Retest FAQ

The following are frequently asked questions for conducting a Retest, a post-assessment activity.

What is a Retest?

A Retest presents students with new questions based on the same learning standards and Depth of Knowledge (DOK) as an original assessment they’ve taken before.

Why should I create a Retest instead of re-opening the original assessment? 

A Retest uses the same standards and DOK of the original test while offering new content. As a result, students will not pass a Retest by simply remembering the answers from the original test. Creating a Retest preserves assessment validity, data integrity, and test security while giving students an opportunity to reassess.

What tests can I create a Retest from? 

You can create a Retest from the majority of the tests you have access to, as long as you have test data tied to your rostered students and the test type is allowed for post-assessment use. Use any of the following test types as a blueprint for a Retest:

• Campus
• District
• Team
• Teacher

Rubric assessments aren’t available to create as Retests. Districts can also disable certain test types so teachers cannot use them as a blueprint for creating a Retest. 

What is a blueprint? 

A blueprint extracts the standards, DOK, Item Type, and Item Bank (if applicable) from the original test’s items and finds matching items through an item bank search to populate a new assessment. The new assessment links to the original test and allows teachers to administer a new test to their students with items similar to the original test. 

How does the Retest find items? 

The items that make up a Retest are sourced from the item banks to which you have access. Your district must allow for you to use an item bank for Teacher Tests. In the event you do not have access to an item bank, your blueprint will generate placeholder items. 

Can I edit placeholder items?

Yes, you can manually edit placeholder items like you would items in any other test. You can create Retests with solely placeholder items if you don’t have access to an item bank or if no matching items exist.

When creating a retest, is it possible that the same question from the original test gets added to the Retest?

Yes, it is possible. The algorithm responsible for finding items for the Retest could allow for items that are present on the original test if the teacher has access to the same item bank that the test author used when creating the original test. 

There is a preference for questions that are not present on the original test. However, if the item bank is limited, the only available item may be from the original test. Luckily, users can deselect that question when generating the Retest, or they can edit the question to change it before administering it to students.

How can I assign a Retest to a group of students? 

It’s important to only assign a Retest to the students who need that intervention. Teachers are able to create their own personal monitor groups and filter administration of a Retest to a targeted group of students. 

Can Retests be shared with a team? 

At this time, Retests cannot be shared with a team. However, all of the teachers in a team do have access to creating their own Retest as a teacher test.