For an assessment to produce valuable information about students’ abilities, it needs to be able to demonstrate what students can do and understand, as well as what they cannot yet do and understand.
When a student can answer around 50% of the questions correctly, the test is well targeted and provides considerable information about the skills a student is demonstrating, and those she or he is still developing.
In conventional linear assessments, all students in a group respond to a test containing the same items. Differences in students’ abilities mean that those items are likely to be suitably challenging for some students, but too easy or too difficult for others. Tests that are too easy or too difficult may reduce student engagement and fail to identify what students can do or to highlight areas of need.
Computer adaptive assessments, such as PAIS Reading Adaptive and PAIS Mathematics Adaptive, use students’ responses to actively determine the content as they progress through the test, resulting in personalised pathways. The result is a more engaging testing experience that produces a highly detailed picture of achievement, enabling you to more precisely diagnose student needs and target teaching where it is needed most.