Product Releases and Bug Fixes: March 16, 2026

New and Improved

AI Scoring is here for Aware Premium users! District-level administrators with the Create Local Assessment Tests right can set AI Scoring access permissions at the district, test type, test, and question levels. Then, test authors can score constructed response answers against a pre-set rubric. For more information, visit the AI Scoring FAQ.
We’ve updated the student supports template CSV file to include new subjects that users can assign student supports to. Users can also locate and assign student supports to these new subjects on the Student Profile and when using the Manage Student Supports table from Students Settings.
To use Speech-to-Text on Chromebooks while employing LockDown Browser, you can now turn on microphone permissions either across your district using Google Admin Console (recommended) or on individual student devices.
The new Custom Item Banks feature allows Item Bank Administrators to add, edit, and delete custom item banks for their Aware Premium district.
Test authors can now select up to two calculators to use in an assessment, with a limit of one calculator per vendor (one TI calculator and one Desmos calculator).
We’ve added the Test Administration setting, Disable access to Enter Answers. This setting prevents teachers from viewing or previewing any item on an assessment through the feature, enhancing security in situations such as Teacher Incentive Allotment requirements.

My Planners has a new look and feel! The new landing page displays all of your preps, organized by year. Select a prep from the current school year, or expand the prior-year containers to view older preps. With this new layout, you can even apply a color and a pattern to your prep to make it easier to identify in the list. The planner for each prep includes a refreshed toolbar as well as a drop-down menu that allows you to switch between preps without returning to the landing page.
The Shared with Me screen allows you to view and access planners that have been shared with you by other Beacon users.
The new Staff Search feature allows administrators to view all Beacon users at their school or district by school, name, or email address. Selecting a staff member from the list opens their planners.
You can now copy plans from the previous school year. See Copying a Prior Year Plan to learn how you can reuse successful lesson plans year-to-year.

Test authors cannot change assessments with entries or those with active or archived statuses to be AI Scored. Preventing this change helps preserve score ranges and data integrity.

We’ve addressed a discrepancy between Single Test Analysis, Quick Views, and the Student Construction Response Report. Percentages should match between them for students who scored 0 or were unscored.

We have fixed an issue displaying incorrect text for certain standards in lead4ward. Data has not been affected by either the text issue or its solution.

We’ve updated the STAAR version of the Desmos Graphing Calculator. This version now matches the Texas STAAR Desmos version, ensuring student answers are marked correct after following the expected mathematical steps.

We have addressed an API error appearing on the Overview and Activity Tracker screens. Overdue, at-risk, and on-track activities now populate as expected.

The Custom TIA Report now shows percentages correctly for Met Growth and Exceeded Expected Growth. The percentages in the report match those entered in Manage Student Growth.