RM ASSESSOR Discover the most widely used & innovative e-marking platform in the world
Every Result Matters Every year more than a million people around the world get the marks they deserve thanks to RM Results Hello, we re RM Results, nice to meet you Every year more than a million people around the world get the marks they deserve thanks to RM Results. For over a decade we ve been partnering with the world s leading awarding bodies to deliver intuitive, secure and reliable e-marking solutions. *Marked with RM Assessor - The most widely used high stakes e-marking platform in the world That s why our innovative e-marking platform, RM Assessor, is the most widely used in the world.
Every Result Matters Every Result Matters Contents The Platform The Platform Mark Anything Anywhere Quality Control Real Time Support Grade Awarding Session Management Comprehensive Reporting Multi-Lingual, Multi-Platform Integration 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 RM Assessor sets the standard for innovative features, and is loved by markers and session managers alike. The rich functionality of RM Assessor enables a clear and intuitive e-marking experience, delivered completely online. The Service Transition Implementation Data Integration Scanning Hosting Session Management Training & Support 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 The Integration Options RM Assessor as a Standalone Platform RM Assessor as a Part of Your Process Bespoke End-to-End E-Assessment 23 24 25 Get In Touch 27 4
The Platform The Platform Mark Anything Anywhere Quality Control Mark Anything Feature Rich Marking Standardisation Seeding RM Assessor provides the flexibility to RM Assessor allows markers to mark We understand that it s essential to To ensure marking quality is maintained human mark scanned scripts, converted according to preference, allowing them standardise and approve all markers against throughout a session, seeding is used to electronic files, rich multi-media (audio to switch between mark by candidate definitively marked responses before live auto-check marking, providing on-going visual), e-coursework portfolios and and mark by question. It also increases marking commences to keep marking feedback and temporarily suspending e-content from computer based testing efficiency with zoning functionality, quality high. examiners if necessary. Seeding is the systems. It also allows markers (sometimes enabling administrators to assign specific process of randomly introducing scripts or also referred to as examiners or evaluators) questions or question groups to Simulation items that have already been marked and to input marks where a physical paper or the markers with the most relevant The simulation and practice marking given an agreed score. submission cannot be scanned. topic expertise. modes within RM Assessor allow appropriate examiner preparation before Seeds appear exactly the same as real Multi Format Marking RM Assessor can be used to mark both long and short answer responses, and also offers auto-marking of multiple choice questions. The platform can accommodate unstructured papers, and allows annotation of both static and dynamic responses. Questions can be annotated so that good/ weak candidate responses are highlighted, helping to steer the final mark awarded. RM Assessor also features a useful range of marking tools such as a protractor and rulers to e-mark scale-drawn charts and diagrams. marking begins. Marking Instructions RM Assessor can give markers direct access to marking instructions and mark scheme while marking, keeping all information needed for marking available on one screen. scripts in the examiner s allocation, and the system will compare the pre-allocated score with the examiner s score to check marking quality. Using RM Assessor s spot checking functionality, team leaders can also perform one-off spot checks at any stage of the marking. Multiple Marking Issue Resolution Where desired, responses can be Should a script be miss-scanned or marked by more than one marker as an audio file be flawed in anyway, RM standard. Marks can be auto-compared Assessor s exception raising capabilities can using acceptable tolerances to arrive at be used to resolve issues quickly ensuring an agreed final mark or flag a discrepancy that candidate responses do not get stuck to ensure the highest marking quality at in the marking process. all times 6 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 7
The Platform The Platform Real Time Support Grade Awarding Internal Messaging Online Help & Videos Sharing Marks Grading RM Assessor enables communication RM Assessor offers markers online self- Once definitive marks have been awarded, RM Assessor allows auto-assign grades between remote marking teams and their help, covering key elements of the RM Assessor exports all candidates marks (according to pre-defined grade team leaders and allows any examiner or platform s functionality. RM Assessor also directly to awarding body systems quickly boundaries) to marked responses. marking issues to be flagged and quickly comes complete with a library of dedicated and securely. resolved in real-time from within the tutorial videos which can be accessed at e-marking tool. any time. Results Collation & Rate Scripts RM Assessor allows marks collation Alerts & Exceptions Familiarisation & Practice Modes and script rating to support grade Within RM Assessor, team leaders and Before live marking begins, markers can boundary decisions. markers are alerted to incoming messages get familiar with the system using non-live and exceptions. By being able to quickly marking modes. They can use the platform resolve marking queries with team leaders, to mark dummy or actual responses marking pace is maintained to target level. to make sure they are ready for the standardisation phase. 8 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 9
