NWEA Secure Testing vs DERS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NWEA Secure Testing
This application allows K-12 students to take standardized assessments on an iPad. It supports various NWEA tests, including MAP Growth and state summative assessments, ensuring a secure testing environment.
- K-12 assessment delivery
- iPad compatibility
- MAP Growth support
- MAP Growth K-2 support
- State summative assessments
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The NWEA™ Secure Testing app provides students the ability to complete our K–12 assessments on an iPad®. The app supports MAP® Growth™, MAP Growth K-2 and NWEA state summative assessments.
DERS
This tool assesses the quality of learning environments for children aged 2.5 to 12. It measures environmental design and implementation against desired developmental outcomes, focusing on executive functions, literacy, and social-emotional growth.
- Measures learning environment quality
- Focuses on executive functions
- Assesses literacy development
- Evaluates social-emotional growth
- Research-based environmental attributes
- Classroom observation tool
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The DERS iOS app has been deprecated. New web based DERS is now available. http://www.ders-app.org for more info. The Developmental Environmental Rating Scale (DERS) measures the quality of learning environments offered in classrooms serving children between the ages of 2.5 and 12. It aligns environmental design and implementation with desired outcomes related to executive functions, literacy, and social-emotional development. The DERS consists of 60 research-based environmental attributes or observable behaviors (child and adult) aligned with five broad aspects of human development: initiation and concentration, inhibitory control, working memory, linguistic and cultural fluency, and social fluency and emotional flexibility. The assessment is administered in a 60-minute classroom observation, during which the assessor records the presence, magnitude, and/or frequency for each item. Schools can use the DERS internally to identify priorities for continuous improvement or externally as an assessment of environmental quality. The DERS was developed by researchers at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector.
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DERS at 5.0 against NWEA Secure Testing's 1.5. NWEA Secure Testing's advantage is ratings volume (1.4K vs 4) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
DERS holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NWEA Secure Testing has 1.4K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.
NWEA Secure Testing ships an update every 8 months, DERS every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NWEA Secure Testing | DERS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.5 (1.4K ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.4K — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 5 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 0 MB | 0 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NWEA | National Centre for Montessori in the Public Sector, Inc. |
Customer experience
NWEA Secure Testing
DERS
Bugs and requests
NWEA Secure Testing
Reported bugs
3 issues- Frequent app crashes and freezes
- Compatibility issues with certain devices
- Inconsistent test results
Requested features
3 requests- Allow going back to previous questions
- Provide more detailed feedback on performance
- Adjust question difficulty to grade level
DERS
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NWEA Secure Testing
No in-app purchases
DERS
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is NWEA Secure Testing free?
Is DERS free?
Which has better reviews, NWEA Secure Testing or DERS?
Do NWEA Secure Testing or DERS have ads?
Which is updated more often, NWEA Secure Testing or DERS?
Other comparisons
