Understanding Your Child’s Progress
February 16, 2026
Benchmark results for NWEA MAP, aimswebPlus, mCLASS DIBELS and SSIS SEL Screener are now available in PowerSchool and Otus.
Two Tools You’ll Use: Otus + PowerSchool
PowerSchool Parent Portal (K–8)
You can view: student attendance, trimester progress reports, publisher-provided assessment result print-outs and other district documents (ex. Otus login code, intervention letters).
The benefit of the PowerSchool is that parents are able to view the publisher-provided benchmark assessment family reports which provide valuable insight and context for understanding studemt progress.
Otus (K–8)
View district and classroom assessment data (mCLASS, MAP, aimswebPlus, SEL).
View your student's attendance.
The benefit of Otus is seeing trends across time in one place and accessing all of your student's data in one place.
Where to Click: PowerSchool
Where to Click: Otus
New Tool for Understanding Your Child’s Assessment Data
We’re excited to introduce Decipher Your Student’s Data, a new parent-facing tool designed to help families better understand student assessment information in The Winnetka Public Schools District 36. This resource translates assessment results into clear, family-friendly language, explains what different scores mean, and guides parents on where to find reports in PowerSchool and Otus. It’s a helpful starting point for making sense of district and state assessments and knowing when to reach out to your child’s teacher with questions. Click the link below to try it out!
How to Interpret the Data
1. Percentiles
What they tell you: how your child compares to same-age peers nationwide. A student in the 89th percentile is performing better than 89 percent of same-aged peers nationwide.
2. Cut Scores
Explain that benchmark categories indicate “on track,” “approaching,” or “needs support.”
3. Growth
Growth measures show the rate of the student's learning over time.
Winter Benchmarking: Family Engagement Check-In
To help us improve how we share information about student learning, we are asking families to complete this brief 60-second check-in about their experience with Otus and PowerSchool. All responses are anonymous.
How easy was it to . . .
access your student's BENCHMARK RESULTS on PowerSchool?
access your student's BENCHMARK RESULTS on Otus?
How helpful was the "Decipher Your Student's Data" tool?
For more information, please visit our website.
If you have questions about your student's performance, please reach out to their teacher.