Scoring Service REST API FAQ
The process of scoring student assessments and reporting results has evolved greatly over the years. From teachers sitting with paper-based answer sheets to bubble-sheets fed through a machine that produces a percent correct, technology has helped to enhance the process of scoring tests. While percent correct on an assessment can be valuable, many assessments benefit from reporting an estimate of the underlying student ability in an educational construct. These ability estimates provide indicators of status and can be used to monitor growth over time.
What is the MetaMetrics Scoring Service REST API and how is it used?
The MetaMetrics Scoring Service REST API has been designed to simplify assigning an ability estimate to a test-taker. As students take assessments, test results can be sent to the Scoring Service API, providing real-time estimates of student ability.
Do I need to install or manage any Scoring Service REST API software?
MetaMetrics provides highly available and scalable services using Amazon Web Services (AWS) in geographically-diverse data centers. The Scoring Service API is a MetaMetrics-managed web service. Clients using the service are not required to install or manage anything.
What is the difference between the "ability" and "abilityDisplay" fields in the API response?
The ability field represents the research measure used to describe the student's ability. The abilityDisplay field provides a standardized, display-ready version of that measure, with all required formatting and business rules already applied (e.g., rounding, caps, and BR/EM conventions).
Partners should use abilityDisplay when presenting measures in user interfaces or reports, and use ability for analysis, research, or when passing scores into subsequent API calls such as a Bayes priorAbility field.
Can the Scoring Service API return strand-level results?
Yes. The Scoring Service API includes endpoints that return performance results broken down by individual skill strands, such as Phonics or Vocabulary, alongside the overall ability estimate. Each strand result includes the strand name of the individual strand (e.g. "Phonics") and the performance category for that strand, eliminating the use of any separate conversion table.
What kind of performance can I expect from the Scoring Service REST API?
See Service Level Agreement for Scoring Service API for performance commitments, problem reporting and escalation, maintenance information, and more.