Technology, Content, and Research Supports ATI’s Instructional Effectiveness Initiatives

In support of local educational initiatives and based on both decades of experience in the field of education and on input from our users across the nation, Galileo brings to you a customizable and research-based instructional effectiveness system.

The Galileo instructional effectiveness system incorporates findings from ATI’s ongoing research and offers districts/charters an effective and defensible educator evaluation system aligned to state-adopted standards and measurement frameworks. Galileo’s flexible technology ensures that diverse data elements can be collected, organized, weighted, and meaningfully compiled to generate a valid instructional effectiveness score for each individual educator. Reliable evaluation data from Galileo can be used to inform professional development, enhance teaching and leadership skills, and elevate student performance.

With Galileo, you are able to measure student growth with an array of reliable and valid, standards-aligned pretests and posttests in state- and non-state-tested content areas. The Aggregate Multi-Test Report provides Developmental Level scores for multiple tests presented on a common scale used to monitor progress and estimate mastery.

Learn more about student growth measures, educator rating scales, data-driven guidance for professional development and practice, or how the Galileo score compiler allows for flexibility in combining and weighing data from multiple sources.

Galileo K-12 Online Forgot Password

If you have tried logging into Galileo K-12 in the past few weeks, you may have been prompted to enter your email address. The email address request is a new requirement to facilitate password reset if you have forgotten your password.

The email address will be used when you click on the “Forgot password?” link. The link is now located on the Galileo K-12 Login screen. 

Upon clicking the link, you’re taken to the Recover Your Password screen, and prompted to enter your login name and retype a 5 digit code to have your password emailed to the address on file. If you have not provided an email or do not know your login name, you may contact us for further assistance at GalileoInfo@ati-online.com.

Introducing Galileo's Dynamic Digital Curriculum Platform

The rise of digital technology and its widespread application call for new approaches to assessment and curriculum design and implementation. ATI has created a Digital Curriculum Platform providing educators and students many benefits  in the changing educational environment. The Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform supports rapid dynamic curriculum development integrating instruction with assessment to promote learning. Galileo digital curriculum consists of two major components: a series of online Instructional Units defining the scope and sequence of instruction and offering a variety of resources to guide instruction and, within each Unit, a series of online Instructional Dialogs enabling the online delivery of assessment and instruction. Galileo digital curriculums may include multi-media content, technology-enhanced assessments, and tools supporting online synchronous and asynchronous communication between students and teachers. What is taught as well as what is learned can be tracked through the digital curriculums.

Learn more about the Digital Curriculum Platform.

 

ATI Digital Curriculums contain a series of Instructional Units defining the scope and sequence of instruction for a specific grade and subject.

Prepare Students Today with Galileo’s Technology Enhanced Items

Students across the nation are or will be experiencing new forms of assessment involving a wide variety of Technology Enhanced (TE) items. In an effort to assist districts and charters to prepare students for this next generation of assessments, ATI is introducing the new forms of assessment in the context of digital curriculums. The digital curriculums support instruction aligned to new and changing standards and provide opportunities to learn to respond to new forms of assessment.

Several distinct types of TE items are available now for use in Galileo’s digital curriculums. There is no need to wait to start using the TE items. They include the: multi-part item, selectable text item, sequencing item, expanded selected response item, performance-based item, and customized TE item. As its name implies, the customized TE item can be used to build a broad array of item types. Moreover, the ATI customized TE item type can be used to rapidly emulate new item types that may emerge in the future. Learn more about Galileo TE items.

TE items are available in various subjects for kindergarten through high school.

Customized TE items for kindergarten contain an audio recording of the item.

View a sample TE item.

Early Math Benchmark Assessment Series: Kindergarten and First Grade

ATI’s Early Math Benchmark Assessment Series (EM-BAS) is now available for both kindergarten and first grade. The EM-BAS is composed of standards-aligned, computer-presented assessments that utilize sound and interactivity to test math skills in a friendly, early elementary environment. The series includes TE items designed to measure early math abilities in addition, subtraction, counting objects, shape recognition, and beginning measurement. The EM-BAS interactive assessments allow for quick intervention to ensure progress in the development of math knowledge. Administration of the EM-BAS series is flexible and can be given anytime throughout the year. Read more about the EM-BAS.

 

View EM-BAS sample items: Sample 1   Sample 2

Click here to play the sample item below.

First grade math item illustrating multimedia assessments that utilizes sound.

Exploring Depth of Knowledge

Exploring Depth of Knowledge

 

As we discuss the expectations associated with state standards, a concept that features prominently in the conversation is the idea of Depth of Knowledge (DOK). In the video below, Dr. Norman Webb, the developer of the concept of Depth of Knowledge, explains the four  levels and the importance of all four.

 

Level 1:  Recall

Level 1 includes the recall of information such as a fact, definition, term, or a simple procedure, as well as performing a simple algorithm or applying a formula.

Item types: multiple-choice, open response, and technology-enhanced items.

Level 2:  Skill/Concept

Level 2 includes the engagement of some mental processing beyond a habitual response. A Level 2 assessment item requires students to make some decisions as to how to approach the problem or activity, whereas Level 1 requires students to demonstrate a rote response, perform a well-known algorithm, follow a set procedure (like a recipe), or perform a clearly defined series of steps.

Item types: multiple-choice, open response, and technology-enhanced items.

