WebXam provides several types of assessments that support Ohio Career-Technical Education (CTE) programs throughout the school year. Each assessment serves a different purpose—from helping students prepare for testing to measuring achievement at the end of a course.
Understanding the differences between these assessments helps ensure students receive the correct test at the appropriate time.
End-of-Course (EOC) Post Tests
End-of-Course (EOC) Post Tests are the primary assessments delivered through WebXam. Each test measures a student’s knowledge and skills for a single Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (ODEW) CTE course.
Students should complete an EOC test after they have finished the course’s instruction.
Key Facts
- One test covers one CTE course.
- Most operational tests contain 40 scored questions.
- Tests are delivered online through WebXam.
- Each test has its own passing (cutoff) score established through a statewide standard-setting process.
- Students may retake an assessment according to current WebXam testing policies, with the highest score used for reporting.
End-of-Course (EOC) Post Tests may be activated during the “Post Testing” window (see the WebXam testing calendar).
Pretests
Pretests are available for most pathways and are designed to measure a student’s knowledge before instruction begins.
Schools that use pretests can compare pretest and posttest performance to measure student growth over the duration of a course (See the “Teacher Effectiveness” report).
Pretests are optional and are available only for pathways that are not currently in field testing.
Pretest may be activated during the “Pretesting” window (early fall and January, see the WebXam testing calendar).
Practice Tests
Practice Tests contain sample questions from multiple End-of-Course assessments within a career pathway. They are intended to familiarize students with the WebXam testing experience, including the interface and question formats. Practice tests are not designed to assess or reinforce course content and should not be used as a study guide for End-of-Course assessments.
Practice tests:
- Sample questions from multiple End-of-Course assessments within a pathway.
- Include the same types of questions students will encounter on operational tests
- Provide a practice score for student feedback
- Do not count toward official reporting or student achievement records
Practice Tests may be activated only during the “Post Testing” window (see the WebXam testing calendar).
Field Tests
When Ohio updates Career Technical Education course standards, new assessments must first be field tested. Students enrolled in pathways in Field Testing are required to field test.
Field testing allows WebXam’s psychometric team to evaluate new questions before they become operational assessments.
During field testing:
- Students complete a larger assessment than the final operational test.
- Scores shown immediately after testing are preliminary.
- After the field-testing period ends, statistical analyses are performed.
- Poor-performing questions may be removed.
- All participating student assessments are rescored using the finalized operational test.
Once this process is complete, final scores and pass/fail results become available.
Field Tests may be activated during the “Field Testing” window (see the WebXam testing calendar).
Understanding Scores
Each End-of-Course assessment reports a percentage score based on the questions answered correctly.
Performance is classified into one of three levels:
- Advanced – Exceeds the performance standard
- Proficient – Meets the performance standard
- Nonproficient – Does not yet meet the performance standard
Both Proficient and Advanced are considered passing performance.
Passing scores are established through a formal standard-setting process involving Ohio educators and industry subject matter experts.
Pathway Scores
Many Ohio CTE programs include multiple End-of-Course assessments.
A student’s overall Pathway Score is calculated by combining the scores from all required End-of-Course tests within the student’s assigned pathway.
In general:
- Each required End-of-Course test contributes equally to the pathway score.
- The pathway cutoff score is calculated using the required assessments in the same manner.
- If a student retakes an assessment, only the highest score is used in pathway calculations.
- Students must complete the required assessments for their pathway to receive a final pathway result.
This pathway score is used for state reporting and reflects a student’s overall performance across their CTE program rather than on a single course.
Most WebXam End-of-Course assessments are combined to produce an overall pathway score. In contrast, Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) assessments are scored individually, and each course receives its own standalone score rather than being averaged into a pathway score.
Assessment Quality
Every WebXam assessment is developed through a rigorous process involving:
- Ohio educators
- Industry subject matter experts
- Ohio Department of Education and Workforce review
- Professional psychometric analysis by CETE
This process helps ensure assessments are fair, reliable, and aligned with current Ohio CTE course standards.