Frequently asked questions.

Point of Progress is an at-home practice test for children in grades 3 to 10. One purchase covers both math and reading & writing. It adapts to your child as they answer, then gives you a detailed report for each showing where they are strong, where they struggle, and what to work on next.

It is built for parents who want a clear picture of how their child is doing. It covers grades 3 to 10, which is roughly ages 8 to 16, and because the test adapts, it works across that whole range.

Both, in one purchase. Every Point of Progress purchase covers math and reading & writing - you do not choose one. Math is one adaptive test; reading & writing is two shorter ones, reading and writing, that come back as a single report. You can take them in any order and on different days.

There is no time limit. Nothing is timed and nothing runs out, so your child can think for as long as a question needs. Most children finish in about 40 to 70 minutes depending on age and pace, but that is what we observe rather than a target - and they can stop and come back as often as they like along the way.

An overall progress score, a breakdown of strengths and weak areas by skill, an item-by-item review showing your child’s answer next to the correct one with a short explanation, and clear guidance on what to practice next. You get one for math and one covering reading & writing.

A school assessment tells you where your child is, once or twice a year, and it does that well. Point of Progress gives you the same kind of measurement whenever you want it, and then keeps going: the questions behind the number, which skills are solid, which need work, and specific next steps you can act on at home.

We keep three things about you: your email address, so we can send the report, the nickname you choose for your child, and their school grade, so the test starts at the right level. All of it is erased 24 months after your last activity, or sooner if you ask. We never collect your child’s name, date of birth, school or location, we never show them advertising, and we never share anything with anyone. The answers themselves are kept with no name attached, because that is what lets us keep improving the test.

The score is indicative, not an official result. It mirrors the methodology of the adaptive assessments many schools use two to three times a year, so it gives you a realistic sense of your child's level. Treat it as a helpful guide for practice rather than a formal grade.

Test + report gives you both subjects - a math test and report, and a reading & writing test and report. Test + report + workbook is the same plus a tailored workbook for each, built from your own child’s results: ten chapters apiece, about one a week. The workbook tier also adds 20 extra diagnostic questions to each test, so the chapters are chosen from more evidence.

Compare it to the Test + report + workbook plan, since that is the one that does what a tutor does: works out where your child is, says what needs attention, and hands over material to practice on. One hour with a private tutor costs about $40. Four tests and four workbooks fill a forty-week school year for $39.96 - about the price of that single hour. None of that is an argument against tutors: a good one is worth paying for. It simply means you can arrive knowing what to work on, so the hours you buy go straight there.

Each purchase covers one run of each subject. Many families take them, practice for a while, then buy again to see how things have changed, and you can compare the reports over time.

No. Everything runs in your web browser. There is nothing to download or install.

Your child can stop as often as they like, and it never costs them anything. The only rule is that they answer the question in front of them first: pick an answer, then press Submit and take a break. The answer is saved, the test stops, and it waits exactly where it is until they come back, on any device. We ask for the answer first for one reason - a question left open on screen could be looked up, which would make the score less honest. Once it is answered there is nothing to look up, so there is no limit and no penalty. There is no time limit either.

An adaptive test changes as the child answers. A correct answer makes the next question harder and a wrong one makes it easier, so the test settles on the edge of what the child can do. That is why it can measure a grade 3 and a grade 10 child with the same 42 questions, and why most children get roughly a third of the later questions wrong - that is the test working, not a sign of struggle.

Because the test is searching for the limit of what they can do, and once it finds that limit it keeps offering questions near it. At that level a child answers about two thirds correctly, so about a third come out wrong. A child who got everything right would have told you only one thing: the test was too easy to measure them.

Any test of reasonable length estimates ability with a margin of error, so a single number is misleading on its own. The two numbers beside your child’s score - we label them the likely range, and a school report may call it a band - are where their true ability most likely sits. It is why a child scoring in the same range twice has not necessarily stood still, and why a small change between two tests is not yet news.

No. Point of Progress is completely independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any school, test, or assessment provider. It is a practice tool built to mirror the format of common adaptive assessments.