Level 3:  Strategic Thinking

Level 3 requires reasoning, planning, using evidence, and a higher level of thinking than the previous two levels. In most instances, requiring students to explain their thinking is a Level 3 attribute. Activities that require students to make  and support conjectures are also at this level. The cognitive demands at Level 3 are complex and abstract.
Item types: open response and technology-enhanced items.

Level 4:  Extended Thinking
Level 4 requires complex reasoning, planning, developing, and thinking most likely over an extended period of time.
Item types: performance-based assessment and open response.

 

Assessment planning requires the selection of standards. Those standards may require some or all levels of Depth of Knowledge depending on the expectations of the standard. It is essential that district planning includes standards that support the DOK levels a district wishes to measure.

Please contact ATI Education Management Services or your Field Service Coordinator to learn how to incorporate items at the expected Depth of Knowledge into your assessments.

 

 

ATI Technology Supports Rapid Dynamic Digital Curriculum Development

The rise of digital technology and its widespread application call for a new approach to curriculum design and implementation. ATI has created a digital curriculum platform to meet this need. The ATI Digital Curriculum Development Platform supports rapid dynamic curriculum development integrating instruction with assessment to promote learning. An ATI Digital Curriculum is composed of two components: a series of online Instructional Units defining the scope and sequence of instruction and offering a variety of resources to guide instruction, and within each Unit a series of online Instructional Dialogs enabling the online delivery of assessment and instruction. ATI Digital Curricula may include multi-media content, technology-enhanced assessments, and tools supporting online synchronous and asynchronous communication between students and teachers. 

Learn more about digital curriculums by viewing the dialog, New Directions in Digital Curriculum.

ATI Digital Curriculums are comprised of a series of Instructional Units

defining the scope and sequence of instruction for a specific grade and subject.

Student Growth and Achievement by School

New functionality was recently added to the Student Growth and Achievement by School widget found on the School Performance view of the Dashboard page. Now the Student Growth and Achievement by School widget:

• Is Dynamic!  From the School Performance Dashboard page, school- and district-level users may view student growth and achievement (SGA) data for any two district-wide assessments that have parameters.
• Now Displays Assessments from the Community Assessment and Item Banking (CAIB) Initiative! Districts that have created and administered assessments as part of CAIB participation may now view and analyze assessment data in the Student Growth and Achievement by School widget. CAIB assessments, which typically assess non-state tested subject areas, have been designed to be appropriate for IRT analysis and produce Developmental Level Scores that can be used to measure growth.

 

Testing to the Teaching

Very soon at ATI we will be releasing Instructional Dialogs that include Technology Enhanced (TE) items. The reason for this initiative is to further our goal of bringing assessment as close as possible to instruction. Everyone involved in education is well aware of the problems associated with teaching to the test. Instruction becomes narrowed and limited to prepare for the assessment. Learning is restricted.  However, if one turns that around 180 degrees and puts teaching at the head of the train, then there are many potential benefits.

Embedding TE items directly in instructional content allows assessments to match instruction in a finely tuned way that hasn’t really been possible in the past. Assessments can be built that reflect the steps that a teacher wants students to master in acquiring a specific larger skill. Say, for instance, that the focus of a lesson is the numerical fluency skills that will enable a student to easily calculate a problem such as correct change from $20.00 for a $4.30 purchase. Common Core emphasizes the importance of not only correctly calculating that $15.70 is due, but also completely understanding and being able to explain why the calculation works out that way. An explanation might go something like the following:

1. $4.30 is $.70 less than $5.00 
2. $5.00 is $15.00 less than $20.00 
3. Therefore $4.30 is $15.00 + $.70 = $15.70 less than $20.00

TE items embedded in instruction afford a teacher with the opportunity to evaluate whether students have grasped what they have been taught and can provide a rationale for their approach.

It has long been recognized that such assessments are an important part of teaching. Recent technological advances make it possible to gather valid and reliable data of the sort that would have previously required standardized testing while not diverging from the focus of instruction. Assessment data that informs decisions and allows for easy tracking of outcomes can flow naturally out of instruction rather than being a distraction.  

John Bergan, Ph.D.
Vice President Research and Development

Galileo K-12 Online in the Mobile Classroom

As states continue to work together to implement assessments of student learning aligned to the Common Core State Standards, through collaboration with the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers or the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, school districts/charters are shifting toward digital curriculum and assessment.  With this shift came a natural progression to increase the number of mobile computing devices found in the classrooms. 

ATI’s implementation of technology enhanced instructional and assessment items is designed to support a wide range of mobile devices.  The Galileo K-12 Online system requirements, located here, provide a list of Galileo features that are supported on low-cost devices built on operating systems including Google Android, Apple iOS, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Windows.

Brandon Smith, B.A., MCSE
Information Technology Director

How ATI Clients are Designing Assessments during Transition in State-Wide Testing

During the past two years, the educational climate has been exciting and ever changing. As each state has published its transition plans for moving to Common Core State Standards, ATI district partners as well as ATI’s Educational Management Services Department have attended closely to the evolving approaches to curriculum, test design, and test blueprints.  School districts are under pressure to ensure that teachers are teaching and students are mastering the skills represented in the new standards. ATI assessments help this cause. There are three major ways districts are creating assessments to collect student test data and ensure that their students are on the path of meeting the new, more rigorous expectations.

