Profile view of four children sitting in a row of desks typing on school computers while taking adaptive tests.

How To Use Branching, Item, and Testlet Adaptive Assessments

While many educators are aware of computer adaptive testing (CAT) and the benefits it offers for students, it can be difficult to step away from the familiarity of traditional assessment methods. Teachers may be unsure of how to design and implement an adaptive test and might even question whether CAT is right for their students.  […]

View from behind of girl sitting in a classroom at a desk in front of a laptop with a math equation on the screen, raising her hand as the teacher presents at the front of the class, demonstrating the concept of diagnostic assessments in math.

Leveraging Technology in Math Diagnostic Assessments: Tools and Innovations

Traditional mathematics diagnostic assessments, such as multiple-choice Scantron tests, are used in many classrooms – but they have limitations. Because grading paper-based assessments is time-intensive, both students and educators often have to wait for feedback on performance. Also, multiple-choice tests measure performance accurately around the mean but not so well at the extremes.  With scores […]

Close up side view of male and female students sitting in a row at computers, smiling at the screen with their hands on the keyboard, demonstrating an example of a formative assessment being taken.

4 Examples of Summative Assessments

Summative assessments represent the climax of each learning period. Whether they take the form of multiple-choice tests, essays, or projects, these high-stakes assessments provide a record of student achievement and an important insight into institutional performance.  However, traditional summative assessments present many challenges for educators, such as time-intensive grading. In addition, it can be difficult […]

School children sitting in a row in computer class facing their computers and looking off to the side at teacher, illustrating the concept of comprehensive assessment.

9 Tips for Implementing Comprehensive Assessments

Educators need to measure student achievement, but it can be difficult to do so in a time-efficient and accessible way. Traditional quizzes and final exams can take hours to grade and they often fail to adequately measure the outliers. When scaled to a school or district level, these assessments can make it difficult to compare […]

Rear view of students in class sitting at desks in front of computers facing a female teacher with her back turned drawing on a chalkboard, illustrating students taking formative or summative assessments.

Formative vs. Summative Assessments: Differences and Best Practices for Educators

Formative and summative assessments are an important part of every educator’s toolkit, but they can be time-consuming to implement and scale effectively. By strategically administering these types of assessments online, teachers can engage students while saving time and resources for classroom instruction. In this article, we look at some essential characteristics of formative and summative […]

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