No one knows his or her way around the classroom like Scantron. For more than three decades Scantron has led the industry in data collection and assessment systems designed to meet educator’s needs – from the first “bubble tests” to the latest in computer adaptive technology. As more and more school districts are embarking on a systemic reform of education and holding districts, schools, teachers, and students accountable to the standards, the demand for a comprehensive standards-based accountability system has increased. With this in mind, Scantron’s solution is designed to target the instructional level of each student according to a set of specific standards (California Content Standards) and to ensure that No Child is Left Behind.

Scantron’s latest educational tool provides teachers and administrators with an assessment tool that uses the power and immediacy of the Internet.

What is it?

The PERFORMANCE Series™ utilizes an innovative computer-adaptive, Internet based model to target the instructional level of each student by altering question difficulty based on previous answers. Once the test has been completed, the results are immediately available providing an accurate evaluation of the student’s abilities – in approximately 45-60 minutes for the longer version and approximately 20 minutes for the shorter version which we will be using this year. PERFORMANCE Series™ will help your teachers place students at the appropriate instructional levels (target grades 2-12). Educators can use this product to evaluate skill mastery, place incoming students, and provide immediate reports to parents and tutors on progress made as the course proceeds. The advantage of the Scantron assessment solution over traditional assessments is that it measures actual growth of each student.

The content areas that are available are Reading, Math, Language Arts, and Science. We will be using the areas of Reading, Math, and Language Arts this year. There is also an add on program called Skills Connection Online (SCOL) that will help you easily create remedial activities and assessments for your students which target the skills that they need along with a home study guide. The advantage of SCOL is that it provides an online integration with the PERFORMANCE Series™ program so you can seamlessly generate a test for students based on the standards suggested from PERFORMANCE Series™. Your teachers will be able to generate a test now in seconds and have them tie back the items to specific state standards. Special Education departments like to use PERFORMANCE Series™ to help write the IEP goals. They also benefit from Skills Connection Online to create pre and post assessments to measure if the students have met their learning goals that were identified.

How it works

Every student participates in a unique, Web-based assessment that adapts automatically to the student’s instructional level, quickly honing in on questions that fit — they’re neither too easy nor too hard. Once completed, customized reports allow each student’s instructional level and academic gains to be measured and tracked over time based on Pennsylvania State objectives and standards. You will now have accurate knowledge of which skills have been successfully attained and which still needs to be focused on for each and every student. Your teachers can quickly identify and determine learning gaps to ensure that all students get the most from the instruction.

Where is it currently being used?

It is being used in over 45 states throughout the United States. Many large districts such as Cobb County, GA, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Baltimore County, MD, and Bay County, FL have found success with our PERFORMANCE Series™.

Internet Connection - System Requirements

Since PERFORMANCE Series is Internet based, students must have a solid Internet connection. Typically this means a T1, DSL line, or the equivalent. The stronger the students’ Internet connection, the more students can use the system at the same time.

Internet Browser Requirements

Every Macintosh or Windows computer to be used for testing must be connected to the Internet and must have one of the following Internet browsers installed: Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4.01 or higher* or Netscape Navigator version 4 or higher*.

Here are the guidelines:

• A solid Internet connection, such as a T1 line, DSL, etc.

• Either Internet Explorer (version 4.01 or newer) or Netscape Navigator (version 4 or newer)

• A Windows PC (Pentium 16MB RAM)

• Or a Power Macintosh (24MB RAM)

To certify a computer and browser on the Internet, use the computer in question to log on to http://test.edperformance.com/check.