Reading+Reflections+TF-+IV

TF-IV Assessment and Evaluation
Educational technology facilitators apply technology to facilitate a variety of effective assessment and evaluation strategies.

Assessment is a high-stakes educational partner. We cannot get away from it. It is part of the No Child Left Behind Law. It makes or breaks schools. This lesson focused on using technology to improve student performance on local and state assessment vehicles. Computer-based testing (CBT) has been around awhile. Last year, computer teachers had to move from our labs to all students to take Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) test. I give all of my tests on the computer. The students love the immediate feedback. I love the ease of grading tests. The text also focused on adaptive computer based testing which automatically adjust questions to the individual test-taker's level of performance (Williamson and Redish, 2009, p. 79). This reminded me of the district's investment in Compass Learning Odyssey which according to their web site, "provide the most effective assessment solutions available today. The assessments are aligned with growth development measures and state standards and are customizable to individual district's curriculum maps. When combined with the Odyssey curriculum, educators know exactly where a student stands in the testing scores and each student has a recommended learning path to improve those scores" (Compass Learning Odyssey, 2008, para. 2). Students had a love/hate relationship with this software. Compass allowed them to work through scenarios which got harder as they went along. When they came to an impasse, the program would take them to a tutorial. The tutorial was a movie with a person showing them how to complete the problem they missed. This is the part the students hated. But, according to Standard IV, immediate feedback is what makes computer based testing effective. I have learned that technology can help with assessment in core classes. I also now know that I am responsible for helping shape and design assessment.
 * Self-Assessment**

I have had the opportunity to help a colleague create online tests. He liked the idea that students could take the assessment and he no longer had to print tests. Computer based assessment can easily be implemented in all classes. The problem is that all classes do not have a bank of computers. This standard will be hard to put in place campus wide because of the lack of computers in classrooms. Even if we had five computers in a classroom, this would be woefully inadequate. I feel that my love of on-line and computer based testing will be infectious. Most teachers hate going to copiers that do not work. With computer based assessment, they can do everything at their desk. I have had one positive response to computer based assessment. I know that most teachers will embrace this concept. I foresee math teachers having some anxiety about going to computer based assessment because they will not have the ability to review a student's thought process to arrive at an answer. All other foundation and non-foundation teacher, I feel, will love the ease and flexibility offered by compute based assessments.
 * Learn as a Learner**

The days of scantrons and paper tests are going the way of the Model-T automobile. They are nice to reminisce about, but inconvenient to use. Digital-learners welcome computer based assessments because of the immediacy of the feedback. I have learned that technology must be evaluated constantly. I have also learned that technology has the ability to improve teacher-created assessments. I constantly use online test I created years ago, changing questions to reflect new knowledge. I now know that I will need to help my colleagues, especially those with access to computer, become more comfortable with computer based assessment. Another positive I discovered in researching adaptive test is that it avoids the labeling that is generally associated with students taking off-grade level tests (Educational Testing Service, 2010, p. 10). This would be a great way to create benchmark assessments; everyone starts and ends the test at the same time. The advantage is that students do not know which test another is taking, that is, if they are not trying to cheat.
 * Lifelong Learning Skills**

CompassLearning Odyssey. (2008). Educational solutions. Retrieved [] Educational Testing Service. (2010). Some considerations related to the use of adaptive testing for the common core assessment. Retrieved [] Williamson, J. and Redish, T. 2009. ISTE's Technology Facilitation and Leadership Standards. International Society for Technology in Education. Eugene, OR.