If the state really wants the educational societies to move forward in technology, I believe Sunnyside could benefit from moving to a online formative assessment format. There should be an push to encourage Pearson and the State of Arizona to shift their assessments to online testing, we would save money not only on supplies but we would take the human error out of the equation. I do believe we could save money in all 13 areas.but I would focus on technology assessments.
I agree. I wonder if studies have been done on students performance on on-line assessments vs. paper assessments. I am sure it would interest students more and get them much more engaged in the assessment process.
Yes, I think in the short run students would be more engaged in the assessment process. However, if students are assessed to death whether it be paper and pencil or on-line I think the result is the same: boredom. I see my own kids get bored with on-line games after they've done them a while and games are designed to be engaging. Increased engagement in the assessment process will be limited in my mind if assessments just get ported from paper and pencil to the online environment. What would be interesting to me is if online assessments were designed in such a way to take advantage of the digital format (multimedia etc.) and assess students in a way that would encompass different learning styles.
The nigh-importance placed on standardized testing of any kind was one fo the many concerns I had all throughout my college life-career. They warned us that grave importance was placed on it, and in my first year alone, I have seen that importance.
My kids, I feel, are over tested. Tested so much that, like you said, boredom begins to take over. So, while there could be a correlation between students achievement and online testing, too many tests in general, can lead to the same disastrous results we're trying to prevent: a lack of proper demonstration of the standards and objectives of the state of Arizona.
Mark, I agree with you. If we overtest, no matter the format, students are going to be bored. We need to start being more strategic as to which tests we mandate all the students take. We may be reaching the point of diminishing returns. Students, if tired of testing, are not going to give it their best effort.
Putting the "boring" issue aside, testing online could be a great money saver, but should be phased in. I hate to think about the possible technological glitches we might face.
I agree with Mark. Some costs would be reduced with on-line assessments; however, if it is just first order change with the same paper and pencil test occurring on line, not much will change. A more interactive test in which students respond and move through a hierarchy based on their responses would be more engaging and might yield more relevant and valuable results.
Lily, you make a great point. now that we are using technology and placing such a high degree of return from using technology then there should be a way to diminish the bordom element in assessments of any sort. After all what we are looking for is see just how much the student understand and can function. Bordom becomes a variable destructive to reliability.
Yes,I would also want to know how it would effect AIMS scores if students are practicing and taking assessments on- line versus on paper. We have our students practice the format for AIMS (bubbbling answers, multiple choice etc.) on paper- will AIMS be on-line?
I would think that there would be a huge coast reduction if the AIMS tests were able to be given online. Booklets wouldn't have to be printed saving trees, toner, and staples. They wouldn't have to be shipped to to schools saving postage, gas, and man power. But best of all the scoring could be done instantaneously also saving money and man power.
The big question is though how do we test ALL our students online? Our 5th graders have a 1:1 computer ratio, but the 3rd and 4th graders do not. So do we stagger our testing schedules so that all of the students can use the computers to test? What about scratch paper to work out math problems or to brainstorm the writing test. Obviously there are answers to all of these questions, but unless the majority of the students in Arizona have access to computers I doubt that Arizona would change to an online AIMS test.
Mark seems to have something pinned down. Students will recognize the novelty of testing online, but that enthusiasm will phase and simmer as time passes. I belive we could technically do all testing online but perhaps the writing portion of the exam may suffer. Although the high school writing portion of AIMS is not timed students are not versed enough in keying on the qwerty and this may stifle their productivity. If the majority of their work (brainstorm, outline, rough draft) is performed in an analogous manner, its asking alot for them to sit in front of the computer and quickly adapt in such a short amount of time. I'm going to assume the elementary AIMS doesn't test writing so critically and if this is the case then perhaps it can be done entirely online. From a practical standpoint doing it all online seems logical; however, like our One-to-One initiative I think it best to phase it in slowly and give students a choice when available.
Mario, I agree that Mark has ," pinned down" an imperative point. Perhaps focusing on the testing topic may bring forth ways to support and provide our students with seamless transitions and a variety of venues in which they are tested. I think the one to one initiative is a great place to support student choice. Moving into the middle school, next year, it will be interesting to learn what works best for students,according to real-time observations. I also agree with phasing changes in. We will be able to go deeper at a level, rather than rushing into and across too many.
Well said Mario and Diane. With anything, you must take time to evaluate their effectiveness. I do believe that online testing is where we need to go. As Mario said, I'm concerned with Writing portion of the assessment. Personally, I feel it is easier to Brainstorm on scratch paper, but prefer using a Word Processor to complete my final draft. Regardless, we will need to teach our students how to utilize a computer effectively during the writing process.
Good point Angelica. Since using a Word Processor would really benefit students such as ELL's and SPED on a Writing benchmark they still do need to learn how to Brainstorm on their own and also use the computer program effectively. I can just imagine how scores would improve drastically for these two specific groups. I see how much ELL's and Sped students struggle with the writing portion and have heard from elementary school teachers how much the kids struggle with Spelling. This might just be the next step in assessing students writing.
Well we do allow them to use a dictionary and thesaurus, I don't see why we would not allow them to use spell check and grammar check just like adult do. They would still need to now the grammatical rules to properly select the proper correction but i am pretty sure their score will increase. And just think about how easy it will be to read them, specially the one from those students whose handwriting is horrible.
I completely agree with your point and hopefully Arizona and SUSD will come up with a way to do our standardized testing online. The only downside I would see with online testing would be how do we make sure that students are taking the test, and not looking up answers while online.
