This article provides information about how PAT Maths Adaptive entry levels are automatically assigned based on student ability and how to manually override where needed:
- Importance of choosing the right test
- PAT Maths Adaptive automatic assign
- Overriding the automatically assigned entry levels
Importance of choosing the right test
For an assessment to produce valuable information about students’ abilities, it needs to be appropriately targeted to uncover what students can do and understand, as well as what they cannot yet do and understand.
So, when a student responds correctly to approximately 50% of questions, the test is well targeted and provides the maximum information about the skills a student is demonstrating, and those they are still developing.
PAT Maths Adaptive automatic assign
A student’s PAT Maths Adaptive entry testlet – the first block of items the student sees – is automatically assigned according to their estimated ability. If the student previously completed a PAT test in the same learning area within the preceding two years, that scale score is used to determine a suitably difficult starting point. The student’s year level is also considered to ensure that the entry level contains content that is appropriate to the student. If the student has not completed a PAT test previously, their entry testlet is assigned according to their current year level.
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Overriding the automatically assigned entry levels
In some cases, for example, where a student has not previously completed a PAT test, but you know their ability is relatively high or low compared with the 'average' for the year level, you may decide to override the automatically assigned PAT Adaptive entry level:
- Select the student’s name from the Students page
- Click Tests
- Click Edit starting level next to the assigned PAT Adaptive test
For reference, the default PAT Adaptive entry levels for each year level are listed below:
- Level 1: foundation, year 1
- Level 2: year 2
- Level 3: year 3, year 4
- Level 4: year 5, year 6, year 7
- Level 5: year 8, year 9, year 10
Related article: Accessible test content options in PAT Adaptive