting changes only. No assessment tasks, scoring rubrics, or administration directions were changed.
Midyear 2026 Updates
The Midyear 2026 guide includes the following updates:
The minimum value for the Grade 2 Well Below Basic performance band was corrected to 8 (p. 111).
The Common Core State Standards have been removed from the main assessment sections and compiled into a list following the introduction.
Missing characters were corrected in Grade 2 equations (pp. 157 and 161).
Additional administration directions were added for the Grade 5 number line problems (pp. 225 and 230).
Materials lists were compiled and added to the introduction.
Formatting was improved throughout the guide.
Spring 2026 Updates
The Spring 2026 guide includes the following updates:
The minimum score for the Grade 5 Spring assessment was corrected to 3 (p. 274).
The Common Core State Standards have been removed from the main assessment sections and compiled into a separate list.
The Grade 5 fluency task rubrics were reformatted to align with the Midyear guide (pp. 379–380).
The rubric for Grade 6 question 2b was corrected (p. 409).
A compiled materials list was added.
Formatting was improved throughout the guide.
If you have questions about the latest versions of the USNS assessments, please contact us.