The Platform The Platform Session Management Comprehensive Reporting Administrator Tools Manage Marking Instructions Management Information Operational Progress Using RM Assessor, administrators can Marking leaders and their teams can use Administrators and business leaders are Operational dashboards and reports efficiently plan, track and manage markers, RM Assessor to administer both marking able to use RM Assessor dashboards and enable team leaders to access exam components and item groups instructions and mark schemes to all reports for high level business intelligence management information to identify through each exam session, ensuring that markers within the platform. and management use. Available reports stuck markers or components that may all parts of the marking process include scanning and marking progress be causing groups of markers difficulties. are trackable. Resolve Exceptions against plan and drill down reports to These real time reports enable team Team leaders and administrators can component and examiner level to identify leaders to help pro-actively, ensuring Marker Management quickly resolve escalated exceptions underlying issues. marking stays on track. The platform enables team leaders to while also monitoring and resolving any manage and support markers completely common marking issues that may emerge. Marking Quality online. This means that team leaders RM Assessor offers a wide array of can view marking progress at any Configure Awarding reports and team leaders can view time, communicate with markers and Using RM Assessor, organisations examiner marking trends at both high resolve any their marking issues within don t need to change their awarding and detail level. Such reports can be run RM Assessor. schemes and processes. Awarding can be at any time to track marking quality from configured entirely to meet the specific standardisation through to live marking. Script Scanning Management scheme and requirements defined by any Using RM Assessor, administrators can awarding body. manage the scanning and indexing of scripts, manipulate scripts as required and create and amend image zones for mark by question or groups enabling easy monitoring of progress. 10 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 11
The Platform The Platform Multi-lingual, Multi-platform Integration Accessible Everywhere Localised user interface Single Sign On Integration Platform RM Assessor is accessed over the Internet, RM Assessor can be delivered in any RM Assessor can integrate directly with RM Assessor features an Integration meaning that markers have secure 24 language and can accommodate other exam management systems. Markers Engine for two-way data interoperability x7 access, creating a flexible working terminology specific to awarding can sign in with a single username and with third party e-authoring, e-testing, environment for exam teams. bodies/organisations, helping markers to password for access to chosen internal analytics/business Intelligence and other feel comfortable with the software system and platforms required. e-assessment systems. Globally Available from the start. RM Assessor is offered as Software as a Integrated with Scanning / Indexing Cloud Storage Service (SaaS) or can be self-hosted Secure Access Supplier Systems RM Assessor can integrate with any cloud by either yourselves or a partner you Platform security features include; secure The platform is directly integrated with based content management system or can pick the level of service that suits password re-set, recovery and, where both RM managed and externally sourced secure public cloud (e.g. Microsoft Azure, your organisation. required, single sign-on. This ensures that scanning and indexing supplier systems. Amazon AWS) to provide e-responses the system is kept secure at all times, but This synergy means that administrators can for marking. Choice of Device and Platform still has the flexibility needed for markers. use RM Assessor to monitor the progress Because RM Assessor is accessed via an of scanning at any time. internet browser, markers do not have to install RM Assessor locally. The software can be accessed on Mac OS X or any Windows computer using a browser. 12 +44 (0) 8450 700 300
Every Result Matters Services The Service Transition Services Choose from a wide range of standard services, or speak to our team of highly skilled service & solution architects and business analysts about custom services designed to support the specific requirements of your exam lifecycle. Proof of Concept It s essential that our products and services meet real, identified needs. Conducting a Proof of Concept project allows you to assess RM Assessor against defined success criteria before moving on to full development of the pilot stage. Pilots The pilot stage delivers RM Assessor in a full production environment, complete and ready for a subset of your intended audience to test it against your success criteria. Pilots ensure that we understand how RM Assessor will be used in your specific environment, and whether any changes need to be made before the system is rolled out to your marking community. 15
Services Services Implementation Data Integration Accessible Everywhere Localised user interface Business System Integration Digital Assessment Integration RM Assessor is accessed over the Internet, RM Assessor can be delivered in any So that you can easily populate In addition to marking scanned scripts, meaning that markers have secure 24 language and can accommodate RM Assessor with the student and RM Assessor can also be used to mark the x7 access, creating a flexible working terminology specific to awarding examination data for your sessions, output of electronically delivered exams. environment for exam teams. bodies/organisations, helping markers to we ve developed a web service interface to Clients such as International Baccalaureate feel comfortable with the software allow for easy, automated data exchange are actively using RM Assessor to mark Globally Available from the start. between systems. electronic exams. RM Assessor is offered as Software as a Service (SaaS) or can be self-hosted Secure Access by either yourselves or partner you Platform security features include; secure can pick the level of service that suits password re-set, recovery and, where your organisation. required, single sign-on. This ensures that the system is kept secure at all times, but Choice of Device and Platform still has the flexibility needed for markers. Because RM Assessor is accessed via an internet browser, markers do not have to install RM Assessor locally. The software can be accessed on Mac OS X or any Windows computer using a browser. 16 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 17
