Digital EMA@School

Built for Every Level of Your Education System

Digital EMA@School is designed for school board and Ministry-level implementations that scale across hundreds of schools while giving every teacher the data they need at the classroom level.

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Ministries of Education

Province-wide numeracy screening with centralized data, benchmarking, and reporting. Deploy across all districts with comprehensive analytics.

✓ Province-wide implementation and data aggregation
✓ Data collection capabilities to support the establishment of provincial norms
✓ API integration for existing data infrastructure
✓ Power BI connectivity for custom provincial dashboards
✓ Authentic bilingual deployment tailored for English and Francophone contexts

Explore Implementation Support →

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School Boards & Districts

Board-wide screening across all K–6 classrooms with centralized reporting, and data exports that plug directly into your analytics tools.

Administration & Growth:
✓ Board-level reporting and cross-school comparison
✓ Track and compare student and class growth across terms (Fall, Winter, Spring)
✓ Professional development and training support
Technical & Data Integration:
✓ Data exports compatible with Power BI and other tools

Explore Training & Onboarding →

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School Administrators

School-level dashboards give principals and leads a clear view of numeracy performance across all classrooms, enabling data-driven decisions about intervention resources and support.

✓ School-level graphical reports in the platform
✓ Class-by-class performance comparison
✓ Three-tier identification (Tier 1 / 2 / 3)
✓ Track growth across Fall, Winter, and Spring
✓ Support intervention planning and resource allocation

Explore Reports & Resources →

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Teachers

Rich, item-level data that tells you exactly which skills each student has mastered and where they need support so you can plan targeted instruction with confidence.

✓ Track student and class growth across the year (holistically and by domain)
✓ Domain-level scores with tier categories
✓ Error analysis for targeted instruction
✓ Item-by-item performance for every student

See FAQs for Teachers →

About Digital EMA@School

Digital EMA@School (Early Math Assessment @ School) is a research-informed universal screener designed to assess early numeracy skills and identify gaps for students in Kindergarten through Grade 6. Developed by mathematical cognition researchers Dr. Heather Douglas and Dr. Jo-Anne LeFevre at the AIM (Assessment and Instruction for Mathematics) Research Centre (ARC) at Carleton University, (Douglas & LeFevre, 2021), it is grounded in over 30 years of research on early math learning.

Core Purpose

✓ Universal Screening: Identify students at risk for math difficulties and address early numeracy gaps
✓ Foundational Skills: Focus on Symbols, Relations, and Operations
✓ Predictive Power: Hierarchical foundational skills that predict later math achievement and problem solving

Originally created in 2021 by Carleton University researchers, the EMA@School (paper-pencil format) has been successfully used with over 200,000 students across Canada. In 2024, Carleton University and Vretta partnered to develop a digital version, the DEMA (Digital EMA@School).

Research Foundation

Digital EMA@School focuses on three fundamental subdomains of numeracy: Symbols, Relations, and Operations. Research shows that the skills in these subdomains are building blocks that predict students' advanced mathematical thinking and problem solving.

Creators of the EMA

Heather Douglas, Ph.D.
Adjunct Research Professor, Cognitive Science, Carleton University
Jo-Anne LeFevre, Ph.D.
Chancellor's Professor of Cognitive Science and Psychology, Carleton University

Research Base

✓ Grounded in over 30 years of research on mathematical cognition and early math learning
✓ Created by Dr. Jo-Anne LeFevre and Dr. Heather Douglas, leading experts in cognitive science and early numeracy development at Carleton University's AIM Research Centre (ARC)
✓ Actively undergoing ongoing validation studies across multiple Canadian school boards

What Students Experience

Here's a glimpse of what the assessment looks like for students, guided by the friendly mascot Nano!

Symbols

Counting, numeral recognition, and number concepts.

Verbal Counting · Dot Counting · Next Numbers · Number Naming · Number Writing

Relations

Comparisons, ordering, and pattern recognition.

Number Comparison · Next Numbers · Equation Equivalence

Operations

Arithmetic fluency and problem-solving.

Addition · Subtraction · Multiply/Divide · Calculations

Nano listening attentively as a child counts aloud

Verbal Counting

K G1

Students count aloud in sequence while Nano listens encouragingly. This measures knowledge of the counting sequence, a foundation that underpins all numerical reasoning.

Number Knowledge

Nano and a child working together on number sequences

Next Numbers

G1

Nano models a number pattern and the student extends it. This captures pattern recognition and the ability to infer rules, skills predictive of later mathematical reasoning. Number Relations

Number Relations

Kindergarten through Grade 6: Each grade has age-appropriate tasks and scoring.

Explore All Tasks →

Enterprise Integration

Digital EMA@School is built to fit seamlessly into your existing technology infrastructure, from identity management to data analytics.

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Single Sign-On (SSO)

Integrate with your existing identity provider for frictionless access. Teachers and administrators sign in with the credentials they already use — no separate accounts needed.

Microsoft (Azure AD / Entra ID)

Google Workspace

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API Integration

Programmatic access to assessment data for integration with your existing student information systems, data warehouses, and analytics platforms.

✓ Student performance data extraction
✓ Item-level response data
✓ Roster and class management
✓ Automated data pipelines
✓ Comprehensive data codebook

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Power BI & Analytics

Connect assessment data directly to Power BI and other business intelligence tools to build custom dashboards tailored to your board or Ministry's reporting needs.

✓ Direct Power BI connectivity
✓ Custom dashboard creation
✓ Cross-school and cross-district views
✓ Longitudinal trend analysis
✓ Export-ready data formats

Designed for System-Level Deployment

Our integrations are built for school board and Ministry-level implementations. Whether you're deploying across 10 schools or 1,000, the platform is designed to scale with your infrastructure, including automated rostering, centralized access management, and data flows that connect to your existing systems.

Key Features

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Instant Scoring

Results are available immediately after students complete the assessment. No manual scoring is needed, freeing teacher time for instruction. However, teachers can still make adjustments.

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Predictive Insights

The hierarchical skills measured are foundational building blocks for more advanced math skills and problem solving.

Bilingual & Accessible

Available in English and French. The platform also includes built-in accessibility features such as captions, adjustable reading speeds, and high-contrast options to support all learners.

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Multi-Level Reporting

Reports at student, class, school, and board levels, from item-by-item teacher insights to system-wide analytics for decision-makers.

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Flexible Administration

Can be administered by classroom teachers in group settings or completed independently by students, with three assessment windows per year. Assessments can also be completed offline.

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Research-Informed

Grounded in over 30 years of research in mathematical cognition and cognitive development. The original paper-pencil format has been successfully used with over 200,000 students across Canada.