The first is to use a comprehensive testing approach. Districts provide an assessment in a content area up to five times a year with each one assessing students on all of the standards to be included on the end-of-year assessments. This provides a snapshot on how students are doing on the path to mastering all grade level standards. The advantage of this approach is that it provides flexibility for all teachers across  the district to teach at their own pace and make their own decisions about how to best teach all of the standards by the state provided testing date. This approach is especially advantageous for districts with smaller student populations.

Another approach is a district provided curriculum map. In this approach, a district splits all of the standards over the course of the year and provides teachers with a list of which standards are to be taught at what points in the year. The benchmarks are then designed to follow the provided curriculum map. The advantage of this approach is that fewer standards are tested on each assessment and more items for each standard may be included in the assessment design. This type of assessment allows districts to monitor the effectiveness of standard-based instruction for students and to pinpoint students who may need additional instruction on the standards covered in the assessment.

A final approach uses essential standards. District curriculum leads pinpoint standards for instruction, they consider essential in order for students in their district to be successful. In this approach, instruction and testing focus on this smaller set of standards. The advantage of this approach is that there is less material teachers need to cover and curriculum and assessment is targeted to meet the needs of the students in a specific district. In addition, there is more time for more in-depth teaching and mastery of the district-identified standards.

All of these approaches are solutions to the end goal of obtaining information about student learning in order provide instruction supporting student mastery of standards by the end of the academic year. ATI Educational Management Services Coordinators are committed to helping our district partners implement which ever assessment approach the district chooses.

Karyn White
Director of Educational Management Services
                                                                                                                                        

New Directions in Digital Technology and Curriculum Development Complimentary Arizona Seminar

We are co-hosting an informative seminar with Alhambra Elementary School District in just a few weeks.  Make sure you save time and attend the morning of Thursday, October 16 for Education on the Move in Arizona - New Directions in Digital Technology and Curriculum Development. The event will be held at the Alhambra District Office, Conference Center Boardroom from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. noon MST.

The statewide seminar will illustrate the ways in which technology-based education is being implemented in Arizona. A panel discussion comprised of local leaders from Alhambra Elementary School District, Dysart Unified School District, Higley Unified School District, Tucson Unified School District, and Vail Unified School District will share how they are implementing technology in support of curriculum development, instruction, and assessment. ATI will discuss the newest Galileo enhancements designed to provide educators, administrators, and content specialists with technology to transform and integrate local curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices.

The seminar will provide an up-close look at district initiatives and cutting-edge Galileo technology designed to support the transformation and integration of local curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices. Following the presentations and panel discussion, there will be a question and answer period. Light refreshments will be served.

Learn more
Register

Education on the Move in Arizona: New Directions in Digital Technology and Curriculum Development

Complimentary Arizona Statewide Seminar

Co-Hosted by Alhambra Elementary School District and

Assessment Technology Incorporated

 

Please join us on October 16, 2014 for an exciting and informative seminar: Education on the Move in Arizona - New Directions in Digital Technology and Curriculum Development. The event is co-hosted by Alhambra Elementary School District (AESD) and Assessment Technology Incorporated (ATI) and will be held at the AESD Office, Conference Center Boardroom from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. noon MST.

The statewide seminar will illustrate the ways in which technology-based education is being implemented in Arizona. A panel discussion comprised of local leaders from Alhambra Elementary School District, Dysart Unified School District, Higley Unified School District, Tucson Unified School District, and Vail Unified School District will share how they are implementing technology in support of curriculum development, instruction, and assessment. ATI will discuss the newest Galileo enhancements designed to provide educators, administrators, and content specialists with technology to transform and integrate local curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices in ways that:

• Facilitate local initiatives to construct online digital curriculums including Instructional Units specifying local scope and sequence, lessons, assignments, and assessments aligned to rigorous standards and delivered/updated in real-time;
• Effectively and efficiently measure student progress and proficiency in achieving mastery of rigorous standards including the use of Technology Enhanced (TE) items and performance-based assessments rendered in the course of dialogic instruction and designed to prepare students for the new upcoming state assessments; and
• Integrate technology in other content areas to use in everyday instruction and build the capacity of teachers' use of technology as an instructional tool.

The seminar will provide an up-close look at district initiatives and cutting-edge Galileo technology designed to support the transformation and integration of local curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices. Following the presentations and panel discussion there will be a question and answer period.

Learn more
Register

Professional Development for Galileo Users

The start of the new school year is always a busy time for ATI’s Professional Development Specialists. We spend many hours on the road working with districts and charter schools to help them prepare for implementing their first Galileo assessment. Once the first assessment of the year is successfully administered, it is time to train staff on how to utilize Galileo’s other components and tools. Many school districts and charter schools ask ATI’s Professional Development Specialist to come out and deliver follow-up, on-site training on:

• Generating reports and using Galileo data
• Galileo curriculum tools
• Administering Technology Enhanced items
• Building formative assessments
• Implementing interventions

For more information on ATI’s entire on-site professional development offerings, click here. If arranging an on-site professional development session is not an option for you this year, ATI’s Professional Development Specialists host complimentary professional development Learning On-Demand sessions throughout the year. For the fall Learning On-Demand schedule, click here. 

Technology Enhanced Items Contributing to the Implementation of New Standards

Schools in every corner of the land are about to embark on a major initiative to increase the implementation of technology-based assessment and instruction. This movement is fueled by rapid advances in computer and information technology and in response to important developments in educational standards and curriculum.

