Assessing Mathematical Knowledge in a Learning Space

The chapter evaluates the validity of an assessment performed by the ALEKS system. The authors examined elementary school math as a sample subject. The method included presenting a student with an extra randomly selected mathematics problem, and predicting what the student’s response would be based on the information from other parts of the assessment. Then, the accuracy of the prediction was determined. The results from the analyses indicate that ALEKS can be a valid tool in determining what a student knows, does not know, and is ready to learn in elementary mathematics.