Services Services Scanning Hosting Scanning Auto Marking On Premise Hosting Security Management With our partners, we scan over 190 million Auto marking is available within RM We have flexible hosting solutions to host The integrity of each and every high stakes images each year. We have well established Assessor for certain test types, such as RM Assessor the way that works best for exam script is our top priority. With RM best practice procedures to ensure multiple choice. you. All our hosting solutions deliver highly Assessor, information security processes scanning is consistent, secure, and timely resilient, highly available services with are conducted according to ISO 27001 to ensure scripts are available to be Attendance Register Capture security to ISO 27001 standards. compliance requirements to ensure that all marked on schedule. RM Assessor s Attendance Register Capture exam answers stay confidential and secure. functionality helps awarding bodies to Availability Management Indexing easily reconcile actual exam attendance Our hosting maintenance and availability Release Management RM Assessor provides both auto-indexing against forecast. management teams are dedicated to We work with clients to ensure that the and manual indexing to 100% accuracy. We providing the highest standards of uptime latest release of RM Assessor is available to use feeds to deliver candidate information Script Storage and availability, achieving average uptime them, regardless of their hosting model, at to index against scanned scripts, or in the RM Results has dedicated, secure facilities in excess of 99.9%. all times. case of manual indexing, we can manually for script storage which comply to ISO match scripts to candidates. 27001 standards. Capacity Management RM Assessor is designed to scale to Data Capture Script Destruction the needs of the organisation using it, RM Results has well established best All physical scripts are stored for a including some of the largest exam boards practice procedures to ensure a minimum of six months after results issue in the world. Our proven track record consistent, high quality image outcome before being destroyed via a routine, with capacity management means that for all customers. Using both optical mark secure process conducted by our scanning e-markers will not experience system reading and intelligent character reading, partners. The script images are securely delays, even when the system is being used RM Assessor is able to capture a wide archived and returned to awarding bodies. at full capacity. range of exam outputs. 18 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 19
Services Services Session Management Training & Support Session Planning Our highly skilled exam lifecycle support team provides comprehensive session planning to ensure trouble free examination sessions where risks are well understood and mitigated. Our team are experts in this field and have established a set of industry leading best practice planning procedures over the years while we have worked with leading awarding bodies. Session Set-Up RM Assessor features tried and tested methodologies for managing session risk and ensuring session readiness. Once all session settings are selected, student data can be moved into RM Assessor and organisations can begin their sessions. Session Monitoring and Reporting Having meaningful real time operational RM Assessor makes available a comprehensive set of operational reports as standard and bespoke reporting can be developed on request. Quality Checks As part of session management, we carry out a comprehensive set of manual and automated checks to flag any potential problems with image quality very early and to avoid delays in the marking process. Exception Resolution RM Assessor includes a comprehensive set of support tools to allow administrators to pro-actively identify bad scripts and resolve problems with images prior to marking. Session Close To help ensure that all papers written are present and will be marked, RM Assessor helps administrators handle reconciliation tasks and provides transparency into the status of each and every script. Helpdesk Whether you are a marker or a member of an awarding body administration team you will need access to a highly effective support service if you come across any unexpected issues. We have a skilled team of individuals providing timely issue resolution as part of the RM Assessor Helpdesk which is available up to 7 days a week through examination sessions. Marker Training RM Results provides comprehensive system training for all markers, regardless of e-marking or general computer experience. We provide a variety of training approaches including face to face and online. Marker Manager Training RM Results provides managers and team leaders with training specific to their allocated tasks, ensuring they are comfortable with the monitoring controls available to them. Our high Support Training With our unrivalled domain expertise for e-marking of high stakes examinations, we re in a great position to train awarding bodies who want to provide a level of inhouse support to RM Assessor users. Service Management Your service delivery manager will arrange to meet with you on a regular basis as part of a formal service management process. These meetings are used to plan sessions, discuss required product changes, and to review both progress in live sessions and reporting against SLAs. Change Management Our customers work in a dynamic environment where changes are often required either to improve or add marking capability, or to respond to external influences such as policy change. We assign an account team to each client. This team includes business analysts data is the key to successful exam operations management. You may want to track, for example, the availability of digital scripts for marking against the marking targets for each exam subject. quality trainers have direct hands on and operational experience. Exam Administration Training Exam administrators are trained to use the RM Assessor administration module so that they can quickly become proficient in administering the examination session. and technical/service architects who are skilled at listening to your new business requirements and translating them into product developments or service changes. 20 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 21
