Not sure what a term means? Find quick definitions for common terms you'll see in Khan Academy assessment reports and resources.

Glossary

Adaptive Testing: 

A form of computerized testing in which the difficulty of questions is adjusted based on the test taker's performance. Khan Academy interim assessments use two types: 

• Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) for math, which adjusts after every question, and 
• Multi-Stage Testing (MST) for ELA, which adjusts after groups of questions.

Blueprint: 

A document that specifies what topics and skills will be tested on an assessment and how many questions will cover each area.

Explain Your Thinking (EYT): 

A feature where Khanmigo engages students in a brief conversation about their responses to test questions, to better understand their reasoning and knowledge.

Khanductor: 

An AI guide designed specifically for assessments that helps facilitate the testing experience without tutoring or asking leading questions.

Performance Levels: 

Categories that describe a student's level of mastery of the assessed content. Khan Academy uses three: 

• Beginning (lowest), 
• Approaching (middle), and 
• Demonstrating (highest).

Percentiles: Indicates the percent of students who scored at, or below, a given student's score.

Reliability: 

The consistency of the assessment results.

Short Response: 

An item type that requires a student to provide a brief, written answer, or explanation.

Validity: 

The degree to which the assessment accurately measures the student's knowledge and understanding as intended.

Stages of assessment development

1. Pilot: The draft version used to collect testing data and evaluate items, as well as test quality. Students do not receive scores.
2. Beta: The version that has already been pilot tested. Students receive scores, however more research is still needed to fully contextualize results.
3. Live: The version where a pilot and beta test has already been administered. Students receive scores, performance levels, and percentiles.

Please check out this article What are Khan Academy assessments and how do they work? in order to see how these stages apply to this year's assessments.

We hope this article gave you helpful information about the common terms found in Khan Academy assessment reports and resources. Have more questions? Reach out to our Support team here. We’re happy to help.