News: DynEd's General English Placement Test now has an optional speaking component that rates oral fluency. For more information, please contact your DynEd representative.

Placement Tests

Kids' Placement Test

This test is used to place children into DynEd's award-winning course for children, Let's Go. This course is most appropriate for children ages 5 through 9. The Kids' Placement Test comes in two parts. Part 1 places students into levels one, two, or three of the course, or indicates that they should take Part 2 of the test, which places them into levels three through six, or out of the course.

The Placement Test is computer-adaptive, which means that it responds and adjusts to student performance. If a student is doing well, the test will advance more quickly to items at a higher level and will continue until the student completes 50 items in Part 1 and goes on to take Part 2. For a student at a lower language level, the test will move more slowly and will end once it becomes clear that the student is missing a significant number of items or needs work in an area that will be required at a higher level in the course syllabus.

Access to both parts of the Placement Test is controlled through the Records Manager. Once a student (or class) has taken a test, it is automatically locked, which means that it may not be taken again until the teacher uses the Records Manager to unlock it.

DynEd's General Placement Test

This test is used to place students in all DynEd courses except for Let's Go. It comes in two parts. Part 1 places students into DynEd Levels 0.0-1.2 or judges that a student should take Part 2. Part 2 of the test places students into levels, 1.2-3.5, where 3.5 means that the student is beyond the scope of DynEd courses.

The Placement Test helps determine student proficiency relative to the language progression found in DynEd courses. As such, it is not a true proficiency test -- though there may be a good correlation with some standard tests. However, many language programs have used the DynEd Placement Test as an indicator of language proficiency, especially at the lower levels, and have been pleased by the results. The Placement Test is also used as an entry and exit test to measure progress, though there are restrictions on how and when this should be done.

The Placement Test provides a quick evaluation of a mix of language skills, with an emphasis on listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and basic reading skills.

This test is computer-adaptive, which means that it responds and adjusts according to student performance. If a student is doing well, the test will advance more quickly to items at a higher level and will continue until the student completes Part 1 of the test and goes on to Part 2. For students at a lower language level, the test will move more slowly and will end once it becomes clear that the student is missing a significant number of items or needs work in an area that is required at a higher language level in the DynEd syllabus.

Access to the General Placement Test is controlled by the teacher through the Records Manager. Once a student (or class) has taken a test, it is automatically locked, which means that it may not be taken again until the teacher unlocks it.

DynEd's Aviation English Placement Test

This test is used to place pilots, controllers, and aviation students into DynEd's aviation suite of courses. In addition to listening, vocabulary and structure components, it now includes a speaking test. Students are rated from ICAO levels 1 through 5.

Licensing the Tests

The DynEd Placement Tests are a licensed product and installed through the DynEd License Management System. It requires that the school or institution also have a licensed copy of the Records Manager. The Records Manager permits the collation and administration of student records for all DynEd Language Learning Solutions products.