There is no one-size-fits-all option for test delivery. STATIS embraces this fact by working with most common testing styles – paper, “clickers”, and online tests. All of these methods pull from the same great customizable database of questions, reading, feedback, and state standards, but each is appropriate in different situations, and under different resource constraints.
Student Response Systems
Student Response Systems, frequently referred to as “clickers,” keep students attention at the front of the room, encourage interactivity, and deliver instant results and feedback. These systems aren’t limited to testing, but are also useful in voting, taking attendance, and in polling the classroom.
STATIS supports clickers for daily, end-of-unit, benchmark, and on-demand tests. Questions are displayed to the classroom through an overhead projector or monitor, and students respond with their clickers. Indicators on-screen show when a button has been pressed, and which students have yet to respond. STATIS is unique is support most popular brands of clickers, even those of our competitors.
Scantron Forms
Scantron forms blend automatic grading with open-design, printed and photocopied tests. While limiting answer types to true/false and multiple choice, they are efficient, well-tested, and reliable.
STATIS supports Scantron Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines directly: tests with multiple-choice and true/false questions are printed, photocopied, and distributed to students, along with their Scantron response sheets. Each test also contains a unique ID number, which the students bubble in on their response sheets. After completing the test, the response sheets are scanned, and STATIS’s Scantron Connector application transmits the results from a computer connected to the scanner, to our central database. Grades and reports are available instantly.
Online Testing
Online, web-based tests have many advantages: they can be done anywhere with an internet connection; each student works at their own pace; they offer a more personalized experience with supplemental reading material and interactive feedback on-screen. They also produce the absolute lowest possible workload for the teacher – there are no papers to copy, no forms to scan, and no tests to grade by hand. They do require that students be at a computer with an Internet connection, either at the school or at home.
Feature Matrix
When you purchase the STATIS system for your organization, all of these testing methods are included, but each has particular strengths. All of these testing methods use the same question and test database, within practical limits (free-response questions don’t work well with Scantron forms, for example). This table shows when each method is appropriate to use:
We’re always striving to make STATIS more efficient for our teachers. If you think there’s a better way of delivering tests, let us know!