In support of educators implementing technology-based assessment and instruction, ATI has launched a new initiative introducing Technology Enhanced (TE) items through formative assessments rendered in the course of dialogic instruction. A recently published white paper, Technology Enhanced Items for Formative Assessments in Dialogic Curriculums, discusses the components of the initiative and their contributions to the implementation of new standards. To learn more about ATI’s initiative, read the full paper.

Digital Technology and Curriculum Development

Technology-based education is being fuelled by the rapid advances in computer and information technology. It is no surprise that every aspect of modern life is influenced by the ease and speed of technology. In education, changes in assessment and instruction are emerging in response to important developments in educational standards and curriculum. Problem-solving, critical thinking, and analytical skills that can be used to accomplish tasks are emerging to the forefront. The advances in technology-based education is shaping new ways of teaching and new ways of learning.

In order to support districts and charter schools in their effort to implement these advancing methods, ATI is launching a new assessment and instruction initiative introducing Technology Enhanced (TE) items through formative assessments rendered in the course of dialogic instruction. On October 16, Alhambra Elementary School District and Assessment Technology Incorporated will co-host a seminar sharing information about the latest advancements in digital curriculum. Key points will cover how to:

• Digitally integrate AZCCRS, the new science standards and non-state-tested subject areas (e.g., art, music, etc) into curriculum, assessment, and reporting.
• Rapidly build and deploy (both online and offline) curricula including Instructional Units, specifying the scope and sequence of local curriculum, lessons, assignments, and assessments.
• Implement an effective and cost-efficient way to meet the recognized need for both students and educators to engage in 21st century learning, AZCCRS instruction, and assessments.

To learn more about this initiative, watch for registration details or contact ATI.

New Statewide Approvals for Galileo Pre-K Online

It has been a productive summer for all of us at ATI. One team focus has been to gain presence on additional statewide recommendation lists for state-aligned early childhood curriculum, assessment, and school readiness. 

ATI is proud to announce the following approvals for Galileo Pre-K Online. Early childhood educators in the states making the awards have the opportunity to choose Galileo Pre-K Online for use starting this fall! Galileo Pre-K Online has previously been approved for statewide use in New York and North Carolina.

Recent awards include:
● Florida Department of Education Office of Early Learning approval for
   Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten Education Program
   Curriculum list.
   Learn more.
● Florida Department of Education Office of Early Learning approval
   for the School Readiness Curriculum list.
   Learn more.
● The Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning approved for the
   Pre-K Approved Program Curriculum list.
   Learn more.
● The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning
   approval for Online Assessment Tool.
   Learn more.

About Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum and Authentic Assessment
The Galileo curriculum includes an empirically-based scope and sequence that is linked to Galileo's reliable and valid multi-method authentic assessment tools. It contains child-initiated and teacher/parent guided activities reflective of current research findings as well as resources guiding interest area setup/use and room preparation. Continuous use of Galileo's research-based assessment scales provides actionable information on children's progress linked directly to learning opportunities provided through the curriculum. Assessment and curriculum integration helps guide developmentally appropriate planning to promote learning and school readiness. The Galileo system provides rapid access to the flexible curriculum and to ongoing assessment, actionable reporting, and classroom management tools enabling programs to empower children as learners and teachers as educators. Galileo also provides access to the Pre-K Parent Center which provides families with home activities and reports in English and Spanish.

About Galileo Pre-K Online
Galileo Pre-K Online is a research-based, data-driven approach to early childhood assessment and curriculum. It is an easy-to-use, comprehensive, online system with offline capabilities that seamlessly integrate assessment, reporting, and curriculum for use with children, infancy through 5 years of age. Galileo technology supports multi-method authentic assessments and reporting of children's growth and development with empirical evidence from assessments that are both reliable and valid. Supported assessment approaches include ongoing observation in the child's learning environment, one-on-one interactions, samples of children's work, and parent input. This broad range of formats accommodates the ways children from diverse backgrounds and abilities express their competencies and helps provide a meaningful portrait of each child's development for use in planning and providing developmentally appropriate learning opportunities. This individualized approach makes Galileo an excellent choice, especially for those serving dual language learners and children with special needs.

ATI provides professional development in a variety of formats including on-site and online self-paced tutorials both designed to meet the needs of early childhood educators.  Learn more about Galileo professional development options.

We look forward to partnering with you and offering a system that assures program integrity, enables program accountability, and provides the support that makes a difference.

Request your guided overview of Galileo Pre-K Online with a member of our friendly and knowledgeable Field Services team.

The Application of Learning

“Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember. 

Involve me and I learn.” 

- Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin was a man ahead of his time in many ways, including education. The importance of applying learning that he speaks in the oft-cited quote above is one of the key themes of the Common Core. The Common Core asks not only have students mastered certain skills, but also if they can they apply them. Have they reached higher depth of knowledge? Can they think critically about information that is available and decide on a course of action? This emphasis has lead to recognition that assessments should become broader, more rigorous, and more relevant. Towards that end, new assessment items types have been developed that provide different types of tasks for students to complete. There has also been an increase in the use of project-based assessment requiring students to complete an involved piece of work with many steps. 

New types of items provide students with new novel and engaging tasks. Students might be asked to actually identify specific passages from a text that support a particular statement. They might be asked to sort items by a principle such as common cellular structure. These sorts of items make for an engaging and relevant evaluation of the skill being assessed. In May ATI released a series of short formative assessments showcasing several of these new types of Technology Enhanced Items. The assessments provided an opportunity to expose students to the types of tasks required by these items and to gain familiarity with what will be required of them when they take on the new state tests.

