Best Formative Assessment Project

The Adaptive Learning System (AdLeS®) is anchored upon educational psychology and purposefully designed to help learners understand what they know, where they are struggling, and what they need to do next by using assessment as an integral part of the learning process. Rather than giving all learners the same content and feedback, AdLeS® adjusts learning to each individual based on how they respond to questions and activities. As learners engage with online activities, AdLeS® regularly checks understanding and uses this information to support learning in real time. Learners’ responses are analysed immediately, and the system provides clear, personalised feedback to confirm understanding or explain misunderstandings. When learners struggle, AdLeS® offers hints, additional explanations and targeted practice before they move on. When learners demonstrate mastery, they are guided towards more advanced material. This ensures that learning support is aligned with each learner’s current needs. For instructors, AdLeS® makes learning progress visible by highlighting areas of strengths and difficulty, allowing timely intervention and better-informed teaching decisions. By embedding assessment within adaptive learning, AdLeS® transforms assessment into an active learning experience. This simple but powerful idea – using assessment to support learning as it happens –captures the essence of the project.

The Holistic Progress Card (HPC), functions as a dynamic pedagogical tool across the Foundational, Preparatory, Middle, and Secondary stages by integrating assessment with learning. At the Foundational level, it captures each child’s development in language, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills through observation and joyful activities, guiding teachers to personalize instruction. In the Preparatory and Middle stages, the HPC links classroom evidences such as portfolios, self and peer feedback to curricular competencies, encouraging reflective learning and continuous feedback. At the Secondary stage, it supports multidisciplinary understanding while promoting learner agency. HPCs thus transforms assessment into a learning process, helping teachers track progression, identify learning gaps, and design responsive pedagogies that foster a holistic growth and development.

In Kazakhstan, quality preparation for the UNT (Unified National Testing) — the exam determining university admission — depended on geography. Capital cities had tutors and courses; villages had nothing. JUZ40 became the country's first online UNT preparation platform, leveling the playing field nationwide. How it works: Students access video lessons, join live online classes for deep-dive sessions, and take weekly tests and checkpoints. A live curator reviews their work — analyzing each mistake, explaining solution logic, and charting the path forward. After each topic, class rankings form. If someone lags, their curator connects: diagnoses issues, adjusts methods, brings in psychologists or career counselors when needed. Monthly free mock tests (80-90% identical to real UNT) serve as diagnostic checkpoints. Students input current scores and subject combinations — our system shows minimum requirements for desired university programs and specializations. This empowers strategic preparation planning. The transformation: A village teenager now has equal university grant opportunities as their capital-city peer. The traditional system punished students with a single final score, offering no roadmap for improvement. We replaced that anxiety with weekly clarity: here's where you are, here's what's working, here's your next step. Education shouldn't depend on your zip code.