PERFORMANCE SERIES FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is the Performance Series?

A: The Performance Series is an online standards-based adaptive measurement. Scantron Corporation has developed the Performance Series to be a placement and gains assessment system that works with national, state, and district standards. The Performance Series uses a computer adaptive testing engine that relies upon Item Response Theory (IRT) calibration. The computer adaptive testing engine ensures that all content units are covered, and uses the IRT-based item bank of questions and difficulty indices to provide reliability and accuracy.


Q: Is the Performance Series a criterion-referenced test or a norm referenced test?

A: The Performance Series is both. The main difference between a criterion-referenced test and a norm-referenced test is not the test itself, but the interpretation of the results. In a criterion-referenced test students are assessed on their performance in relation to a set of criteria and in a norm-referenced test students are assessed on their performance within the norm group. The Performance Series is designed to measure individual performance; therefore, it is a criterion-referenced test. However, National Percentile Rankings are also provided to show how students performed on the test compared to a national norm sample.

Q: Where did the learning objectives come from?

A: Scantron Corporation has been able to leverage the extensive research done with Curriculum Designer to identify critical learning objectives taught throughout the
country. Curriculum Designer contains a massive relational database of alignments for hundreds of standards documents, including state and national standards documents, and state and national high-stakes assessments. By analyzing the commonality and correlation of learning objectives present in these documents, essential learning objectives and content at each grade level were identified and collated. Consequently, the assessment of learning objectives tested by The Performance Series has a high degree of correlation to state and national standards. Utilizing a large team of teachers and educational consultants, Scantron carefully investigated each skill area to determine if the learning objective was a critical objective and grade-level appropriate. For more information, please refer to the Technical Manual.

Q: What subjects are available?

A: The Performance Series currently includes reading (grades 2-12), math (grades 2-9 national and grades 2-12 in some states), language arts (grades 2-8), science (grades 2-8) and Learning Styles (grades 4-12).

Q: Does the Performance Series align to specific state standards?

A: Yes, a Curriculum Alignment Guide is used to align state standards to learning objectives assessed in the Performance Series. If a Curriculum Alignment Guide is
applied, the reports will display the state’s standards next to the appropriate learning objectives in Performance Series. The Curriculum Alignment Guide is only available for math, language arts, and science.

Q: Why is the Curriculum Alignment Guide not available for reading?

A: We do not provide a Curriculum Alignment Guide for Reading Performance due to the nature of a reading assessment. In general, the skills that measure reading
comprehension remain consistent from grades two through twelve. What changes is the readability (difficulty) of the passages. For example, a student must identify the main idea of a story or analyze characters in a story whether he or she is in second grade or tenth. Scantron’s content team researched a variety of standards and information on reading assessment in order to develop the skill list. This allows Reading Performance to remain standards-based, while still assessing reading ability.

Q: What units are covered?

A: Reading Performance contains the following units: Vocabulary, Fiction, Nonfiction, and Long Passage. Math Performance contains the following units: Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, Data Analysis & Probability, Number & Operations. Language Arts Performance covers Capitalization, Parts of Speech, Punctuation, and
Sentence Structure Science Performance includes Living Things, Ecology, and Science Processes. The Learning Styles assessment covers Visual, Auditory, and Emotive/Kinesthetic.

Q: Why might I see “N/A” for some unit scores?

A: The standards for the state do not include skills from this unit at the grade level of the student taking the test.

Q: Are the Performance Series tests timed?

A: No, the students should be allowed as much time as needed to take the test.

Q: What happens if the test is stopped?

A: If a test is stopped before a student has finished, the test will resume at exactly the same spot where the student left off. (Exception: The student must resume testing within two weeks.)

Q: How often can the Performance Series be administered?

A: Scantron Corporation recommends the test be given no more than two to three times a year, with at least a 12-week window between tests, to provide the lowest standard error of measurement and ensure reliability and validity. The Performance Series can be used as pre-and post-tests at the beginning of the school year and once during the middle of the year to monitor student growth.

Q: Do all students see the same test?

A: No, since the Performance Series is computer adaptive, each test is unique for every student. Even if two students happen to have the same test question, the answers are scrambled, which increases test security.

Q: What accommodations would be considered for special education students to remain compliant with federal guidelines?

A: Examples of possible accommodations: someone could read the stories and questions to the student, the student could be given extra time to take the test, or the teacher may opt to use Title I or Special Education testing programs.


Q: Does the Performance Series fulfill Title I requirements?

