Standards Summary Shows as Blank
Symptom: You tagged questions with standards, but the Standards Summary in results shows no data or appears empty. Cause: The Standards Summary requires a minimum number of questions per standard before it populates data. If a standard is tagged on only 1 question, Pear Assessment does not consider that sample size sufficient to calculate a meaningful summary and leaves the field blank. Fix: Add at least 3 questions per standard to each assessment before assigning. If the assessment has fewer questions per standard than the threshold, the summary remains blank even after students complete it. To check your current coverage:- Open the assessment in edit mode.
- Click the Standards tab to see which standards are tagged and how many questions each covers.
- Add questions or retag existing questions to bring each standard to 3 or more items.
The Standards Summary is separate from the Standards Progress Report and the Standards Mastery Report. Those reports may populate even if the Standards Summary does not, because they aggregate data across multiple assessments.
Students Can’t See the Second Section
Symptom: Students complete section 1 and do not see section 2, or section 2 appears locked. Cause: Sections have prerequisite conditions. A student cannot move to section 2 until one of the following is true:
If the assessment uses teacher advance (Lock Sections is enabled), students wait at the end of section 1 until you open the next section. If you are not on the Live Class Board, section 2 stays closed for all students.
Fix:
- If Lock Sections is enabled, open the Live Class Board during the assessment and advance students to section 2 when they are ready.
- If you want students to advance on their own, go to Settings > Section Settings and confirm that Lock Sections is off.
- If the assessment is timed per section, verify that the time limit is set correctly and that it has not already expired without students noticing.
Calculator Availability by Section
Symptom: Students report that the calculator is available when it should not be, or unavailable when it should be. Cause: Calculator settings in Pear Assessment are configured at the section level, not at the test level. A setting applied to the whole test defaults to all sections, but any section-level override replaces it. If section 1 is set to no calculator and section 2 inherits the test-level default (calculator on), students see a calculator after they advance. Fix:- Open the assessment in edit mode.
- Go to Settings > Section Settings.
- Click the name of each section.
- Set the calculator option explicitly for that section: No Calculator, Basic, Scientific, or Graphing.
Grouped Items and Passage Numbering
Symptom: Question numbers in the student view do not match what the teacher sees in edit mode, or students ask about “question 7” and you can’t find it. Cause: When you create passage-based questions, Pear Assessment groups the items under a single passage. In the student view, each item in the group is numbered sequentially as part of the overall test. In the teacher’s edit view, grouped items may appear differently because the group is treated as a single unit. A related issue: if you add individual (ungrouped) questions after a passage group, the numbering continues from where the group ended. If you later reorder items or remove one item from the middle of a group, the numbers shift and the student view diverges from any printed answer key or external reference you gave students. Fix:- Before assigning, preview the assessment from the student view: click Preview in the top right of the edit screen.
- Confirm that the question numbers in the preview match any printed materials or student instructions.
- If you need to reorder or remove grouped items, preview again after each change.
Answer keys and printed versions of a test reflect the state of the assessment at the time of printing. If you edit the test after printing the key, reprint.
Students Can’t Go Back to Previous Sections
Symptom: A student says they submitted section 1 by accident and wants to go back to change an answer. Cause: This is expected behavior. By default, Pear Assessment prevents navigation back to a previous section once a student advances. This replicates state testing conditions, where returning to a prior section is not permitted. Students can navigate freely within the current section (forward and backward between questions) until they submit that section. After submission, the section is closed. Fix:- Communicate this limitation to students before they begin. A brief verbal instruction before the assessment starts prevents most accidental submissions.
- If a student submits a section before they intended to and the assessment is still in progress, contact Pear Assessment support. In some cases, support can reset a student’s section attempt, but this is not guaranteed.
- If your test does not need to simulate locked-section state testing conditions, turn off Lock Sections in Settings > Section Settings before assigning. With Lock Sections off, you control section advancement from the Live Class Board and can pause before students move forward.
Rubrics Not Visible to Students
Symptom: You attached a rubric to an open-ended question, but students cannot see it during or after the assessment. Cause: Rubric visibility is off by default. Attaching a rubric to a question makes it available to the teacher for scoring. It does not automatically display to students during the test or in their results. Fix: Enable student-facing rubric display in assignment settings before the assessment begins:- Open the assignment from your dashboard.
- Click Settings > Assignment Settings.
- Find the Show Rubric to Students option and turn it on.
- Save the settings.
Rubrics display differently depending on when you show them. If you enable rubric display before students start, they see the rubric while writing their response. If you enable it after grading is complete and scores are released, students see the rubric alongside their score and feedback.