Study Island Feature Focus: Built Tests

Backpacks and pencils are on sale. Labor Day plans are being made. Pro football training camps are opening.  All of these things can only mean that the first day of school is almost here! For many teachers, my wife included, prepping and planning for the upcoming year starts to take over the mind more than the next beach read or picnic. 

Identify Students' Strengths and Weaknesses

One of the most important things that teachers have to figure out is how to be able to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses. This ties in to how to test for understanding, both immediately and over time. While there are many solutions to this tricky problem, Study Island’s Built Test feature is one powerful tool that can help educators overcome the challenge. It provides the ability to create short, formative assessments on the fly, and also provides schools and districts with the ability to create custom assessments for all students.

Easily Build Custom Assessments

For the classroom teacher, the Study Island Built Test functionality empowers you to select the specific questions you want your students to answer and determine the length of the assessment. For each topic you cover in class, you can create a corresponding Built Test that will provide immediate feedback to both you and your students. This empowers students to take charge of their own learning by understanding their progress, and provides you with the actionable data you need to make timely, informed decisions about your students’ comprehension and your own instructional strategies. Think you have covered a topic that your students might not have grasped? Create a quick Built Test to verify your concerns!

Gain Insight as an Administrator

For school and district administrators, the Built Test feature allows you to create custom assessments that easily identify students’ areas of strength and weakness, as well as interim assessments at key points throughout the year to measure progress. You can also pull from Study Island’s broad library of technology-enhanced item types when creating a Built Test.

Technology-Enhanced 21st Century Item Types

Concerned about preparing your students for next-generation state assessments? Create Built Tests featuring technology-enhanced item types designed to the depth of knowledge guidelines to promote higher order thinking and inquiry.

While the annual sale on backpacks, folders, and notebooks may be a sign that summer is ending, it also signal the start of a new school year and the optimism and excitement that brings. As you begin the process of prepping, consider incorporating Study Island Built Tests as a convenient and effective way to measure student learning throughout the year and target your instruction on those topics where students might need a little more time.

Want to learn more about Study Island’s Built Tests feature? Check out this video!