How do I read a student’s report (level, radar, leads)?

The steps

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What each block tells you

• The global level. The letter gives the step, the band gives the zone the student is in, for example “A2.1 to A2.2”. Read the band before the letter: the test asks a limited number of questions, and a single point would be more precise than it can be. Below fifteen scored answers, the screen shows no level and says “Global level not computable”.
• The seven skills. Each row gives the level of the skill and its state: “measured”, “indicative” (the skill received few questions) or “not assessed” (no level could be established). The number of questions is written next to it, for example “indicative (5 questions)”.
• The radar. It draws the seven skills, with the most recent test and, if there is one, the previous test. It helps you see at a glance whether the profile is balanced.
• The leads to check in class. These are hypotheses, not measurements: they rest on few questions. Check them with the student before you talk about them to their family.

What do the letter and the band mean?

TestFLE places the student on nine steps from A0 to B2.2, and one step beyond. The article What do the global level, the band and the steps mean? describes them one by one. It is written for families, but its vocabulary is that of the sheet.

The letter in large type groups the half-steps: A2.1 and A2.2 are both shown as “A2”. The band keeps the detail. A wide band points to a more uncertain measurement, not to a weak student.

The global level combines comprehension, interpretation and linguistic resources, and comprehension weighs the most. The “French comprehension level (CEFR scale)” line gives the comprehension level alone. For a test taken without reading, it becomes “Listening comprehension level (CEFR scale)”: only listening then counts in this level. Declaring a student a non-reader explains how this form of the test is decided.

Above the letter, a line sums up the test conditions, for example “lightning mode, 24 answers, stop reason: criterion reached.”. The reason “criterion reached” means that the targeted precision was reached. The other reasons, such as “time cap”, “probable fatigue” or “ended by the teacher”, say why the test stopped.

What should I do when I see “Global level not computable”?

In place of the letter, the screen says “Global level not computable” and gives one of these reasons:

• “fewer than fifteen scored answers: nothing is published”;
• “test ended by the teacher after”, the number of answers, then “(minimum 15)”;
• “test stopped at the end of the session after”, the number of answers, then “(minimum 15)”;
• “listening comprehension did not receive enough questions”;
• “fewer than three skills measured”.

The test did not then gather enough answers to publish a level, and the student is not to blame. A new attempt is needed to get one. A test stopped before fifteen scored answers does not use up the attempt of the opening that covered it: a student with a one-time attempt can therefore take it again as long as their opening is valid. Opening the test to a single student explains how to reopen the test for them.

The test stays visible in “Results history”, under the chart, on a row such as “Test of”, the date, “: Global level not computable,” and the reason.

How do I read each skill?

Under the name of each skill, the sheet writes in small type its title in the European framework: “Oral reception” for “Listening comprehension”, “Lexical competence” for “Vocabulary”, and so on. The seven skills are “Listening comprehension”, “Reading comprehension”, “Sounds and spelling”, “Vocabulary”, “Grammar and syntax”, “Conjugation” and “Logic and interpretation of the language”.

A skill that is “not assessed” has no level, and the screen never invents a zero in its place. Two notes can be added under a skill:

• “Result to be confirmed: on this axis, the answers do not follow the difficulty of the questions (successes on difficult questions, or failures on simpler ones). Another session or a conversation in class will settle it.” The band of this skill is then widened.
• For “Sounds and spelling”: “The levels of the “Sounds and spelling” axis are a TestFLE convention. The European framework provides no descriptors for phonological perception or spelling in reception.”

How do I read the radar?

The seven skills each have a fixed place. “Logic and interpretation of the language” is at the top. On the left, on a blue background, are “Listening comprehension”, “Reading comprehension” and “Sounds and spelling”. On the right, on a green background, are “Vocabulary”, “Grammar and syntax” and “Conjugation”. Under the radar, two notes give the meaning of the two sides: “what the student does with French” for the left, “what they rely on” for the right.

On each axis, a dot marks the central level, and a thick translucent line runs from the lower bound to the upper bound of the band. For an “indicative” skill, this line is hatched and the name of the skill carries the note “(indicative)”. The axis of a “not assessed” skill is dashed, with the note “(not assessed)”, and the outline links its two neighbours without counting it. When you hover over the name of a skill, you read its band and its number of questions.

When the student has taken two tests with the current engine, the radar overlays the two outlines. The legend names each outline “Last attempt” or “Previous attempt”, then gives its date and its test mode. An older test, produced by the previous engine, is not overlaid.

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What do the notes under the level mean?

In the global level box, under the letter, notes point out what qualifies the result. They use these sentences from the screen:

• A cautious stop: “Test stopped before the level was established”, followed by the number of answers and the reason (“length” or “probable fatigue”). The screen goes on: “The bands are wide because the measurement is uncertain, not because the student is weak. Another session, another day, will narrow the result.”
• An end decided by a teacher or by the end time: “Test ended by the teacher after”, or “Test stopped at the end of the session after”, the number of answers, then “: the level is computed from the answers already given.”
• A capped level: “Global level capped. Linguistic resources exceed comprehension by more than one step; the global level retained is the comprehension level plus one step.” The screen adds that the student may know the language better than they understand it in context, and that this gap should be checked in class.
• A contrasting profile: “Contrasting profile.” The screen names the skills where the student is “noticeably more at ease” and those where they are “noticeably less at ease, compared with their other skills”, with their step. The gaps exceed the test’s margin of uncertainty.
• A test taken without reading: “No-reading form. Reading comprehension is not assessed: it requires reading.” An absent or hatched axis is a limit of this form of the test, not a deficit of the child.
• Page exits: “2 page exits.” for example. From four exits onwards, the screen adds: “Session interrupted several times; results to be read with caution.”

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What do the history and the leads show?

“Results history” plots the level of each finished test. The small view shows the ten most recent tests. Clicking the chart enlarges it and lets you scroll through older tests. When you hover over a dot, you read the date, the level and the test mode.

A cancelled test does not appear on the curve. It appears under “Cancelled tests”, on a row with its date and the “Cancelled” badge, with no result and no detail.

“Leads to check in class” lists the objectives on which the student got fewer than half of the questions right, with their skill and the number of correct answers, for example “1 correct out of 3”. An objective only appears there if it received at least two questions. The list has six rows at most, starting with the lowest share of correct answers. If nothing is spotted, the screen says “No particular difficulty identified.”. The screen also reminds you that these leads rest on a small number of questions: they are hypotheses to confirm.

To give these results to a family, generate the PDF report.