Welcome to Amira!
STEP 1 - Meet Amira
Amira is the first artificial intelligence (AI) reading assistant that listens to, assesses, and tutors students. With Amira's capabilities, students have effective reading practice with customized, in-the-moment feedback to enhance their literacy growth.
Additionally, Amira produces real-time whole class and individual student reports. Amira saves teachers 90+ hours across the school year by automating early literacy assessment, Practice with feedback, and Dyslexia screening.
Reading is life's most important skill, and Amira Learning's mission is to make every child a motivated and masterful reader.
STEP 2 - Learn How Amira Benchmark Works
Amira Benchmark assesses oral reading fluency while analyzing errors to pinpoint strengths and areas for growth. Amira listens to students read and then creates running records, audio recordings, metrics, and reports for teachers and parents. The Benchmark assessment is the digital implementation of the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI) which is known for its high degree of reliability and validity.
Benchmark Details
Testing - The teacher assigns the Benchmark (up to three times per school year) to students. The student logs into Amira and reads a passage out loud into a microphone from a laptop or tablet. Based upon the student’s reading, Amira will automatically and continually down-level, if needed.
Scoring - Amira listens, records, and scores the Benchmark for a student in 7-9 minutes.
Reporting - Teachers and administrators can review comprehensive reporting including running records, oral reading fluency, and Amira's proprietary "AREA" Amira Reading Estimated Age score. For more information regarding reports, see the Analyze Student Data section below.
Best Practice - Benchmark is to be given up to three times per school year (beginning, middle, and end)
How to Assign Benchmark for Students
Benchmark assessments are activated for students within the Tracking Report.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click TRACKING REPORT
3. Select class of choice, if needed
4. Click student name(s) or Select All
5. Click Assign [ ] assessments
Where to Find Benchmark Results
The results of the Benchmark are on the Benchmark Report, Diagnostic Report, and Progress Report. Each report provides different analytics.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click BENCHMARK REPORT, DIAGNOSTIC REPORT, or PROGRESS REPORT
The Benchmark Report
Benchmark Report Features:
Listing of students shown for entire class
Metric choices
Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) statistics - WCPM, National Percentiles, DRA, Lexile, and Reading Levels (aligned to Fountas and Pinnell)
Sight Word Recognition - The percentage of grade level sight words mastered by the student.
Phonological Awareness - The percentage of phonemes mastered by the student.
Vocabulary Size - The total estimated number or words in the child’s vocabulary.
For more information about the Benchmark Report, refer to the How do I use the Benchmark Report to view class-wide results? article
The Diagnostic Report
Diagnostic Report Features
Correlated to the Benchmark report and updated with each assessment
Data displayed by individual student and by individual threads of the reading rope
Phonological Awareness
Sight Word Recognition
Vocabulary
Decoding
Integration with Resources and Examples
TPRI (included with Amira)
IntoReading (if there is a district subscription in place)
For more information about the Diagnostic Report, refer to How do I use the Diagnostic Report to inform instruction? article
The Progress Report
Progress Report Features
All Benchmark, Practice, and Progress Monitoring scores/recordings in one place
Data displayed by individual student with a projection line for future performance
Additional information listed chronologically with session time and story name.
Metric choices to change the graphic representation with national norms:
Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
Sight Word Recognition
Phonological Awareness
Vocabulary Size
For more information about the Progress Report, refer to the How do I use the Progress Report to monitor Assessment and/or Practice sessions over time? article
STEP 3 - Learn How Amira Dyslexia Screener Works
Amira Dyslexia Screener identifies students at risk of Dyslexia as early identification is key. Amira's comprehensive screening process reliably identifies students at substantial risk. The University of Houston tracked thousands of students to determine the predictive power of Amira's Dyslexia Screener. The research indicated that Amira’s Dyslexia Screener had over a 99% accuracy rate for identifying students at risk for Dyslexia.
Dyslexia Screener Details
Testing - The teacher assigns the Dyslexia Screener to students. The student logs into Amira and says aloud numbers (Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN)), letter names or sounds, and reads aloud a passage into a microphone from a laptop or tablet.
Scoring - In less than 10 minutes, Amira listens, records, and reports the results of the Dyslexia Screener and the Benchmark (which is included within the Dyslexia Screener)
Reporting - Teachers and administrators can review/analyze the results by accessing the Dyslexia Report. For more information regarding reports, see the Analyze Student Data section below.
Best Practice - The Dyslexia Screener is recommended to be given once at the beginning of the school year. By default, the Dyslexia Screener is activated for the beginning-of-year window. However, the Dyslexia Screener can be added to any (or all) other testing windows.