I agree that the online assessments savings would benefit SUSD and the the AZ state budget. However, at might site their are concerns about consistent access and connections. (As T. Stone mentioned) I think the money to initial work out these issues would pay great dividends in the long run in both $ savings and levels of student achievement.
In addition, with the upcoming adoptions of the Mathematics and Language Arts Core Standards, "textbook" companies need to see how they can revolutionize their product. The purpose of moving to the Core Standards is that will put us in alignment with I believe 25+ other states so that when companies design their materials it will be more broadly marketable. Well, actually, Arizona is moving to those standards so that we will have more choices in educational materials because we will be part of a bigger market. Anyway, we are looking at upcoming "text" adoptions and I thing Project RED will change our ideas of the products we will be seeking!
I've found it really interesting to note Project RED's sections devoted to "Industry" within each chapter. The Project seems to have several target audiences -- not just teachers and educational leaders, but also policy makers, software engineers, publishing companies... you name it! I really hope that the big textbook companies out there have their ears open -- or that other competitors are working on whipping up some good healthy competition in terms of products available! What with all the mergers, textbook companies seem to be getting bigger all the time, with little choice left up to schools. Moreover, once the companies get that big, states like Texas end up having a disproportionate effect on the materials available to students nation-wide. Anyway, I do hope that we see some savvy, smart software resources being pitched to schools. I desire a lot of autonomy in my classroom, but it's pretty much impossible to come up with everything on my own.
So true! Im hoping that with all that money that will be saved or not spent on paper or copy machine expenses, we'll be getting some great software resources to use in our core content areas. It is impossible to come up with what we'll need to work on with laptops everyday All on our own.
Great point Robin
Other States already do their assessments online and students get immediate feedback. I have a niece in Oregon who is allowed up to 3 takes one each assessment if she is not satisifed with her results. She is in the 4th grade and didn't like her score of 87% on the latest reading assessment and was planning on taking it a second time. The tests are different but assess the same P.O.'s. What a novel idea for students who have test anxiety, are tired or sick to have the chance to show their true abilities if given a little wiggle room like this. All that AND save so much money in paper and copy supplies!.
Yet again Arizona is behind the times. What we really need to know is if our students have learned what they were taught. What we have now is how well that can take a test on a given day. It makes sense to offer students multiple opportunites to show what they have learned. Isn't it supposed to be about student learning not "gotcha"?
Let's do the right thing for students and save money!
Just a random thought to add to the discussion. Some online assessments are based on a student’s specific performance. Students answer questions and are given either more challenging or less challenging questions depending on how they perform. Eventually, they level out and a very accurate score is given. This approach seems to be a bit more meaningful because students are pushed to their limit. If overdone, it will definitely lead to boredom. However, if done correctly it can give an accurate measure of student growth.
Tshilo, I like that idea. We are always looking at student growth and i think this would be a good way of measuring it. I also like the idea of testing in different ways to benefit different learning styles. This would help prevent boredom and benefit students intellectually.
Without getting too political, why do I feel that cost-effective public education would be more of an annoyance to our legislature? By making education more efficient and eventually more effective, it might put a monkey wrench into their plans to privatize. Does anyone know if any charter schools are planning/willing to make the jump into tech implementation?
Not only would it benefit district cost, human error, but students as well. Students make so many errors when filling out bubbling sheets, wouldn't also remove bubbling errors?
I agree with your spirit, but let's be realistic. We live in the State of Arizona. Perhaps we can have better luck by beginning with SUSD and ensuring that we have the technology to move to an on-line assessment at each of our schools. We are not there yet, but we can be in the near future.
I agree that as we move further with technology, online formative assessment are the way to go. However, I would want to be sure that a sound infrastructure is in place first. I'm still only able to get about half my class on the internet at any one time. Until the bugs are worked out, online assessment aren't practical, unless I have the students complete them in centers.
I also agree with Mark in making assessments more well-rounded, addressing the many learning styles of our kiddos.
On-line testing would be beneficial for many reasons, but until we have reliable computers for at least a whole class to use, in a space where they can be used by a teacher at any time of the day (in other words in a lab where they can work uninterrupted), it would be too hard to coordinate. Not to mention the computer time that should happen to allow students to practice on the computer with test type questions so they are fully prepared. We try and juggle 4th and 5th graders in the library for SRI testing. It is no easy feat as the computers are in the middle of the library where I am teaching another class and check out is occuring. It can get distracting for the students on the computers.
Why doesn't Sunnyside do all the benchmark testing electronically? Can you imagine how much paper we would save? Each page x each student x each school x each quarter = $ thousands of dollars. We can't control AIMS (well to a certain extent), but we can make changes in our own district. The question is, how does each student take the assessment? We don't have a computer for each student! Well, money we save on paper and copy machine expenses should be used to buy more computers!
That would be a great use for the money saves. Let's get labs set up that are reliable and can handle at minimum 30 students at a time. While we're at it let's hire a lab tech to keep things running smoothly,
Sandra you are right. We should have our 5th graders take their benchmarks on-line. We already have them take the SRI on-line without any problems. Well, just a few. Sometime we can't get all the students to connect at one time. Eventually this issue will be solved.
I think this would be great Sandy, but we definitely need quality computer labs like Edna suggested so that all students could benefit from taking assessments on line until we go 1:1 for K-12. Wouldn't that be wild!!!
I agree with Sandra as well. We may not be able to change testing at a state level (AIMS), but we should implement this change at the district level. Our benchmark tests are very cost ineffective. If we can make the switch to online testing we should do it sooon.
Project RED obviously met with schools who have implemented online assessments. I would like to know how these schools did it. Many times we learn by trial and error, but why go through the error if other schools have already figured it out.