Shortly ATI will be releasing Dialogs containing these assessment items. Dialogs are instructional tools that provide teachers with the capability to link instructional content with assessment items.  The environment provided within dialogs allows districts to build project-based instruction and assessments that will afford districts the opportunity to provide students with rich instructional content that produces relevant assessment data about student learning. 

This fall ATI will be releasing units containing descriptions of some of the new item types and their use. Included in the units will be sample dialogs that can be readily edited to provide students with a chance to experience how the items work and the tasks that they require. They will also include sample performance-based assessments. We look forward to receiving feedback on their use.

John R. Bergan, Ph.D.
Vice President Research and Development

NEW School Performance Dashboard View Offers School Risk Level Summary

Galileo Dashboards are a convenient way to view and access your data related to curriculum, assessment, and instructional effectiveness from one single location. The Dashboards are presented in three views including: Teaching, School Performance, and Instructional Effectiveness.

Accessing School Risk Level Summary data from the Galileo Dashboard School Performance view is now possible. Aggregated School Risk Level Summary data provides a quick means of observing by school or schools, up-to-date and actionable data on student performance. A bar graph displays the breakdown of students by risk level. After selecting any one of the risk levels, an Instructional Performance Tracker appears offering intervention planning suggestions based on student mastery of standards.

A student’s risk level of not meeting the standards on the next state standardized assessment is based on the position of the student’s Developmental Level (DL) score relative to the Meets cut score on each ATI Instructional Effectiveness (IE) and/or benchmark assessment.

School Risk Level Summary data illustrated from the Dashboard School Performance view.

To learn more about Galileo Dashboards, contact your Field Services Coordinator.

ATI’s Support for Administrators in Meeting the Requirements of Recent Instructional Effectiveness Legislation

State legislatures have passed legislation requiring districts/charters to use multiple types of data to evaluate educator effectiveness. Over the past few years, ATI has worked with its many district and charter partners to create and implement a robust system that aids administrators in completing this task easily and efficiently. In many states, these new laws require districts/charters to observe teachers, consider student growth data, and look at student performance levels on state tests when evaluating teachers. Although all of these diverse pieces of information are important when looking at instructional effectiveness, the question arises as to how to statistically determine one aggregated performance classification from multiple measures providing scores that vary in terms of score type, score scale, and score range. ATI’s Score Compiler allows districts to select a wide variety of measures to use for educator effectiveness, place these scores from these measures on a common scale using defensible well-established statistical procedures, and then weight each measure as desired. In addition, the total number of points, performance classification nomenclature, and cut points are configured based on district/charter specifications. Finally, the Instructional Effectiveness view of the Galileo Dashboard provides easy access for administrators to performance classifications for reporting to superintendents and state representatives as needed.

ATI’s Score Compiler allows for easy compilation of student performance data and teacher performance data. The types of measures that districts/charters can include in the Score Compiler are limitless. One of the most commonly used measures among ATI district/charter partners includes Categorical Growth scores at both the teacher and the school level. These scores provide data about whether a student has exceeded, maintained, or failed to maintain expected growth based on an ATI pre/posttest during an instructional-time period. Although Categorical Growth scores are the most popular, other types of scores based on any Galileo benchmark or formative assessment may also be incorporated into the Score Compiler. The Score Compiler also allows for external test scores (e.g., state tests, DIBELS, AP Scores) to be uploaded into Galileo. Measures such as mean scores, median scores, and percentages of students can be automatically calculated and compiled. On the teacher performance side, Educational Management Services Coordinators enter customized district teacher evaluation rubrics into Galileo. District administrators can then use the online rubrics to input teacher observation scores and the results of these observations can be included in the Score Compiler. In addition, any other types of scores may be manually added to the Score Compiler. For example, districts/charters have included scores based on parent surveys, teacher surveys, attendance, and Student Learning Objectives (SLOs).

Karyn White 
Director of Educational Management Services
                                                  

Online Curriculum Development – New this fall

ATI Instructional Dialogs are comprised of a series of instructional communications among students and their teacher intended to promote student mastery of educational standards. They can include lessons or assignments that may be delivered online or offline. Dialogs provide many benefits that can improve the quality of instruction and reduce the cost and effort required to implement instruction:

• Dialogs can be linked to Instructional Units providing a framework for the rapid development, deployment, and modification of curriculum. Online Instructional Dialogs integrate assessment and instruction. Thus, a Dialog may include a lesson, discussion of the lesson, and assessments of the mastery of lesson objectives interspersed throughout the Dialog. Integration makes it possible to provide immediate feedback during the instructional process, which has been shown in research studies to improve learning.  
• Dialogs make it possible to offer instruction simultaneously in multiple classes in different locations supporting rapid and flexible dissemination of instruction. 
• Dialogs provide a record of what has been taught and what has been learned. Accordingly, they can be used to assess the effectiveness of Instructional Units, making it possible to improve curriculum continuously.  
• Dialogs make it possible to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of different forms of differentiated instruction.   
• Formative assessments implemented in Dialogs support the introduction of Technology Enhanced (TE) items in an instructional environment that can promote the development of test-taking skills associated with TE item types and the mastery of valued standards targeted for instruction in district curriculum.