Where to Find Dyslexia Screener Results
The results of the Dyslexia Screener are found on the Dyslexia Report.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click DYSLEXIA REPORT
The Dyslexia Report
Dyslexia Report Features
Classview of all students by level of risk
Dyslexia Risk Indicator (DRI)
Score ranging from 0 to 100 with higher scores indicating higher risk of dyslexia
DRI scores greater than or equal to 30 are flagged as At Risk while scores below 30 are labeled Low Risk (see chart below)
For more information about the Dyslexia Report, refer to the How do I use the Dyslexia Report to flag students who may be at risk for reading difficulty including dyslexia? article
STEP 4 - Learn How Amira Practice Works
Amira Practice uses artificial intelligence to generate the right reading intervention at the right time while the student reads aloud to Amira. By helping students at the moment of unproductive struggle, Amira helps create motivated and masterful readers. All students can benefit from using Amira Practice every day for approximately 10-15 minutes each day. (That is just 2 stories per day!)
Practice Details
In-the-Moment, Targeted Micro Interventions - Amira listens to students reading aloud. Based on the student’s reading level, the word being read, and the kind of error made, Amira selects from a toolkit of over 25 micro interventions to build missing skills and accelerate growth. Amira works to help students benefit from productive struggle by selecting the areas to focus on for intervention. For more information about Amira’s micro-interventions such as Provide the Definition, Lip Sync, Rhyming Word, and more, refer to the How does Amira help students learn how to read? article
Structured Phonics - Building phonemic awareness and decoding ability is foundational to student success. The Science of Reading has conclusively demonstrated that students, especially struggling students, need substantial reinforcement in phonics. Amira delivers intense scaffolding, helping students learn how to successfully do word attack.
Reporting - Each student interaction with Amira generates actionable insight for teachers. Each practice session generates new reports at the student's level for vocabulary, comprehension, phonemic awareness, decoding ability, and more.
Best Practice - Students should complete Practice for a minimum of 10-15 minutes (or two to three stories) per day for a total of approximately 60 minutes per week. Each Practice passage is approximately five to seven minutes. Practice can be done in the classroom (i.e. during independent reading time or a station rotation) as well as at home.
How to Assign Practice for Students
With the inclusion of Practice with a school’s/district’s purchase, Practice is automatically activated. No steps are necessary for students to use the Practice feature.
❗NOTE: If the Benchmark assessment, the Dyslexia Screener, or a Progress Monitoring passage has been assigned (via manual assignment), the student will complete the assignment prior to being directed to use Practice.
Where to Find Practice Results
The results of Practice for analysis are on the Progress Report.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click PROGRESS REPORT
STEP 5 - Learn How Progress Monitoring Works
Amira provides the opportunity to progress monitor with Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) passages following the Benchmark (which is recommended to be administered three times a year). The administration schedule follows the recommendation of a Multiple Tiered System of Support (MTSS) for balanced assessment. Students are first given the Benchmark to determine overall need; provided with high quality Tier 1, differentiated instruction and intervention, and are then assessed with progress monitoring resources based upon their progress toward mastering standards that will update data and levels on the various reports.
Progress Monitoring Details
Testing - Each passage should take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete; there are six to eight passages per grade level.’ The passages come from the Texas Primary Reading Inventory (TPRI).
Scoring - Within 5-8 minutes, Amira listens, records, and scores the progress monitoring passage.
Reporting - Teachers and administrators can review comprehensive reporting including running records and oral reading fluency; for more information regarding reports, see the Analyze Student Data section below.
Best Practice - To avoid running out of progress monitoring passages within an assessment window, the suggested cadence would be as often as every two weeks; the recommendation is that district and school leaders design a progress monitoring cadence aligned to local MTSS/RTI guidelines.
How to Assign Progress Monitoring
Progress Monitoring is activated for students within the Tracking Report.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click TRACKING REPORT
3. Select class of choice, if needed
4. Click student name(s) or Select All
5. Click Assign [ ] assessments
❗NOTE: When students are "assigned" an Amira Assessment, the system follows these guidelines to determine which assessment to deliver:
Students will first be presented the Benchmark for the first assessment assigned in each new testing window (Fall, Winter, Spring)
After students have completed the first Benchmark within a testing window, any new assignments from the teacher will result in students receiving a Progress Monitoring passage
The system will continue to present each assigned student a new Progress Monitoring passage at whichever interval a teacher deems appropriate, moving students through the library of Progress Monitoring passages available (there are 7-8 passages available per window)
Where to Find Progress Monitoring Results
The results of Progress Monitoring for analysis can be found on the Progress Report.
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click PROGRESS REPORT
A Note for System Administrators
If Progress Monitoring is being used, the district-wide Benchmark will need to be preset before each testing window opens. Use the Mass Assign Benchmark Assessment feature for configuration. This will override the teacher “assignments,” so any assignment that the teacher makes will be progress monitoring, not the Benchmark. The Benchmark would be available during the district-set window.
