How do the math pre-tests work?

When your students first log in to Freckle and select Math, they will be taken straight to the pre-test you chose for them. If you did not choose a pre-test, students can select Practice Math to visit the domain selection page, which looks like this:

The pre-test will start automatically the very first time your students pick one of the domains shown. Each domain has its own pre-test, so the first time the student works on any domain, they will take one. This is important because a student who is great at number sense may not be great with fractions or vice versa.

Once students select a domain, the screen below will appear.

When students select Get Started, they will be taken through a series of questions. As students get questions correct, the questions become more difficult.

The program will work to isolate the perfect starting level for a student, based on what he or she already knows and/or still needs to work on.

Once the program has determined the perfect level for a particular student, it will end the pre-test and show the student a message like the one below.

Freckle will then return students to that particular domain's home screen, where they can now choose to begin practicing at their level. Notice how the screen shows that the student was placed at Level 25. Through the pre-test, the student has demonstrated that he or she has mastered the previous levels.

Some other things to note about the pre-test:

• The pre-test is capped at 12 questions, but may end more quickly for some students.
• If a student starts a pre-test but does not complete it in one sitting, they will have to start over the next time they access that domain.
• You can always view the pre-test results on your Freckle Teacher Home. To find these results, open math reports, then select Math Levels. This report will show student pre-test results and current levels across domains.

If you ever feel that the results of the pre-test aren't accurate for a given student, there are usually two reasons:

• The students didn't know to try their hardest on the test, or they didn't have enough time to work on it (we recommend 30 minutes to be safe).
• The students are generally at a high level, but have some gaps in their understanding. The pre-test stops the first time it finds a significant gap for a student, and has them start practice there.

In either case, there's no need to worry. From the Math Levels report, you can select Edit Level to reassign the pre-test or choose the desired level for individual students.