Every Result Matters Integration Options Integration Options RM Assessor as a standalone e-marking platform From a standalone e-marking software licence right through to a fully integrated end-to-end e-assessment platform, RM Assessor is available in a variety of integration and deployment options to suit every organisation. Licence Only Model RM Assessor is available as a standalone e-marking platform that you are able to host yourself. This can be beneficial for those who prefer to control how the system is deployed, where it s hosted and how it s managed, and provide their own support and helpdesk services. Supported Deployment With the licence only model, RM Results will provide technical support to your team during deployment. We ll provide you with a point of contact for product change requests, ongoing future developments and support for any product issues which require RM Results intervention. Integrate With Your Systems You can use the built-in interfaces to pass data to and from your own scanning provider and exam management systems. RM Assessor also exports reports and exam information via standard file formats for use in other systems. 23
Integration Options Integration Options RM Assessor as Part of Your Assessment Process Bespoke integrated end-to-end e-assessment Integrated Exam Lifecycle Support Best of Breed Partners Integration RM Assessor can enable e-marking to be a You will be provided with full and on-going At RM Results we are proud to say that we We take care of the integration of systems fully integrated part of your organisation s support for all areas of the e-marking are world leading experts when it comes to from different vendors by using our assessment process, while still being fully process and you will have a service delivery high stakes e-marking. Through our powerful integration engine. This enables managed, hosted and supported by the manager allocated who will be dedicated many years in education technology we e-assessment data to be automatically experienced team at RM Results. to supporting you each exam session. They have built an established international transferred between systems without will travel any distance for regular face-to- partner network of e-assessment providers manual data entry or potential loss of data. Range of Services face service level reviews. that we trust as market leaders in other We would also be delighted to talk to Alongside the RM Assessor platform, we areas of e-assessment, such as authoring you about how our integration services are able to provide hosting, scanning and Secure Data Transfer and e-testing. could be used with your existing helpdesk facilities (along with many more We use industry standard approaches e-assessment partners. flexible options). We can also integrate to data exchange such as web services The Right Partner the entire e-marking process into and encrypted feeds to enable data to be We understand what it takes to provide Joined Up E-Assessment existing e-assessment or paper-based passed automatically to and from your an end-to end e-assessment solution and Our flexible approach means we examination models. own internal or other 3rd party systems, therefore we are in an excellent position can offer the RM Assessor e-marking resulting in more efficient management of to seek out the correct partners for you service as part of a best of breed Tailor-Made marking and more accurate results for to provide an end-to-end solution. After e-assessment solution including authoring, Each e-marking service that we provide is your candidates. holding a series of requirements meetings delivery, marking and analysis. Our 100% bespoke so that we can ensure to fully understand your organisation s expertise across the entire exam lifecycle, that it operates effectively with your Hosted and Managed needs, we can then offer the best solutions as well as our extensive network of systems and processes as part of your RM Assessor is provided as a complete on the market connections, our education heritage and overall assessment strategy. solution, hosted by RM Results in our understanding of the relevant markets secure managed data centre facilities. We globally are just a few of the reasons that take care of managing the system, ensuring organisations choose us to implement that it is available when you need it. joined up e-assessment solutions. Become a Partner Interested in becoming a trusted RM Results operational partner? If you re a leader in your field we re interested in hearing from you. Call us today on + 44 (0) 8450 700 300 24 +44 (0) 8450 700 300 25
Every Result Matters Get In Touch Client Story The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) wanted an e-marking solution whose reliability would be the same or greater than that of the face to face marking. After reviewing available of options RM was selected as the provider. The first phase was to pilot the system on selected subjects which were being parallel marked face to face. RM assisted in creating the scope of the pilot and provided support throughout. Through careful forward-planning, we were able to deploy resources to a well-crafted experiment that provided solid statistical data to advance the case for e-marking. Further, the engagement provided the opportunity for CXC to develop a working relationship with the RM team and competence using RM Assessor software for e-marking. Contact our team today to discuss getting started with our tailored e-marking trials: + 44 (0) 8450 700 300 results@rm.com @RM_Results Following the successful pilot, CXC is now e-marking live across two examinations using the RM Assessor: Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). The support provided by the RM team was invaluable. Glenroy Cumberbatch, Registrar, Caribbean Examinations Council 27
Every Result Matters