This article explains some points to consider when deciding whether or not to re-test a student based on a high or low raw score.
ACER do not place any specific guidelines around when it is necessary or advisable to retest your students, but the following points should be considered:
- The objective should be good assessment not more assessment
- Focus on what information has been derived from the assessment by asking the following questions from the student’s assessment result:
- are we able to identify where the student has reached in his or her learning?
- are we able to identify next steps in the student’s learning from the data?
- Identifying where a student has reached in his or her learning:
- in most cases there will be enough information to infer where a student sits within an achievement band and how their results relate to that achievement band
- if they have attained a very low score it may not be possible to identify what the student can do and they can be administered a lower level test form
- Identify next steps in the student’s learning:
- in most cases, there will be enough information to identify some skills and concepts where a student requires assistance
- if they have attained a very high score such as the maximum or close to it, it may not be possible to identify next steps in learning and they can be administered a higher level test form.
ACER do not advocate re-testing students solely based on whether they performed well or not so well on an assessment, any decision to retest should be based on whether there is enough data available to support the student’s learning.