OPERA
The Oxford Primary English Reading Assessment
OPERA, the Oxford Primary English Reading Assessment, is an adaptive test of English reading proficiency developed for children learning English as a second or third language. Developed with a panel of reading experts and psychometricians, it quickly identifies the level of a learner’s reading proficiency and links this to recommendations for Oxford books at an appropriate difficulty level.
OPERA assesses a learner’s reading proficiency by combining information on three subdomains of reading proficiency: comprehension skills, language knowledge, and decoding ability. This information is gathered through test questions that use text passages, images, and audio to assess learners’ skills in areas including phonics skills, grammar, and information extraction.
Difficulty scores for questions in the assessment are calculated using an item response theory (IRT) model that allows the engine to present test-takers with questions progressively more closely calibrated to their proficiency level. This means the assessment can generate an accurate measure of reading proficiency quickly, using fewer questions than a conventional test – a more friendly experience for young learners.
OPERA is being developed in collaboration with iHuman Inc, a leading provider of tech-powered intellectual development products that uses the OPERA assessment in its iHuman Readers app. OPERA maps a learner’s reading proficiency level to a recommendation for books at an appropriate tier on OUP’s Oxford Reading Levels text scale, helping learners and parents select carefully levelled books to promote the development of English reading competency.
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