Case Study: University of Massachusetts Amherst expands adult proficiency testing with Open Assessment Technologies TAO

UMass Enriches Adult Proficiency Tests with Engaging Interaction Types Using TAO

The University of Massachusetts Amherst needed an assessment platform that could go beyond multiple-choice items for its Massachusetts Adult Proficiency Test, which it has developed and administered for 10 years. The team wanted to measure higher-order reading and math skills, support technology-enhanced items with graphics and video, and ensure the content could be exported into its existing item bank and delivered across many devices and test centers.

UMass selected TAO from Open Assessment Technologies because it is open source, QTI-compliant, and interoperable with other applications. In a 12-month pilot, about 80 students across multiple test centers took mini tests built with TAO items, including Graphic Gap Match interactions, and UMass reported that the platform was easy to learn, quick to update, and responsive across devices.

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Alejandra Amador Garcia

Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate in Educational Research and Psychometric Methods