Instructure Announces New MasteryView Assessments to Help Schools Assess and Address COVID-Related Learning Loss

SALT LAKE CITY — Apr. 13, 2021 — Today Instructure announced new MasteryView Assessments, a collection of valid and reliable formative assessments for schools developed by curriculum experts to measure learning loss. MasteryView Assessments are short, pre-built evaluations aligned to key state learning standards that schools can utilize through MasteryConnect, an assessment management system deeply integrated into Instructure’s Canvas LMS. Districts can purchase MasteryView Assessments with funds designated in the recent federal stimulus packages to help students close learning gaps caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Students, teachers and parents have already experienced enough disruption, so how we approach the evaluation of learning loss in the coming months is critical,” said Mitch Benson, Chief Product Officer at Instructure. “That means investing in an approach that teachers can trust, one that doesn’t take up significant instructional time, and perhaps most importantly, in a way that directly benefits each student. We designed MasteryView Assessments to meet these needs, and to ensure districts can leverage much-needed stimulus funding to support their efforts.” 

Recently, special funding has been allocated for investment in high-quality assessments that directly address learning loss and provide accurate data about students' academic progress, empowering educators to make more informed decisions on how to best address learning needs and differentiate instruction. MasteryView Assessments meet these requirements and can be purchased by school districts with funds designated in the December 2020 CRRSA/ESSER II federal stimulus package.

Join us on Thursday, April 22nd at 10:00AM MT for a 30 minute webinar led by Trenton Goble, VP of K-12 Learning at Instructure: Accelerate Learning with Better Assessment.

Unlocking the Power of MasteryView Assessments 

Learning loss isn’t new. Schools everywhere battle it regularly with issues like “summer slide.” In 2019, Instructure acquired MasteryConnect, a longtime partner and innovator in formative assessment that supports personalized and mastery-based learning. The MasteryConnect Assessment Management System is designed to show student learning in an intuitive, visual way, so educators can focus on what matters most—improving student outcomes. The acquisition was the first step in Instructure’s work to accelerate the shift occurring at the state level to replace high-stakes, end-of-year testing with more innovative, student-centered models. 

The MasteryView Assessments content is administered in MasteryConnect and lets educators immediately see student mastery levels by standard with reports and analytics. It provides the critical information educators need to best determine which students need additional support and which standards need to be retaught. As short, through-course evaluations, MasteryView Assessments fits within the instructional cycle, giving teachers immediate formative data without the time requirements or pressure associated with high-stakes testing. 

Developed using a unique psychometric algorithm based on the Diagnostic Classification Model (DCM), the evaluations deliver valid, reliable data on student mastery levels with fewer questions. The algorithm is developed by Jonathan Templin, Ph.D., E. F. Lindquist Chair in Measurement and Testing and Professor of Educational Measurement and Statistics in the Department of Psychological and Quantitative Foundations in the University of Iowa College of Education.

“DCM-based assessments provide actionable information that can be used to help students learn while not burdening students with excessive testing,” Dr. Templin said. “The combination of more focused assessments and an innovative psychometric model allows teachers to use shorter, standards-based assessments throughout the academic year as a reliable gauge of standards mastery.”

MasteryView Assessments appear like familiar online quizzes, covering both Math and English Language Arts (ELA) for Grades 3-8, including English I & II and Algebra I:

• MasteryView Assessments for Math are organized around a priority learning standard—approximately 15 priority learning standards per grade. Each quick-check contains 5-8 questions. 
• MasteryView Assessments for ELA focus on reading comprehension of informational and/or literary texts reflecting a variety of genres—approximately 3 per grade. Each quick-check contains 1-2 passages with a short selection of questions. 

The assessments will be available in August 2021 in select grades and states for the upcoming school year. Canvas LMS customers can learn more about using MasteryView Assessments by visiting: https://www.instructure.com/product/k-12/masteryview