Patent Document ID: 8128414
Application ID: 10644061
Patent Flag: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for modifying or creating an academic achievement test, said method comprising: storing, in a database system, indicators for each of a plurality of content areas, each indicator comprising a learning target; defining and storing in the database system relational associations among the stored indicators, whereby, for at least a portion of the indicators stored, each indicator is associated with at least one other indicator that is a pre-cursor of the associated indicator and at least one other indicator that is a post-cursor of the associated indicator, wherein an indicator that is a pre-cursor of an associated indicator relates to knowledge a student should have before being taught the associated indicator, and an indicator that is a post-cursor of an associated indicator relates to knowledge a student should acquire more readily after being taught the associated indicator; storing, in the database system, a plurality of test items and associating each test item with one of the stored indicators; enabling a user, via a user interface unit, to select a content area for which the user wishes to develop testing material; enabling the user to select, via the user interface unit, a topic within the selected content area for which the user wishes to develop testing material, wherein a topic comprises a growth strand including indicators associated in pre-cursor and post-cursor relationships; enabling the user to select, via the user interface unit, one of the indicators of the selected topic as a target indicator, wherein the selected target indicator has one or more depths of knowledge associated therewith; in response to receiving a target indicator selection from the user: determining, via an information processor executing software instructions retrieved from a software store, from the stored relational associations, at least one pre-cursor indicator of the target indicator and at least one post-cursor indicator of the target indicator, and identifying, via the information processor, from the stored plurality of test items, test items associated with the target indicator, test items associated with the at least one pre-cursor indicator, and test items associated with the at least one post-cursor indicator; displaying to the user, via the user interface unit, the target indicator and item identifiers corresponding to the test items associated with the target indicator, the at least one pre-cursor indicator and item identifiers corresponding to the test items associated with the pre-cursor indicator, and the at least one post-cursor indicator and item identifiers corresponding to the test items associated with the post-cursor indicator in such a manner as to indicate which of the displayed item identifiers are associated with the target indicator, which of the displayed item identifiers are associated with the pre-cursor indicator, and which of the displayed item identifiers are associated with the post-cursor indicator; and generating a new, or modifying a previously existing, academic achievement test by receiving, via the interface unit, a user's selection of any of the displayed item identifiers and a user's specification that the test item corresponding to the selected item identifier be added to or removed from the academic achievement test and adding or removing the specified test items to or from the academic achievement test.