Location: Overview: Diagnostic Evaluations

Overview: Diagnostic Evaluations

Your MyLab offers diagnostic exercises for evaluating your reading and writing skills. Diagnostic pre-tests give the MyLab the information it needs to customize the Study Plan to fit your skill level. The diagnostic post-tests, which you take at the end of a course, provide a measure of how you have done and your progress.

If you are in a course, the instructor decides whether the pre-tests are required. If they are, you cannot access any other features for that subject (writing or reading) until you complete the tests.

Reading skill diagnostic tests assess your mastery of critical reading skills, such as outlining, summarizing, and determining the main idea. These skills help you process information as you read.
Reading level or Lexile diagnostic pre-tests use the Lexile Framework® to accurately assess your reading level and help you raise your level.
When you have completed the Reading Level diagnostic tests, you receive a result (called a Lexile Locator). This result shows your initial reading level, which can range from 400 to 1490. Using your reading level as its guideline, the MyLab automatically assigns exercises to you that will help you improve your reading ability and raise your reading level.
The Lexile website (http://www.lexile.com) has full details on the methods used for matching reader ability and text difficulty.
Your instructor determines whether a course has reading-level exercises. Your instructor can also require that you complete diagnostic pre-tests for both your reading level and reading skills.
Writing skill diagnostic tests evaluate your knowledge of sentence structure, punctuation, grammar, and usage and style.