To learn more about online curriculum development, contact your Field Services Coordinator.

Preparing for Fall Data Importation

As summer season kicks into high gear, ATI staff preparations for the new school year are well under way. In the area of data importation, the focus during school year transition is on new classes, rosters, and accommodating all staff changes a district may undertake between school years. 

For districts new to Galileo, the best way to create your class lists and rosters is through Galileo Data Import (GDI). The GDI process involves three basic steps:

1. Districts provide an export from their Student Information System (SIS) that lists all classes, teachers, and students within the district. 
2. ATI staff import this data to a test database and perform a thorough quality assurance review – any problems are resolved with the district before the data is imported (step 3) into the live Galileo database.
3. ATI staff import the district-provided information directly into Galileo K-12 Online.

Detailed instructions for GDI can be found in the Tech Support section of Galileo K-12 (and Pre-K) Online. Importation instructions are updated for each school year. As you prepare your data for importation, please remember the following important points:

1. Be sure to include all the required information in your import.
2. Optional information is not required in the Galileo database, but failure to include this information may adversely affect future report filtering. Note: Any omitted optional data can be imported at any time throughout the school year, either as part of GDI or as a separate process – contact ATI for more information.
3. If TeacherID or StudentID fields change within your SIS, please notify ATI prior to providing any import files to ensure proper transition within the Galileo database. Large-scale ID changes may require extra processing time so please notify ATI as far in advance as possible so we can help you plan accordingly.
4. Due to new class structures and teacher assignments, the quality assurance process is typically longest during the first upload of the year. Getting uploads underway as soon as data is available will help ensure adequate processing time before your first assessments of the year.
5. Providing “shell” data with class structures and teachers as soon as they are entered into your SIS this summer will provide opportunity to perform thorough review of class alignment, course codes, and teacher assignments. This will speed the processing of files containing student enrollment in the fall.
6. Participation in Instructional Effectiveness (IE) initiatives with ATI may require roster for all responsible teachers to be imported. 
7. Participation in No-Evaluation Importation (NEI), the process of preparing for frequent updates to rosters and data within Galileo K-12 Online, requires three successive no-change imports at the beginning of each school year. 

ATI also hosted a recent Learning on Demand session:  Data Importation for Existing Users-The New School Year (31 minutes).  The recording can be found in the Galileo Forum. To access the Galileo Forum, click on the Forum link in Galileo K-12 Online. Once you log in to the forum, access the “Resource Library” category and then proceed to the “Learning On-Demand Recordings” sub-forum. Click the link for “Data Management” and you’ll find the recording.

If you have any questions about GDI, please refer to the Galileo Data Importation instructions at http://www.ati-online.com/pdfs/ImportInstructionsK-12.pdf or contact us at GalileoDataImport@ati-online.com.

 

 

Dashboard Data at Your Finger Tips

Galileo Dashboard views offer quick access to the most commonly used reports designed for teachers and administrators in one convenient place. One of the most used reports in Galileo is the Student Growth and Achievement (SGA) report. Accessible to all user levels, the SGA report cross-classifies student achievement with student growth yielding new and useful information to guide instruction. When the desired tests and subject are selected, the student data is displayed graphically in quadrants.

The information in each quadrant has unique significance for instruction. Effective instruction for students in one quadrant will differ from instruction designed for students in another quadrant. The SGA report provides the ability to create intervention groups from the individual student counts in each quadrant. The Intervention group allows teachers and other district staff to group students with similar growth and achievement needs for instructional and assessment purposes.

 The count of students in each quadrant run in the SGA report hyperlinks to the ability to create intervention groups comprised of students in that selected quadrant.

Student growth is measured by the difference between achievement at time one and time two. Time one is represented by an initial assessment, such as a pre-test. Time two is represented by a second assessment or a post assessment.

To learn more about the Student Growth and Achievement report, contact your Field Services Coordinator.

Galileo Supports Instruction

Galileo K-12 Online includes an array of instructional features, fully integrated with assessment to support educators in developing, implementing, evaluating, and revising instructional activities and curriculum.

One of ATI’s research and development initiatives involves the design of a Dialogic Curriculum Model using Galileo Instructional Dialog technology. Dialog technology supports the design, and implementation of customized standards-aligned district curricular materials such as unit plans, lesson plans, and assignments including, if desired, short formative quizzes. Dialogs can be used as part of initial instruction, differentiated instruction, or as remediation/intervention support after assessments identify student needs. Dialogs can also provide students with guided practice with innovative item types, or to support the administration of performance tasks requiring students to complete extended projects.

For example, Dialogs targeted to the needs of specific students based on assessment data can be identified and scheduled via the Instruction Performance Tracker. Galileo currently includes more than 1,600 Instructional Dialogs developed by ATI’s experienced Assessment and Instructional Design staff in math, reading, and science in grades one through twelve aligned to state standards as well as the Common Core State Standards.

A typical Dialog designed for use as a lesson or assignment establishes an anticipatory set in the introduction, defines objectives, provides key vocabulary, includes direct instruction with modeling, and provides guided practice with immediate feedback. Teachers can create their own Dialogs from scratch or by importing existing instructional resources. Additional Dialogs created by Galileo users and provided for shared use are also available in multiple grades and content areas.

Galileo makes it possible for educators to rapidly develop, deploy, and monitor the impact of curricula and instructional resources to maximize student learning.

Learn more by contacting your ATI Field Services Coordinator at GalileoInfo@ati-online.com.

