How can students highlight and take notes on the Assessment Series and Free Reading Assessment?

Students can actively engage with online reading passages on the Assessment Series using a two-color highlighter and a digital notepad. These embedded tools allow students to highlight information in the text and jot down ideas — strategies that can support comprehension and build confidence while testing. Additionally, all highlights and notes are saved and will reappear if the test is resumed — even across devices or if a teacher unsubmits the test.

To highlight, students can select a portion of the text, which will automatically open the highlighter tool. They can then choose to highlight in red or blue. If they need to remove a highlight, they can re-select the text and choose "Remove highlight."

Students will have a separate digital notepad available for each passage in the assessment in order to to keep track of important information about the passage that might help them answer the questions. When they click to open the notepad, they will see the notepad for whichever passage they are currently viewing.

To open the digital notepad, students can click the Notepad option in the top right corner of their screen. Or, if they are using a mobile device or tablet, they can click Notepad in the footer toolbar at the bottom of their screen.

Then, they can click into the text box to type their notes. Students can also click and drag the notepad to reposition it to a preferred location on screen as needed.

Please note: Highlights and notepad entries are only visible to the student — they’re not used for grading, and mark-ups or notes can’t be viewed by teachers. This makes the tools feel safe and low-stakes for students to experiment with strategies.