Dive Brief:

• The Northwest Evaluation Association and California's Santa Ana Unified School District are collaborating on research using the NWEA's digital adaptive MAP Growth assessment to identify when students disengage during testing, sending real-time alerts to educators, according to EdTech: Focus on K-12.
• The alerts are sent when the technology notices students beginning to play with the keyboard, fidget or answer questions faster than the standard 40-50 second timeframe, giving educators an opportunity to check in on them. That real-time feedback can help build better personalized learning experiences between students and teachers.
• Additionally, research shows students are more likely to engage in "rapid guessing" on reading exams than on math, with some 50% of students likely to do so at least once during an exam. Elementary students are also less likely to become disengaged than those in higher grades.

Dive Insight:

Along with giving educators an opportunity to check in on students and prevent them from failing an assessment, the real-time intervention opportunities afforded in the NWEA and Santa Ana USD research project can also better inform test creation. Data showing at what point or on what types of questions students are likely to disengage, as well as what types of questions might best re-engage them periodically throughout the assessment, can help educators or vendors craft more engaging tests that boost student success.

As exams continue shifting to digital formats, the opportunities to learn more about how to maintain student attention spans and build a better assessment model will only increase. Those that get ahead of the curve now will be best positioned to lead the way tomorrow.