Classrooms are more diverse than ever before. With students displaying a range of English proficiency levels, how can schools ensure they’re placing students correctly so that they can tailor learning experiences for better individual outcomes?
Placing students based on their language proficiency matters. A study by the British Council found that students placed correctly are 23% more likely to progress effectively compared to those placed purely by age or academic grade. It stands to reason that students enjoy better outcomes when teachers can differentiate learning experiences and match learning levels to their individual abilities.
Placement tests enable this differentiation, allowing teachers to accurately assess the English proficiency of students aged 9 to 16. The problem is, traditional (often pen-and-paper) tests are administered and completed by hand, and are therefore time-consuming, draining teacher resources. Their manual nature also increases the scope for human error, resulting in inaccurate assessments that mean students end up wrongly placed and disengaged with their own learning.
What’s more, traditional placement tests are difficult to scale – so if you have large student intakes, such as for a summer school, they’re an inefficient process. They also won’t give you any immediate feedback or actionable insights that you can use to target teaching effectively.
So, with traditional language tests now outdated, what’s the answer to bringing placement testing into the 21st century? Enter adaptive testing.
The advantages of adaptive testing for junior learners
Adaptive testing brings language placement tests right up to date, increasing placement accuracy and helping engage students by enabling them to study at the right level for them. These tests work by dynamically modifying the difficulty of the questions based on the student’s responses, so that each assessment is tailored to the individual.
This innovative approach produces a more accurate reflection of a student’s true proficiency level compared to static tests. For students, the impact of this is enormous. By being placed at the right level, they’re neither overwhelmed nor underchallenged, so they’re more engaged – and studies have shown that this can lead to a 30% increase in their performance.
Why adaptive testing benefits schools
For schools, too, the advantages of adaptive testing are compelling versus the traditional alternative. For a start, they’re quick and easy to implement and can be carried out at any point throughout the year, which also makes them useful as a tracking progression tool. Students take them on laptops or PCs, and they’re done within an hour. A 24-hour turnaround on results makes it possible to place students quickly and efficiently, as well as providing immediate reports and insights into students’ performance.
And adaptive tests aren’t just flexible – they’re scalable, making them ideal for large influxes of students at the start of an academic year or summer school. Because they adapt to the individual student’s abilities, they’re accommodating of all students’ needs and variations, making them a valuable tool for the modern classroom at any scale. By streamlining admissions and class structuring, they also save teachers valuable time; Roy De Vries (a leading education innovator and EdTech expert) notes that summer schools using adaptive testing saw a 30% reduction in time spent on initial student assessments.
With so many advantages for both students and schools, it’s fair to say that implementing adaptive testing in English placement for junior learners is more than just a technological upgrade – it’s a strategic move towards personalised education. Accurately assessing each student’s proficiency means educators can create more effective learning environments, ultimately leading to better student outcomes.
Spotlight for Juniors – Scalable Junior Language Testing
We’ve made adaptive testing for under-16s easy with Spotlight for Juniors – a simple test that adapts to the student’s ability in real time to ensure an accurate assessment of junior candidates’ English proficiency. Designed for students aged 9 to 16, it’s mapped to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and allows you to test reading, listening, grammar, vocabulary, speaking and writing levels quickly and accurately.
Spotlight for Juniors offers unrivalled customisation and flexibility in everything from test components to assessment methods, allowing you to adapt it to your school’s exact needs. Its topics are built to be engaging, age-appropriate and relatable, making sure junior test-takers feel comfortable and confident as they move through the test.
Quick for schools to set up, quick for candidates to sit, and offering results within 24 hours, Spotlight for Juniors takes away the time-consuming elements of traditional language placement testing and provides more accurate results for junior language testing. Get in touch with our team find out how it could help your school.