ATI Supports ReadOnArizona Summer Reading Campaign

ATI is proud to support ReadOnArizona summer reading campaign. In order to maintain reading progress developed throughout the school year, ReadOnArizona encourages 20 minutes of reading per day. This easy-to-achieve goal is made even easier by myON, a digital library consisting of thousands of books to which students have unlimited access.

Simple tips to pass on to students and their families to encourage summer reading:
• sign up the whole family for the summer reading program at your local public library
• ask your librarian to suggest books that match a developing reader’s interests and reading level
• set a goal of reading 20 minutes every day

For more information about the ReadOnArizona summer reading campaign and myON, visit ReadOnArizona.org.

Early Math Benchmark Assessment Series Multimedia

With the tremendous popularity of the Early Literacy Benchmark Assessment Series (ELBAS) for kindergarten language arts, Assessment Technology Incorporated is pleased to offer the Early Math Benchmark Assessment Series (EMBAS) for kindergarten math for 2014-15. These assessments enhance kindergarten assessment by engaging kindergarten students with multimedia assessments that utilize sound and interactivity to measure performance on kindergarten assessment standards. These assessments are able to be administered to the entire class in a computer lab or to be assigned to small groups/individuals using classroom computer resources, allowing teachers to focus on other tasks.

 

Sample 1

 

Sample 2

 

With the EMBAS, students will be assessed on items aligned to the most up to date standards in an early-elementary friendly environment using sounds and images. The assessments will allow for easy assessment and quick intervention to ensure students are making progress in math skills and knowledge development.

Contact the Assessment Technology Education Management Services department to schedule the assessments for use in the 2014-15 academic year.

Instructional Units and Instructional Dialogs

Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Units and Instructional Dialogs are part of the comprehensive instructional improvement and instructional effectiveness system providing innovative technology to enhance learning. Instructional Units and Instructional Dialogs are online instructional exchanges between teachers and students designed to promote student mastery of standards. Images, animations, audio and video files, and web links can easily be incorporated providing an enriching instructional experience.

Instructional Units can be constructed to specify the scope and sequence of local curriculum aligned to Common Core and state-specific standards. Instructional Units integrate assessment with instruction in online and offline Instructional Dialogs containing lessons, assignments, and assessments.

ATI Instructional Dialogs provide a safe instructional environment promoting standards mastery and test-taking skills unique to the diversity of new item types planned by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) and by Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) for the Common Core Initiative. ATI's technology enhanced items currently available in formative assessments in English language arts, math, and science will soon be available for use in Instructional Dialogs and Instructional Units.

View a sample science Dialog

Complimentary Educational Opportunities

ATI’s Professional Development Team offers complimentary interactive online professional development opportunities for both Galileo K-12 Online and Galileo Pre-K Online users. These Learning On-Demand sessions assist administrators and educators in becoming proficient with the Galileo applications.

Registration to a Learning On-Demand session is easy, just click here

Select the “Upcoming” tab and click on the “Register” link by the session you would like to attend.

Or you may send an e-mail to ProfessionalDevelopment@ati-online.com and ATI’s professional development specialists will process your registration. If you are unable to attend a live Learning On-Demand session, the session recordings are available in the Galileo Forum after the session has occurred.

We look forward to seeing you online!
The ATI Professional Development Team

Galileo’s Technology Enhanced Items

Since the adoption of Common Core State Standards, other new state standards (e.g., Arizona’s College and Career Ready Standards, Colorado’s Academic Standards, Massachusetts’s Curriculum Framework) and Next Generation Science Standards, the ATI team has been working to integrate these new standards into Galileo K-12 Online assessment and curriculum tools.

The recently new sets of standards call for a different way of teaching and learning and for the integration of assessment and instruction. They require students to move from memorization and recall to understanding and application of concepts. Students are expected to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and effective communications skills.  ATI is supporting educators responsible for providing appropriate learning opportunities by providing assessment and curriculum tools aligned with the intent of the standards. Part of this support can be found in the Technology Enhanced (TE) assessment items being offered to educators.

TE items are developed, certified, and embedded into Galileo's Formative Innovative Item Pilot assessment library every day thereby offering educators a broad range of item types and items for inclusion in assessments. Galileo offers TE, selected-response, constructed-response, and performance-based item types. TE items provide a more complex measure of student learning and a more engaging assessment experience. To follow are a few item types, available now and reflective of planned consortia items, that can be incorporated into your classroom assessments.

• Interface Enhanced Items
Customized and individually programmed items, including items that may have clickable images, drag and drop functionality, or interactive graphs. ATI interface technology makes it possible to quickly develop items reflective of changes in consortia item-type offerings.

• Item-Collection
Multiple sub-items combined into a single item. For example, one sub-item might be a selected-response item. The second item could then ask the student to explain or support that conclusion using an additional selected-response item or a constructed-response item.

• Sequencing Items
Assess sequencing skills. Sequencing tasks require the student to place things into logical or procedural order to demonstrate understanding of cause and effect relationships, order of operations, or steps in a process.

• Interactive Text Items
Require the student to identify key elements of a text by highlighting those elements.

• Multiple Right Answers
Make it possible to select multiple right answers in selected-response items.

If you are interested in incorporating TE items into your class before the end of the school year or during the summer, contact ATI today at GalileoInfo@ati-online.com or call 1-877-442-5453.

