Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Newest Galileo Technology Showcased in ATI’s Webinar Series

We know that you, as an educator, work every day to meet the goal of improving student learning. To help you reach that very important goal, we have created new technology for Galileo K-12 that is especially helpful to teachers and to curriculum and assessment coordinators. Our Field Services Coordinators are offering a series of live webinars to introduce you to these recent innovations. All webinars are recorded and can be a helpful resource for you and your colleagues.

View and share the webinars hosted by our Field Services Team and feature our newest technology including demonstrations of:
  • the Digital Curriculum Platform which enables you to input your current curriculum, build or revise curriculums, rapidly disseminate and implement your digital curriculum
  • the comprehensive assessment system including user-friendly interfaces enabling  you to use information from assessment data to both adjust your curriculum as needed and to establish intervention groups to receive differentiated instruction
  • the online assessment technology that enables us to build over 5,000 customized assessments each year containing various item types including technology enhanced items
  • the Student Dashboard that supports independent learning preparing students to thrive in and shape the future

Access all of these helpful webinars on the Resources page of our website.  For a personal online demonstration, contact us to set up a time and date that work best for you.  

Monday, December 19, 2016

Digital Curriculum Platforms in Data-Driven Educational Practice

Sensitive to the importance of incorporating dynamic digital curriculum with research-based assessment, actionable reporting, and effective instruction, ATI has developed the Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform. The fully integrated platform supports the easy integration of existing curriculum content, the development of new curriculum content, and the modification of curriculums as needed. Through the platform, districts and charters can disseminate and manage curriculum, facilitate data-driven instruction, engage students in multimodal interactive learning, and evaluate curriculum impact on learning outcomes. 

Recently at the Arizona Educational Research Organization (AERO) Annual Meeting in Phoenix, ATI Senior Research Scientist Dr. Sarah Estrada presented the key note address, “Research Questions Guiding Use of Digital Curriculum Platforms in Data-Driven Practice.” She discussed the digital curriculum implementation cycle and provided essential questions for educators to consider at each phase of the cycle. Examples of innovative data collection and evaluations tools were demonstrated showing how they support the functionality of the platform. Additionally, Dr. Estrada described how each stakeholder could benefit from the implementation of a digital curriculum platform. For example: 

  • Curriculum Developers can make periodic updates to curriculum, instructional resources, and assessments based on evaluation of content effectiveness and availability of new content
  • Educators can differentiate instruction, plan intervention/enrichment activities, and adapt assessment in real-time based on student mastery
  • Students can track their own progress and immediately see the impact of their efforts
  • Parents can evaluate student progress and focus additional support where it is most needed

Learn more by viewing the presentation slides.

For more information on how to join those districts already implementing the Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform, contact our friendly Field Services Coordinators.

Monday, December 12, 2016

ATI’s offers Galileo Civic Test Options

Arizona became the first state to require students to pass a Civics test in order to graduate from high school. Similar efforts are being made in other states. Students have to pass 60 of the 100 questions on the Civics test, which is based on the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization test. They can take it first in 8th grade and can retake it until they pass. There’s no limit to the number of times the test is administered.

Many of you are aware that ATI has been offering the Civics test for a while. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization test is an oral test but this format was not practical in the school environment. Originally, ATI wrote its own distractors for the multiple-choice questions, but after the Arizona Department of Education released four multiple-choice options for each question, we have incorporated those options.  

Civic Test Options
ATI offers two versions of the test: 1) only multiple-choice questions (108 items); 2) multiple-choice and educator-scored questions (100 items). The difference in length is due to the questions about the nine current U.S. Representatives for the state of Arizona. Questions 100-108 on the multiple-choice assessment ask about the representative of each of the nine congressional districts in AZ, while this is just one, educator-scored, question on the other version of the test. 

Requesting the Civics Test
It is helpful to specify which version of the Civics test you’d like when requesting the test. Multiple copies of this test can be provided. Please inform us of the quantity when making the version request. Because the test is subject to frequent changes related primarily to changes in office holders, it is not always prudent to make requests too far in advance. ATI can offer the test for review. 