STEP 6 - Listen to Student Recordings
By default, access to audio recordings for reading sessions are available to staff for reviewing. Student recordings can be accessed within the Benchmark Report, Progress Report, and Scoring Practice screen.
How to Access Student Audio Recordings from the Benchmark Report
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Click BENCHMARK REPORT
Click student name of choice
Click play icon
❗ NOTE: Teachers are not expected to rescore assessments, but should listen to the recording fully to ensure students performed their best. If rescoring would be necessary, best practice is to rescore yellow flagged words, but rescoring should not be necessary very often.
To rescore, click a word to change/toggle/mark the word (accuracy will adjust automatically)
Green (Correct)
Red (Incorrect)
Yellow (Un-scored due to possible audio interference)
Gray (Not Read - usually the end of a passage)
Note: The last word is not clickable and will not impact the score
After rescoring, the Assessment Status on the Tracking Report will be marked as RESCORED to indicate a change has been made from the original scoring by Amira.
Click SAVE
STEP 7 - Analyze Student Data
Amira provides a rich set of reports as well as a comprehensive data dashboard (for Amira account administrators) with actionable insights which can be used to understand student and class performance in order to provide differentiated instruction and guide parent discussions.
Reports
Amira’s set of reports include the Benchmark Report, Diagnostic Report, Dyslexia Report, Progress Report, Progress Report, and Tracking Report. Each report offers valuable insight into student data and evidence for analysis.
While the chart below lists an overview of each report along with each report’s purpose, refer to the Reports & Insights article collection for additional information.
Report & Link to Article | Administration Schedule, if appropriate | Purpose |
1-3 times per school year |
| |
Ongoing |
| |
1-3 times per school year |
| |
Ongoing |
| |
N/A |
|
Where to Find Reports
From the Teacher Portal, click Reports
Select Report of Choice
Data Dashboard for Administrators Only
The set of Amira data dashboards (Growth, Science of Reading, Screening, and Tracking) are valuable tools for data analysis. The dashboards are permission-based as requested via a completed System Administrator Request form.
Where to Access the Data Dashboards
After the System Administrator request has been processed, specified leaders will receive an email from Domo directing them to set up a Domo account. After the account is set up,
Enter email
Enter password
Click SIGN IN
After signing in, select the dashboard of choice on the right.
After selecting the first dashboard, select the next dashboard of choice at the top.
Navigating and Filtering Dashboards
Each dashboard view allows the ability to maximize particular components as well as filtering to drill into school and class data.
Clicking the Expand details icon within each dashboard will allow viewing of more details and filter by school and class. Page-level filters allow to filter by school, grade, and class in order to view high-level data.
Growth Dashboard
The Growth Dashboard provides an overview of the fluency growth taking place in relationship to students’ use of Amira. Leaders can also see student growth from the previous assessment window to the current window. The growth view also provides information about the distribution of student ability and how that distribution is evolving.
Finally, the Growth Dashboard provides a look at the change in the number of student reading levels between the current screening window and the previous screening window. This chart can help the district leaders visualize where students are in terms of overall reading ability.
Features:
A look at the change in the number of student reading levels between the current screening window and the previous screening window
Can help the district leaders visualize where students are in terms of overall reading ability
Tracking Dashboard
The Tracking Dashboard gives leaders a quick view of the percentage of assessment and dyslexia screeners completed during the testing window as well as a view of practice usage during the previous week and percentage of students who practiced with fidelity. Leaders can then drill down into these metrics at the class, grade, and school levels. Data refreshes weekly.
Assessments Completed: shows as a percentage of students who have completed the benchmark assessment (Oral Reading Fluency passage)
Screenings Completed: shows as a percentage of students who have completed the Dyslexia Screening tasks (as configured by the district)
Students Practicing This Week: Percentage of students with practice usage this week
Students Practicing Frequently: Percentage of students meeting targets for practice usage
Screening Dashboard
The Screening Dashboard provides a visual overview of the percentage of students in the Dyslexia risk categories as well as students who could benefit from intervention. This dashboard enables the identification of students who need additional assistance by school and class.
Science of Reading Dashboard
The Science of Reading Dashboard provides valuable insights into the Science of Reading components of comprehension and word recognition. Each of these are shown broken down even further at the district and student levels. In addition, leaders can see percentages of students within the different fluency categories as well as a quick view of total words read and minutes read.
STEP 8 - Explore Additional Resources
Survey/Request Form: Amira Configuration Survey and Admin Survey
Learning Management System for self-guided learning: Amira Learning University
HMH Guided Demo for Teachers: Interactive Guided Experience
Help Center: Amira Help Center (additional guides, resources, and learning materials)
Email: Amira Support at support@amiralearning.com