How mastery is assessed
Updated 20 Sep 2022
Assessments use either direct mastery or competency-based mastery to assess student mastery of a topic/lesson or module.
Direct mastery uses the student's score on questions from a module or topic/lesson to determine mastery.
Competency-based mastery uses competency mappings to determine mastery of the module or topic/lesson:
- Needs Study is determined by the score on questions.
- Needs Study is determined by the overall test score.
- Needs Study is always applied.
- The module or topic/lesson is hidden from the Learning Path. (It remains available as Extra Practice but is not required.)
Mastery type and assessment level by assessment type
| Assessment type | Mastery type | Mastery assessment level | Preloaded assessment available | How students access | Students see score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Content Path Builder (or Pre-Assessment) | Competency-based | Module | Yes | Path Builder button or Learning Path page | No |
| Content Mastery Check (or Post-Assessment) | Competency-based | Module | No | Learning Path page | No |
| Module Skills Check | Competency-based | Topic or Lesson | Yes | Topic/Lesson Activity page | No |
| Topic/Lesson Post-test (or Mastery Quiz) | Direct | Topic/Lesson | Yes | Topic/Lesson Activity list | Yes |
| Topic/Lesson Activity | Not included in mastery assessment | Not included in mastery assessment | No | Topic/Lesson Activity list | Yes |
Interactions between mastery states
A topic/lesson or module can have one these mastery states:
- Needs study - the initial state.
- Mastered-tested - mastered on an assessment.
- Mastered-worked - mastered by meeting requirements specified by the instructor.
- Hidden - the student has worked on an assessment with the "Hide from Learning Path" competency mapping.
When a topic/lesson or module is mastered-tested or mastered-worked, any associated assignments with no results are designated as mastered.
Transitions between mastery states for topic/lesson or modules follow these rules:
- The Mastered-worked state cannot change unless the "later lower score can overwrite" is set.
- The Mastered-tested or Hidden state reverts to Needs Study with a Needs Study assessment on a content area test.
- The Needs Study or Hidden state switches to Mastered-tested when a student masters a content area or module test.
- The Mastered-worked state:
- Switches to Mastered-tested when a student gets a better result on a content area or module test.
- Remains Mastered-worked when a student gets a Needs Study result on a content area or module test.
- Reverts to Needs Study when a student gets a Needs Study result on a topic/lesson Post-test and Lower score on later attempts should not dismiss mastered state is unchecked on the Manage Learning Path page.
- Reverts to Needs Study when a student gets a Needs Study results on a topic/lesson in a module that was previously Mastered-worked or Hidden and "later lower score can overwrite" was set.
Changes to a student's mastery status
You can update a student's mastery status by changing scores on the student's Results page. Your changes are applied as follows.
For all mastery checks:
- Deleting an assessment updates mastery status to Needs Study unless the student has made multiple attempts. In this case, mastery is recalculated based on the most recent included result.
- Omitting an assessment does not update mastery status unless the student has made multiple attempts. In this case, mastery status is recalculated based on the most recent omitted result.
- Omitting Path Builder results does not affect mastery status, even when the student has post-test scores.
- Including a previously omitted assessment updates mastery status.
For competency-based Path Builders, Skills Checks, or content area mastery checks:
Changing the score for a test or a question on a test updates mastery status. For Path Builders and Skills Checks, only the modules or topics/lessons with mastery based on overall test score are updated.
For direct mastery Path Builders, Skills Checks, or content area mastery checks:
Changing the score for a question updates mastery status but changing the test score does not.
For topic/lesson Post-tests:
Changing a score for a topic/lesson post-test or for a question on the test updates topic/lesson mastery.