Requesting Post-Election Tests
The 20th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that the new session of Congress begins on January 3 and the term of the President begins on the 20th day of January. As the Civics test asks these questions in the present tense, ATI will be replacing the questions that have been affected by the election at those times when the correct answer has changed. Clients interested in the post-election test can request the updated version on Friday, January 20, 2017. Please note that these will be new items and will not be updated on tests that have already been delivered. Because it is necessary to change the Civics test often, ATI will start placing the date of the last revision in its title. This procedure will ensure receipt of the most current version and help avoid confusion.

We hope this is helpful information. If you have any questions, contact us at edmgmtsvsgrp@ati-online.com.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Galileo Instructional Dialogs Offer Teachers Convenient Access to Instructional Resources

Galileo K-12 Online contains a vast body of instructional resources in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science in the form of Instructional Dialogs. Galileo Instructional Dialogs are customized, interactive, online instructional lessons and assignments that are aligned to standards and designed to provide practice and instruction to increase standards mastery. Each Dialog is a series of slides that can be used as a teacher-led lesson for the entire class or as an independent assignment used by a student or group of students. Dialogs are an excellent way to provide students with experience with technology-enhanced forms of assessment similar to those encountered on statewide assessments. Teachers have access to over a thousand Instructional Dialogs in Galileo developed by ATI’s experienced Assessment and Instructional Design team.


Additionally, Instructional Dialogs are an excellent time-saving resource for teachers. In Galileo, teachers can schedule existing Dialogs, build their own Dialogs, and even modify existing Dialogs to tailor them to their goals and students' needs. Dialogs built by one teacher can be shared with other teachers through Galileo K-12 Online. Dialogs can be assigned to individual students, entire classes, or district-wide. The flexible nature of Instructional Dialogs enables teachers to use them as a presentation-style lesson in front of the entire class, as a student-focused task in a lab or one-to-one computer resourced classroom, or even as an assignment outside of class for students with Internet access.




To learn more about using Instructional Dialogs, please contact our friendly and knowledgeable Field Services Coordinators.

Monday, November 28, 2016

ATI-Created Formative Assessments

ATI offers districts and charter schools libraries of pre-made assessments that may be used with students. Two examples of such libraries are the TE Formatives and the MAZE Reading Fluency Online test libraries. The TE Formatives library provides tests composed of technology enhanced items that assess one strand, concept or standard. The MAZE Reading Fluency tests can be used to measure students’ reading fluency and to track students’ growth in reading ability over time.

Once assigned to your district or charter, these formative assessments may be previewed and scheduled by teachers from their class calendar page.  

Contact ATI’s Educational Management Services Department to request access to the desired formative libraries at 800.367.4762 or EdMgtSvs@ati-online.com.  

Galileo Instructional Dialogs Offer Teachers Convenient Access to Instructional Resources

Galileo K-12 Online contains a vast body of instructional resources in reading/language arts, mathematics, and science in the form of Instructional Dialogs. Galileo Instructional Dialogs are customized, interactive, online instructional lessons and assignments that are aligned to standards and designed to provide practice and instruction to increase standards mastery. Each Dialog is a series of slides that can be used as a teacher-led lesson for the entire class or as an independent assignment used by a student or group of students. Dialogs are an excellent way to provide students with experience with technology-enhanced forms of assessment similar to those encountered on statewide assessments. Teachers have access to over a thousand Instructional Dialogs in Galileo developed by ATI’s experienced Assessment and Instructional Design team. 

Additionally, Instructional Dialogs are an excellent time-saving resource for teachers. In Galileo, teachers can schedule existing Dialogs, build their own Dialogs, and even modify existing Dialogs to tailor them to their goals and students' needs. Dialogs built by one teacher can be shared with other teachers through Galileo K-12 Online. Dialogs can be assigned to individual students, entire classes, or district-wide. The flexible nature of Instructional Dialogs enables teachers to use them as a presentation-style lesson in front of the entire class, as a student-focused task in a lab or one-to-one computer resourced classroom, or even as an assignment outside of class for students with Internet access.



To learn more about using Instructional Dialogs, please contact our friendly and knowledgeable Field Services Coordinators GalileoInfo@ati-online.com.

