Overview
Use this article to understand the difference between Edia's four assignment types so you can choose the right one for your instructional goals. This guide is helpful for:
New teachers exploring Edia for the first time
Teachers deciding between a Quiz and a Practice
Setting up beginning-of-year diagnostics
Understanding how the Adaptive Pathway works
Practice
A Practice is an adaptive, skill-based assignment. Students work through questions that adjust in difficulty based on how they're performing. The system targets a roughly 65% accuracy rate to keep students in a productive challenge zone—challenged but not frustrated.
Practices drive Edia's proficiency algorithm and give teachers real-time data on student mastery by standard.
Best for: Ongoing skill practice, formative work, and building fluency over time.
Quiz
A Quiz is a structured assessment built by the teacher. All students see the same fixed set of questions. You can allow multiple attempts—either for the whole Quiz or for wrong answers only—and results appear in the gradebook.
Quizzes also support custom questions and a range of anti-cheating and accessibility settings.
Best for: Checks for understanding, unit assessments, and mastery checks.
Diagnostic
A Diagnostic is a computer-adaptive placement assessment. It uses a binary-search algorithm to determine where each student should begin on the Adaptive Pathway, standard by standard.
There are two versions:
Short: approximately 10–15 questions, 30–45 minutes
Comprehensive: approximately 20–30 questions, 60–90 minutes
Students only need to complete a Diagnostic once, typically at the start of the year.
Best for: Beginning-of-year placement and identifying gaps across grade levels.
Adaptive Pathway
The Adaptive Pathway is Edia's personalized, self-paced learning experience. Students work through a visual skill map—a sequence of standards organized by domain—and the system adjusts which skills they practice based on demonstrated mastery.
A Diagnostic places students at the right starting point. If a student hasn't taken a Diagnostic, the Pathway self-calibrates over the first approximately 40 answers. Progress is tied to the student's account and carries across classes.
Best for: Personalized learning, independent practice, and differentiation.
Tips & Troubleshooting
Which should I use—Quiz or Practice? Use a Practice for ongoing skill development with adaptive support. Use a Quiz when you want all students to answer the same questions and you need gradebook results.
Does a student need to complete a Diagnostic before using the Adaptive Pathway? No, but it's strongly recommended. Without a Diagnostic, the Pathway will self-calibrate, which takes more time to target highest needs skills.
Can I assign more than one type at the same time? Yes. You can have a Practice, Quiz, and Adaptive Pathway all running simultaneously for the same class.