Instructional Design

PassKey ensures learning with an effective instructional design.
Every PassKey lesson is skill-specific. That means if students need to acquire or review a particular skill, the lesson hones in on that exact skill and not just the beginning of a broad topic.

PassKey lesson structure for math, reading, and writing consists of:

• Pretest
• Tutorial
• Guided Practice
• Posttest

The lesson structure for science adds another dimension, a section called Science in Action. See the science page for more information.

Pretest Options Give You Flexibility
Each lesson begins with a pretest the instructor can elect to use or bypass. If the student passes the pretest, they are taken to the next lesson. Otherwise, they are simply told that their score shows they need to continue, and the tutorial is presented. Instructors can set pretest mastery levels by lesson, by individual, or by group. Student pretest scores are recorded in the management system as a baseline for measuring gains.

Tutorials and Answer Analysis Win Praise by Instructors
PassKey's award-winning tutorials are praised by teachers as first-rate. The lessons teach each concept in a clear and logical manner, building on the student's growing knowledge and giving appropriate assistance when necessary-in other words, they teach the way you teach.

PassKey also includes something you don't always see in other instructional programs. It's called answer analysis. If a student selects a wrong answer in PassKey, they aren't given a simple response such as "Wrong, please try again." They actually receive an explanation of why the answer is incorrect, guiding them toward the right answer. Hints are also available, two per question.

When a student selects a correct answer, that success is acknowledged in a variety of ways to keep the feedback fresh. It also briefly explains WHY the answer is right, reinforcing the learning process.

Guided Practice for Additional Reinforcement
Learners can strengthen their new skills in the guided practice section following the tutorial. It's called "guided" practice because this section also provides answer analysis feedback.

Posttest Shows Student Understanding
If you have set permissions in the system to do so, when a student completes the posttest, they can review their answers after the test is scored if any were missed--a feature especially valued by older students. Both pre- and posttest scores are tracked in the management system, allowing teachers to evaluate the mastery of each new skill or concept and provide overall gains information.

Audio Support Helps Less Skilled Readers
All Level 1 lessons include high-quality audio support. The exact words on each screen and answers are read to the student if he or she wishes. The student can control the audio themselves on each page if the administrator has made audio available to them.

Standardized Test Scores of Growing Importance
PassKey focuses on the concepts and skills most essential to academic success, especially those evaluated by standardized tests. As more states adopt high stakes testing, PassKey can help schools effectively target the right objectives for student mastery, freeing up more time for teachers to teach. PassKey's management system tracks and generates reports on student progress, including mastery levels measured by the actual test objectives your school uses.

Click here for more information on PassKey's built-in standardized test correlations.