Monday, November 21, 2016

Seminar Recap: An Arizona First - The New Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform in Action

Thanks to all who attended, this informative and timely seminar was a big success. The event, which was co-hosted by Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) and ATI, provided a first-hand look at how Arizona educators are taking the lead in utilizing the teacher-friendly innovations of the new Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform. Attendees viewed presentations from the cohosts and engaged in the "Arizona Round Table Discussion" that included education leaders from CUSD, Crane Elementary School District, and Maricopa Unified School District. The round table participants provided their reasons for adopting the new platform along with discussing their experiences, successes, and next steps. 

Access to the presentation materials is now available. We invite you to view and share them with colleagues. For answers to any questions about using the Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform in your district or charter, email us or call 1.800.367.4762.

ATI’s Dr. Sarah Callahan Estrada kicks off the seminar with her presentation, “Technology Supporting Arizona Educators in the Digital Age.” 

CUSD presenters share their experiences of implementing the Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform.

Monday, November 14, 2016

ATI’s Item Writers Develop Numerous, High-Quality Items to Meet Your District Assessment Needs

Approximately 800 new high-quality items are added to Galileo item banks every month. This fete is accomplished by our experienced, in-house Assessment and Instructional Design team. The team of item development experts use ATI’s multi-stage process which is based in research and reflects industry best practices. The process takes into account principles of Universal Design and has been carefully designed to produce high-quality items including selected-response, technology enhanced, and constructed-response items as well as performance-based and project-based assessments. The item development process includes the development of item specifications, item construction, item review with certification, and field testing of items including empirical validation of item quality using Item Response Theory. 

ATI Multi-Stage Item Development Process
Stage 1: Item Specifications 
The first step in ATI item development is to review the standard and the component skill to be assessed. This skill is the starting point for developing an online list of item specifications defining the characteristics of a class of items to be written. Item specifications indicate the defining characteristics of the item class, the rationale for the class, and the required characteristics for each item component. Specifications might also address such factors as the cognitive complexity intended for items included in the specification class, the appropriateness of vocabulary, and Lexile® measure requirements related to readability levels. Item specifications may also be designed to align very closely to guidelines and released items from statewide assessments and assessment consortia (e.g., Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers [PARCC], Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium [SBAC]). The value of creating specifications as a guide for the item development process is recognized as a critical part of a process documenting that assessments are reliable and valid indicators of the ability they are intended to measure (Haladyna, 2004). Their structure and specificity also afford many advantages for ensuring that item specifications may be readily evaluated for purposes of mapping items to new or changed standards. 

Stage 2: Item Construction
After specifications have been written, items are constructed corresponding to the specifications using the online Bank Builder utility. Bank Builder includes features that promote item quality. For example, images constructed using Bank Builder conform to size and resolution standards that yield items that are visually suited to online and offline administration. Similarly, fonts available in Bank Builder are chosen to work across platforms, for readability both onscreen and in printed material. 

Stage 3: Item Review and Certification
The initial review process for item specifications, items, and item families occurs in-house and is composed of ATI review of the item specification, ATI review of the item (and passage/text if applicable), revision (if needed), and finally item certification. The item review process continues once a certified item is made available for use in an assessment. Items placed in district designed assessments are subjected to review by each member of the district’s review team during the test review process. The district may suggest item changes, if desired. The combination of a multi-material (specification, item, and item family) multi-step internal review accompanied by continuous external review by educators provides a rigorous approach to evaluation producing assessments that meet local needs and that are highly effective in forecasting and guiding instruction toward standards mastery.

Stage 4: Field Testing Items
ATI through Galileo supports multiple approaches to field testing items based on the specific goals for the field test. As one option, ATI through Galileo supports the development and administration of field test assessments including the desired field test items. As another option, Galileo supports the inclusion of new items on district assessments as soon as they are developed (i.e., within the same school year). This approach accommodates district needs related to the rapid development and delivery of new items in response to statewide assessment changes (e.g., deployment of new item types) and district feedback/requests (e.g., wording or formatting changes to more closely match instruction). Regardless of the approach, ATI can conduct IRT analyses to evaluate the characteristics of field tested items (e.g., discrimination, difficulty, pseudo guessing [where applicable]).

