Placement Tests

Placement tests are no longer available on line. You do NOT need to administer them BEFORE ordering your tests, as they will be included with your test package.

Do I need to administer the placement test to my student?

If this is your first year of testing, you do not need to give the placement test before ordering your PASS.  You will receive one with your test packet.  Order the grade level you want your children compared with--usually the grade level at which you think the student is primarily working.  If you are not using a specific-grade curriculum, you can use your child’s age to determine the grade level. Subtract five years from his or her age and this would be the grade level.  For example, a ten-year-old is normally in fifth grade.  If this is your first year of testing, we do not recommend ordering the PDF or "Level" version.  It is better to have the complete test booklets to allow you to adjust a "level" that does not seem appropriate for your student.

If you used the PASS last year, you do not need to give the placement test, but may base which levels to order on your student's scores from last year.  If your student scored between 50 to 90% correct on the level he or she took last year, you should simply advance one level.  These percentages are not the national or Hewitt percentile, but are rather based on the number of correct answers divided by the number of questions.  If your child got 30 questions correct out of 60, the percent correct would be 50%; 42 out of 60 would be 70%; 54 out of 60 would 90%.  Ordinarily, placements tests should only be used if you did not test with the PASS in the last school year.  For example, if your student took the PASS two years ago, you should administer the placement test to determine subject levels. 

What are PASS levels?

The PASS is divided into achievement "levels" rather than a grade-level test (that is, where there is only one test per grade, e.g. all fourth-grade students will take the same test).  The achievement-level test system assigns a test to each student on which he or she will succeed—a lower-achieving student takes an easier test while a higher-achieving student takes a harder test.  We expect both students to score around 50% to 90% correct on their tests which experience shows motivates the student to optimum performance.  Because the test is "on target" the student avoids the drudgery of a "drawn-out" testing experience.  Because low-level students take an appropriate test, he or she avoids frustration and is challenged to work productively during the testing period.  Because all students find the test a reasonable and manageable experience, their scores are more valid and reliable.

Why a placement test?

After deliberation, Hewitt decided to develop achievement level standardized tests patterned on the PALT model.  This system assigns each youngster a test matched to his or her achievement level based on the use of a short placement test or previous achievement.  The placement tests were designed to help parents accurately select the correct achievement levels for each subject (this does not mean grade level) of the PASS Test for their child(ren). 

The placement tests are not an exact science; they are an approximating tool.  The placement test gives you a recommendation for test levels in reading, math, and language based on the number of questions answered correctly.  After giving and grading the placement test, you should look over the recommended level in the test book (which you will not have if you order the PDF or Levels version of the test), and determine if you think your student will get 50 to 90 percent correct (i.e., 50 to 90 percent correct on the actual PASS test, NOT the placement test).  You may decide that your student needs to go up or down a level in that subject.  Subject levels are not attached to specific grades. For example, a fifth-grade student may take Reading Level 6, Lower Math Level 17, and Language Level 25. One of the strengths of the PASS is that your student may test at different levels in these three subjects.