Online testing in schools

NEW!
In the spotlight: New Group Reading
Test Digital
With the New Group Reading Test Digital (NGRT
Digital), GL Assessment has taken the power of
online testing to a new level by making the test
adapt to the reading ability of the pupil. In other
words, pupils see a different version of the test
depending on how they are scoring as they
move through the items.
Aimed at pupils from 7 to 16 years, this fully standardised test
comprises three sections: phonics, sentence completion and
passage comprehension. Pupils enter the test according to their
age and begin with the sentence completion section. Depending
on their score, they will progress to either phonics tasks or a
passage comprehension at a suitable level of difficulty. The
difficulty is then slowly increased until the pupils’ scores begin to
show that the test is becoming too challenging.
Developed by GL Assessment and the National Foundation for
Educational Research (NFER), NGRT Digital is an ideal
screening/monitoring test for groups of pupils. Its ability to show
the ongoing progression and achievement of pupils makes it an
essential tool that satisfies the literacy assessment requirements
of all four UK inspection frameworks.
The reports
A detailed Group Report is available as soon as pupils have taken
the test. It includes:
• Group Scores for Sentence Completion and Passage
Comprehension
• Analysis by Reading Age Equivalent Band
• Group Scores for Phonics
• Group Demographic Comparison.
Sample questions
from NGRT Digital,
illustrating the three
sections: phonics,
sentence completion
and passage
comprehension.
Why use NGRT Digital?
• Pupils are not exposed to test material at an inappropriate level,
making the testing process a much more positive and
motivating experience.
• Teachers and SENCOs are provided with accurate results that
reveal the level of their pupils’ reading ability. Pupils with weak
skills can be tested with material at a lower level than that
determined by age, while pupils with high level skills are
presented with material that better reflects their ability.
• NGRT Digital is a time-efficient and accurate test of a pupil’s
reading progress that can be administered at key points – for
instance, on transfer from primary to secondary school – or
used year-on-year to check progress.
• Provided the test ascertains a pupil’s reading ability to be at a
level suitable for the passage comprehension section, NGRT
Digital enables the assessment of reading and comprehension
in a single test.
• The assessment is ideal to screen pupils for additional support
and will help determine what level of intervention or further
assessment may be required. It can also help identify pupils
who need to be assessed individually for Access Arrangements.
Online testing in action
New Group Reading Test Digital
For some secondary school pupils who struggle with reading, it
is sometimes necessary to return to phonics in order to cement
stronger foundations for reading progress. NGRT Digital helps
teachers and SENCOs to do this in an age-appropriate way by
automatically taking those pupils with a very low sentence
completion score to the phonics section in place of the passage
comprehension section.
Sample report showing group scores for sentence
completion and passage comprehension.
Not only does this provide teachers and SENCOs with valuable
phonics information at secondary level, it also helps identify
those secondary pupils who need essential support in phonics,
an element that is recognised across all UK curricula as key to
reading progress.
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