Access the Multi-Grade TE Items Sample for a look at some of the items that have made the cut. 

Schedule an overview to learn how Galileo can meet your specific district/charter assessment needs. 

Haladyna, T.M. (2004). Developing and validating multiple-choice test items. Mahwah, NJ. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.


Monday, November 7, 2016

The Clear Choice: The Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement and Effectiveness System

Districts and charters across the country have identified Galileo K-12 Online as their clear choice for a high-quality, standards-based, and research supported instructional improvement and effectiveness system. The system provides an array of curriculum, assessment, instructional effectiveness, and reporting tools. Use of Galileo facilitates advancements in teaching strategies, assessments, and implementation of instructional effectiveness initiatives. ATI offers educators key technology and services including:
  • Standards-aligned item banks for teachers including a large array of technology enhanced (TE) item types
  • Multiple types of classroom and district assessments to both support and measure student learning
  • IRT-based Developmental Level (DL) scale scores that go beyond raw scores.
  • Dashboards for all:
    •  Teacher Dashboard linking actionable data to instruction
    •  Admin Dashboard supporting effective leadership
    •  Student/Parent Dashboard portal increasing engagement and learning
  • Support for intervention/enrichment activities for all students
  • Staff experienced in education, content development, measurement, evaluation research, software programming, and web design

Experience Galileo for yourself. Learn first-hand about Galileo K-12 Online: 

Monday, October 31, 2016

Now Live: New Admin Dashboard replacing School Performance Dashboard

Galileo dashboards, including the newly released Admin Dashboard, provide all stakeholders access to intervention tools that assist in improving student achievement. The Admin Dashboard, one of the exciting recent innovations from ATI, contains all of the functionality of the School Performance Dashboard it replaces. It also offers one-click accessibility, responsive design, efficiency, integration, smart technology, and convenience. These features support ease-of-use and accessibility from a variety of devices ensuring that tasks can be easily completed at any time and from any location. The Admin Dashboard supports the monitoring of student growth and achievement along with providing intervention activities at the school- and district-level. 


 Quick access to intervention tools are found in Galileo Admin Dashboard.

Learn more about the Galileo dashboards by scheduling a Galileo Overview. Contact one of our friendly Field Services Coordinators to experience Galileo for yourself.

Monday, October 24, 2016

Save the Date for our Fall Seminar! An Arizona First: The New Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform in Action

Join us Monday, November 14 at 1:00 pm in the Chandler Unified School District (CUSD) Boardroom for an exciting, complimentary seminar providing a first-hand look at how Arizona educators are taking the lead in utilizing the unique innovations of the new Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform. The seminar, co-hosted by CUSD and ATI, is part of a continuing series bringing educators together to share insights about the integration of research, technology innovations, and educational practice to empower all stakeholders. The seminar will include presentations from CUSD and ATI as well as an “Arizona Round Table Discussion” including education leaders from Chandler Unified School District, Crane Elementary School District, and Maricopa Unified School District. Round table participants will discuss their reasons for adopting this new platform along with discussing their experiences, successes, and next steps.

During the seminar, ATI will provide an overview of the Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform which readily handles the District/Charter inclusion and modification of their existing and new curriculum content. Users have quick access through the platform to curriculum content consisting of Instructional Units defining curriculum scope and sequence and offering a variety of resources. Each Unit is designed to hold a series of online Instructional Dialogs enabling the development/delivery of instruction and assessment. Curriculums within the platform may include multimedia content, technology-enhanced lessons, and formative assessments. The platform, offered through Galileo for no additional cost, provides intuitive technology including search features as well as on-demand access to instruction and assessment resources such as those from ATI, EngageNY, and KHAN ACADEMY® supporting the integration of instruction and assessment as a natural part of the teaching and learning process.

The seminar will conclude with a questions and answers session. Light refreshments will be served.