A: Yes, the Performance Series can be used as a multiple measure of assessment and can show annual yearly progress by measuring gains on a consistent scale. The user is also able to create groups, such as Free/Reduced Lunch, Before School/After School Programs, etc., to measure gains by specified groups. In addition, within the reports, the user is able to select students according to specified demographics, such as ethnicity, gender, etc.

Q: Is customer support available?

A: Yes, customer support is available from 8:30am-6:30pm CST at 1-866-526-2265. Customer support is also available by email at support@learning4today.com.

Q: How do I login to take the test?

A: Go to www.edperformance.com and click on the subject you wish to test. You will be asked to provide a site ID. Enter the site ID that was given to you. Next you will be asked to enter a student ID. Enter the student ID that was assigned. You will see a question asking if the correct name is entered. If the name is correct, click yes and read the directions for the test. After reading the directions, click on “Begin Test” to start taking the test.

Q: What if I lose my site ID number?

A: If you lose your site ID number, contact your Learning4Today  representative, or call customer support at 866-526-2265.

Q: How long does the test take?

A: The test takes an average of one hour to complete per subject area. However, if a student’s ability level is significantly different than their assigned grade level, the test may take longer to adjust for this difference. Scantron Corporation recommends reserving two one-hour class periods to allow for set-up time and testing time.

Q: How many test items does each student receive?

A: Since the test is computer adaptive, each student will receive a unique test and the number of items may vary. There are not a set number of questions. The average number of questions in a testing session is about 50.

Q: How do I spoil a test?

A: To spoil a test, first make sure you are at the location where the student is entered. Click on “Testing”, and then click on “Unfinished and Active Tests.” Once this screen appears, locate the student and click on “Spoil.” Follow the directions for spoiling the test. However, once a test has been completed it cannot be spoiled.

Q: Can teachers see which questions the students answered correctly or incorrectly?

A: For security reasons, we do not allow test items to be published. However, Performance Series does provide a Suggested Learning Objectives Report. This report
includes a list of successfully attained objectives as well as a list of objectives that the learner needs to work on next. The reason for this is that the test is computer adaptive and each student follows a different path. The questions the students see along the path are not as important as the path they took to obtain their final score.

Q: When are reports available?

A: Reports are immediately available online once a student completes a test.

Q: Are there different levels of reports available?

A: Yes, reports are available at the student, course, class, school, district, sub-district, county, and state levels.

Q: What types of reports are available?

A: Depending on the user’s level of access, the following reports are available: Course Reports, Staff Reports, Grade Level Reports, Student Reports, Group Reports, Testing Status Reports, Class Reports, District/School Reports, Gains/History Reports, Distribution Reports, Suggested Learning Objectives, and Class Profile Reports. Within each of these reports, the user is able to sort results according to specified demographics.

Q: How was the readability of the reading passages measured?

A: All passages and questions were analyzed for reading level utilizing a number of powerful computer-based reading algorithms. Careful attention was paid to both reading level and contextual appropriateness of each question. The reading-level algorithms used were:

Items that did not successfully pass this level of review were returned to the writing team for editing and resubmission. Once the content team approved the passages and questions, they were submitted to a team of independent editors for review. The Editor Team consisted of professional educators (credentialed teachers and university professors) from around the United States and Canada.


Q: What does the Reading Rate mean?

A: This number is based on a silent reading rate. The rate is calculated by counting the number of words in the passages the student read and dividing that number by the time it took the student to read those passages. Certain test taking techniques may alter the accuracy of this rate. This score will only be accurate if the student reads the story before answering questions. If a student reads a passage in less than 5 seconds the reading rate will be invalidated and a “not measured” will appear.

Q: Are problem solving skills tested in Math Performance?

A: The test has questions that assess both problem solving skills and computation skills.

Q: Can the students use scratch paper for Math Performance?

A: The students can and should have a pencil and scratch paper available to them for their use.

Q: Can the students use calculators?

A: The questions in the math test are designed so that a calculator is not necessary. However, we recommends that the district follow the same procedures for calculator use on other tests given in the district.

Q: Can the students use formulas for Math Performance?

A: A formula or table of formulas is given in the question only if the learning objective is not intended to test knowledge of the formula. We do not recommend that a hard copy of formulas be given to the students.

Q: Is training on the Performance Series available?

A: Yes, there are two days of mandatory training. One day of pre-test training (Site Set- Up) and one day of post-test training (Data Interpretation). Web-based training is also available.