What does an adaptive assessment do?

An adaptive assessment is designed to tailor the testing experience to the individual student's ability level. By adjusting the difficulty of questions based on the student's previous responses, it creates a personalized assessment environment. When a student answers a question correctly, the assessment may present a more challenging question next; conversely, if the student struggles, the assessment can provide an easier question. This adaptive approach helps accurately measure a student's knowledge and skills, as it responds in real-time to their performance. This dynamic ability to modify the assessment leads to a more precise understanding of the student's abilities, ensuring that the assessment reflects their true understanding and learning level.

In contrast, providing the same set of questions to all students does not account for individual differences in understanding or skill. Eliminating the need for teacher observations overlooks the importance of qualitative data that can provide context to a student's performance. Focusing solely on written tests fails to incorporate multiple assessment methods, which are vital for a comprehensive understanding of a student's capabilities.