Register today to join us for this enlightening seminar. 
Learn more  

Monday, October 17, 2016

Expansion of Technology Enhanced Items


To assist Assessment Technology Incorporated (ATI) district and charter school partners in preparing students for statewide assessments incorporating item types using online technology, ATI is continuing to expand our offering of  technology-enhanced (TE) items. ATI is producing TE items for use in secure district-wide assessments as well as content for formative uses that can be included in instructional materials, quizzes and class tests to allow students and instructors to become familiar with these new item types.

The item types available include

  • multi-part items that engage students in supporting and explaining answers
  • selectable text items that support close reading and analysis of text
  • sequencing items that demonstrate knowledge of sequential and procedural elements
  • short answer items that allow students to type in a response that is automatically scored
  • observational items that enable teachers to score observed performances or demonstrated skills
  • expanded selected-response items that measure students abilities to recognize multiple correct answers or approaches to solve a problem
  • customized TE items that incorporate manipulation, graphing, grouping, audio components and other forms of interactivity including:
    • interactive coordinate planes
    • interactive linear and volume measurement
    • interactive classifying
    • interactive ordering
    • interactive graphing and charts
    • interactive labeling
    • audio items for early grades
    • Maze passage items
    • dropdown editing

ATI TE item types include items modeled on released item examples, and innovative designs from our professional staff of experienced item writers. Our writing staff has added 14,000 TE items to the bank and continues to add 400 TE items per month to promote student proficiency with these item types.
For a demonstration of these item types please contact ATI Field Services.

Monday, October 10, 2016

New Teacher Dashboard Now Live, Admin Dashboard Coming Soon

All stakeholders have access from Galileo Dashboards to intervention tools that assist in improving student achievement. ATI is in the process of making a number of exciting enhancements to the Galileo K-12 application including to the Teacher Dashboard and Admin Dashboard (formerly the School Performance Dashboard). These enhancements benefit users by offering one-click accessibility, responsive design, efficiency, integration, smart technology, and convenience. 

Many educators are looking for a quick method to access enrichment and remediation activities. The new Teacher Dashboard, now available to all districts, makes it easier than ever for teachers to access actionable assessment information along with recommendations for student groupings, targeted standards for differentiated instruction, and links to standards-based instructional materials (e.g., Instructional Dialogs, materials from KHAN ACADEMY®). This can easily be done via recommendations in the Instruction Performance Tracker and the Intervention Alert Reports. As shown in the following screen shot, both reports are accessed via drill-downs from the Teacher Dashboard

View a brief tutorial covering the new Teacher Dashboard also access it and other videos from YouTube.
View a 30 minute webinar on Galileo's enhanced interfaces.

Teacher Dashboard - click to enlarge



Revisions to the Admin Dashboard are nearly complete and will be released soon. The Admin Dashboard supports the evaluation of student growth and achievement, along with intervention activities at the school- and district-level. The Admin Dashboard will include similar enhancements found in the Teacher Dashboard to help improve the ease-of-use and accessibility from a variety of devices. The following screen shot offers a peek inside the new Admin Dashboard

Admin Dashboard - click to enlarge


Contact a friendly field services coordinator for a demo or further information.

Monday, September 26, 2016

Positive Impact of Galileo Use in Blended Learning Described in WestEd Report to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Galileo K-12 Online provides clients with a complete educator-friendly online instructional improvement and effectiveness system. The system includes a broad range of online modules designed to promote student learning via rapid and flexible access to assessment, curriculum, reporting, instructional, intervention, and educator effectiveness tools. Galileo assists users in establishing local goals, assessing goal attainment, forecasting student performance on state assessments, and using assessment information to guide instruction, enrichment, and professional development. In addition, the fully integrated Galileo Digital Curriculum Platform makes it possible to effectively and efficiently coordinate instruction, assessment, communication, and collaboration in ways that promote student learning. 

ATI is proud to share that the positive impact of Galileo use was described  in the recently released report to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Blended Learning and Data Use in Three Technology-Infused Charter Schools. The report describes research conducted by WestEd and examines how the use of technology in the blended learning environments of three Arizona charter schools serving populations of challenged middle and high school students impacted teaching and learning activities. All three schools implement Galileo K-12 Online. Read the full report to learn more or schedule a Galileo Overview, today.  Link here to learn about WestEd's key findings.

