Types of assessment
Administration options
Pearson works with states and organizations on all points of the technology continuum. No matter where you are, we can help you build an effective large-scale assessment system.
Familiar territory
At Pearson, we have a long history of delivering paper-based high-stakes, large-scale assessments. At the same time, our experts are pioneering new ways to use technology for innovative next-generation assessments. This balance makes us the perfect partner to help you meet your current needs and move forward when the time is right.
A graceful blend
If you are juggling a combination of paper and online testing, don’t worry. We’ve worked with several states taking the cautious approach to online testing, and understand that you need tools that will help you today as well as tomorrow. That’s why Pearson Access — our web-based assessment management system — is built to adapt to your current systems and centralize all of your paper and online testing records, reports, and student information through a single online designation.
Transition to online testing
As you work to improve student outcomes, we can help you develop a custom assessment that meets rigorous college and career readiness standards. Our psychometric staff can work with you to design a pilot program to try out online testing and address any challenges to large-scale implementation. We’ve already helped several states move entire testing programs to online and technology-based assessments.
Summative assessments
In our time, we've seen lots of changes in summative assessments, from how they're delivered, to how they're scored, and what knowledge and skills they're meant to test.
Innovations to scale
As an industry leader in developing high-stakes, large-scale assessments, we have been at the forefront of helping states and organizations transition to the next generation of assessments:
- Moving from paper to online testing
- Adopting automated scoring of written responses
- Utilizing innovative items to assess higher-order thinking skills essential to college and career readiness
Making sense of the numbers
We also provide the solutions you need to manage custom large-scale assessment programs and make sense of the data. From comprehensive web-based assessment and information systems such as Pearson Access to resources that provide individualized roadmaps for student improvement like Perspective, we help educators solidify the teach and learn cycle: teach, assess, report, diagnose, prescribe.
Alternate assessments
We believe all students have potential to grow and learn, and we can help ensure that learning is measured in a meaningful way.
Inclusive and accessible
Alternate assessments measure the achievement of students who would not benefit from testing in the standard assessment. These students include those with significant cognitive disabilities, known as the 1% population.
Providing reliable assessments with alternate and modified achievement standards requires innovative thinking and design. We work closely with educators to determine how to demonstrate the achievement of these students. Pearson has more than 20 years of experience developing alternate assessments in many commonly accepted formats, including portfolio, body of evidence, and performance assessment.
We can also help you modify summative assessments for mildly/moderately cognitively disabled students, known as the 2% population.
Content areas
Large-scale assessments would be meaningless if the content in them wasn’t aligned to the standards being taught in your classrooms.
Content experts in the house
We know that when building effective assessments it helps to understand what it’s like to be in the classroom. That’s why we depend on experienced educators to help us develop test content. Pearson’s curriculum and subject matter experts (many of them former teachers) will collaborate with educators in your state to develop test questions and scenarios that are aligned with your state’s and your chosen College and Career Readiness Standards.
Pearson has been at the table with the national experts and can help you wade through the alphabet soup of curriculum standards and guidelines. We’ve worked with several states to align custom large-scale assessment systems to their chosen standards. We also provide complementary instructional solutions and professional development to aid in a seamless implementation.
End-of-course assessments
End-of-Course (EOC) assessments are valuable tools to measure adequate yearly progress and determine a program’s strengths and weaknesses.
Get a better look
EOCs can give you a better understanding of what’s working and what’s not in your state. We’ve collaborated with several states to develop custom curriculum-based exams in subjects such as Algebra, Geometry, Biology, and US History.