Learn more and see samples of TE items

Pilot Technology Enhanced Items

Did you know that ATI is offering clients the opportunity to pilot formative assessments composed of Technology Enhanced (TE) items? Drawing on Common Core and state-specific standards, the items help districts and charter schools to successfully measure student mastery of the English language arts, math, and science standards which each state is assessing in 2014-15. 

TE items are developed, certified, and embedded in Galileo's Formative Innovative Item Pilot assessment library - accessible for use right now and through summer school! Have a look. Try them out. Teachers can start familiarizing themselves with TE reporting functions and students can gain exposure to the engaging item types such as interface enhanced items, item-collection, sequencing items, interactive text items, and multiple right answers. Guides discussing taking assessments with different technology enhanced item types and available reports are provided as links below. Thanks for using Galileo.

Learn more: A Student's Guide for Taking Assessments Comprised of Technology Enhanced Items Quick Reference Guide

Learn more: Reporting on Students' Performance on Technology Enhanced Items Quick Reference Guide

New Webisode: Geometric Formulas for Understanding

In our conversations with users, we have learned that educators have a growing interest in digital professional development opportunities focusing on student engagement and achievement. We are developing educational webisodes that emphasize the integration of technology and teaching strategies relevant to Common Core with the goal of increasing student involvement in the learning process.

 

Click to view the webisode.

 
The latest instructional webisode from ATI, Teaching Geometric Formulas for Understanding, presents an approach that supports instructional balance between mathematical understanding and procedural skill development. Understanding of geometric formulas is an important component in accomplishing the Common Core objective for students to obtain a level of mathematical knowledge that can be used in solving real-world mathematical problems.

“Know this formula, understand it, and use it!” Watch the educational webisode demonstrating the inclusion of formula understanding in instruction addressing the measurement of the area of a circle. View the webisode now.

Feedback to Enhance Learning

Both research and the classroom experience of teachers have consistently pointed to the importance of feedback in the instructional process. It isn’t sufficient to explain how to multiply fractions, take a derivative, or craft an essay. Students must understand why formulas work and why it is better to make a point in a particular way. To achieve this level of understanding, students must attempt to solve problems themselves. In the course of such active learning, mistakes will be made and will be revealed to both the student and the teacher.  Additional explanations and corrections can then be provided.

Feedback is at the intersection of assessment and instruction. When feedback is implemented, teaching is followed by evaluating results, which inform subsequent instruction. Making assessment more relevant to teaching is one of the cornerstone principles of the Common Core movement. Common Core assessments are designed to require higher levels of understanding than has been the norm in the past. It isn’t enough to have memorized problem-solving rules. One must understand the basis for those rules and be able to actually apply what has been learned.   
 
Toward that same end, ATI is working to modify our instructional platform to support these more complicated assessment tasks and providing the capability to provide feedback within the instructional environment to increase student understanding. Currently we have made available to districts a set of formative assessments built around these more interactive item types emphasizing greater depth of knowledge. By the start of the next school year it will be possible to put these new more complicated items in instructional dialogs that integrate assessment and instruction and provide the capability to offer feedback to enhance student understanding. Data from these assessment tasks will be available to the reporting engine thereby making it possible to both assess and instruct with the same resources. Look for announcements of the availability to these new tools as the start of the new school year gets closer.

By John R. Bergan, Ph.D., Vice President of Research and Development

ATI heads to the NHSA 41st Annual Head Start Conference and Expo

Join us in southern California for the largest national event devoted to the Head Start and Early Head Start communities – providers of lasting benefits to more than a million children and their families.  ATI will be exhibiting at booth #217 and we invite you to discover the Galileo difference.  
 
New additions to the educational management system to be shown at the Expo include:

• empirically established expected growth rates for children from birth through 5 years in multiple areas of learning such as language, physical development and health, and social and emotional development. Using the growth rates, evaluate whether your program’s children are meeting growth expectations and whether learning opportunities need to be adjusted to promote growth.
• expanded Galileo activities designed specifically for toddlers. The full range of classroom activities, combined with Galileo reports, offer teachers time-saving tools for incorporating developmentally appropriate learning opportunities into their weekly lesson plans. The toddler activities are in addition to the existing curriculum activities for children 3 through 5 years of age.
• translated curriculum resources in Spanish with hundreds of enhanced activities to share with children at home. The activities include learning opportunities in 11 developmental domains and are designed for easy, at-home learning.
• extended National Portrait of Child Outcomes where Head Start and now Early Head Start programs join together, pool their data, and share information with the public about children's learning and development.
• included video recordings within Galileo support teacher’s anecdotal notes and observations, increasing credibility with multi-method documentation.

Galileo Pre-K Online from ATI provides educators and other stakeholders a complete assessment, curriculum, and reporting system that links assessment, planning, individualization and program progress for children birth through 5-years-old. ATI’s patented technology offers innovative, research-based, multi-method, customized assessment and curriculum tools that assist educators meet local, state, and federal requirements. Galileo Pre-K Online allows for assessment through observation in the child’s learning environment, one-on-one observation, samples of children’s work, and parent input. This broad range of formats accommodates the ways children from diverse backgrounds express their competencies and helps provide a meaningful portrait of each child’s development. Ongoing assessment and monitoring of progress help educators determine if success is underway or if intervention is needed.

Learn what's new about Galileo Pre-K Online, professional development offerings, or contact a field services coordinator for a Galileo Overview.