[Product Update] Exact Path October 2019 Release!

Following each new exciting release, we’re always asking, “What’s next?” What continued investments will allow our educators to help every student experience more academic success? This October, we’re excited to announce a few new handy features that will provide meaningful data at your fingertips, offer additional assessment flexibility, support customizable data conversations, and deliver more learning path transparency. Let’s explore the four updates you can expect, as of October 14.

National Percentile Rank (NPR) for High School

What is it?
We’re expanding National Percentile Rank (NPR) from K–8 to now include high school. This newly added metric, available to those who use the Exact Path diagnostic to assess their students, is intended to help support score interpretation based on national norms. While K–8 NPRs are based on a nationally representative sample of Exact Path users following a norming study, our preliminary high school norms were developed by extrapolating from the trends in the observed K–8 data.

Why does it help?
NPR helps you answer, "How does this student's assessment score compare to other students around the country?" After reviewing your students’ scale scores, you might find yourself wondering if those measures are encouraging or worrisome. You are looking for another relative measure to help qualify scale score. This is where NPR can help! By knowing that a 650 is in the 42nd percentile, you can interpret a student’s score as approaching the average score that students earned in the same grade and subject. Perhaps your intervention plan for this learner will look different from a student who is performing in the 15th percentile or, conversely, the 95th percentile.

How can I start using this feature?
NPR is available on the Student Summary Report, Class Results, and Aggregated Results data views for the Exact Path adaptive diagnostic assessment. To get more familiar with NPR, take five minutes to watch this assessment literacy video on Unpacking National Percentile Rank.

Learning Path Persistence

What is it?
Have you ever wanted students to take another diagnostic assessment so that you could check in on growth but then wanted that administration to refrain from adjusting their learning path? This October, you now have that option with a new learning path persistence feature. You can elect for students to continue a current learning path, even when they take another diagnostic. Educators can choose to utilize this option for each testing window after the first (which is mandatory to create an initial learning path).

Why does it help?
Different times of year and different student populations may call for adjusted implementations. For example, if in the winter, you want to establish how much growth has been made but perhaps don’t want to interrupt any gains achieved in a learning path, you may only want to reassess, not create a new learning path. Then, when spring rolls around and you’re a month out from summative testing, you may elect for that assessment administration to create a new targeted learning path for students to work on. When you use the Exact Path diagnostic assessment, the flexibility to make separate assessment and learning path decisions is yours.

How can I start using this feature?
As an educator, from the diagnostic scheduling area for each subject, you can choose to toggle on or off an option to “Continue Current Learning Path” for specific students or entire classes. By default, all assessment administrations will create a new learning path, so if this is your desired behavior, there’s no need for you to make any changes in your account.

Custom Printing of Reports

What is it?
Classroom teachers can once again easily batch print Student Summary Reports for an entire class. Additionally, you will be able to customize the data you want to print when you do it.

Why does it help?
Want to only look at assessment data? Choose just those fields. Hoping to compare learning path progress? Pull in just that module. Want something that brings together a sprinkling of key data from both areas? You have those options too.

How can I start using this feature?
When selecting to print Student Summary Reports, you can choose to pull in specific modules you want to print and also save those selections as a template for future use. Customize a subset of key data points you want to share during parent-teacher conferences, or drill into other areas during grade-level meetings.

Omitted Skill Visualization

What is it?
We’re making it easier for you to identify where age-appropriate content is available in the Exact Path learning path. From the Knowledge Map, you’ll soon see a new icon in your legend that shows a white box with a grey slashed circle and the words: “Omitted Skill,” signifying that content to support this skill is only available for K–6 students.

Why does it help?
We know that the style of the content your students see matters. While friendly animation and storytelling is appropriate for elementary learners, older students require a more a sophisticated approach and content design. By default, students should receive content that is developmentally appropriate. Additional curriculum support should be at your discretion.

How can I start using this feature?
Use the Knowledge Map to see if your grades 7–12 students will have some possible omitted skills in their learning path experience. If this is the case, you have a few options. You can assign additional videos or pull a Lesson Idea to help remediate that lower-level skill. Or, in Student Settings, you can turn off this behavior so that students receive all skills that the diagnostic determines they need to work on, even if that includes content designed for K–6 students.

We hope that you enjoy these four additional features, which were designed with your feedback! Want to learn more about how Edmentum is investing in Exact Path? You can always keep up with our latest enhancements and get a peek at what’s on the horizon by checking out our What’s New page.