Click to enlarge.

Monday, September 19, 2016

Galileo Item Banks are Robust, Standards-Aligned, and Frequently Updated

Our Assessment and Instructional Design staff have extensive experience aligning item banks and curricular materials to rapidly changing standards. We are well-positioned to remap items, assessments, and instructional materials to support the adoption of new state standards. This allows educators to find the items they need in Galileo® that will engage students in complex thinking to promote college and career readiness, evaluate standards mastery with high levels of rigor, and prepare students for success in responding to the types of items they will encounter on statewide tests.

Galileo item banks in total are comprised of over 70,000 items (including more than 13,000 technology-enhanced items), and are among the largest secure (district level) and community (class level) item banks in the nation for use in math, reading/English language arts (ELA), science, and writing assessments in grades K-12. ATI content specialists create new items continually (on average about 800 new items per month). 

Unlike systems delivering static item banks validated with a single student sample at a single point in time, Galileo items are developed and psychometrically validated on an ongoing basis. Item types include selected-response (e.g., multiple-choice, true/false, yes/no), constructed-response (e.g., essay with scoring rubric, short answer), and technology-enhanced (e.g., selectable text, multi-part, expanded selected-response, sequencing, interactive, customized technology-enhanced) items as well as performance-based tasks/assessments. All Galileo items and passages/texts are created, aligned to standards, placed under review, and then certified for use according to strict guidelines. Each item is classified in multiple ways (e.g., grade level, standard, Depth of Knowledge [DOK] level). 

Standards-Aligned Item Types in Galileo K-12 Online
Selected-Response
True-False
Short Answer
Essay (with scoring rubrics)
Extended Selected-Response
Multi-Part Item
Sequencing
Selectable-Text
Interactive Coordinate Planes
Interactive Linear and Volume Measurement
Interactive Classifying
Interactive Ordering
Interactive Graphing and Charts
Interactive Labeling
Maze
Drop-Down Editing
Audio and Video
Observational
Performance-Based (with scoring rubrics)



Plus, with our partnership with Key Data Systems (KDS), we are able to offer access to the KDS Inspect® item bank and a suite of over 300 pre-built assessments. The Inspect item bank is comprised of over 33,000 items for ELA (K-12) and math (K-12). In addition, science (4-HS) and history/social studies (5-HS) are also available. 

Schedule an overview to learn more about Galileo’s extensive item banks.

Monday, September 12, 2016

Use the Galileo Assessment Planner to Easily Design Customized Assessments

Galileo includes multiple easy-to-use assessment creation interfaces designed for district, school and class level users. In addition to the multiple types of pre-built assessments comprising Galileo, ATI develops more than 5,000 unique assessments each year reflecting district curriculum, district pacing guides, and/or statewide test blueprints. Customized district-wide assessments are designed for districts/charters by our Educational Management Services and Research staffs in collaboration with district/charter staff. 

Customized assessments are completed with ATI’s innovative online Assessment Planner. The Assessment Planner is an easy-to-use, point-and-click interface that enables district/charter staff to actively participate in the design of district-wide assessments aligned to standards and sequenced according to district/charter curriculum and pacing guides. The Assessment Planner dramatically reduces the time it takes for district/charter staff to create the customized assessments. For example, the Assessment Planner enables staff to easily: 

  • determine the number and timing of assessments; 
  • indicate the specific standards covered in instruction and targeted for inclusion on each assessment, and;
  • indicate the number of items desired for each standard covered on the assessments.


The Galileo Assessment Planner saves educators time while providing the desired flexibility in assessment creation.

Using Assessment Planner, assessments may be designed to include a variety of item types including constructed-response items (e.g., essays). Once completed, assessments can be administered online or offline with plain paper or high speed scanning.  For more information on the Assessment Planner contact your dedicated Field Service Coordinator. 

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Webinar: Explore New, Streamlined Enhancements in Galileo K-12 and the K-12 Student-Parent Center

We at ATI have made several enhancements to Galileo K-12 Online interfaces which provide benefits to users at all levels. Join us September 14 at 2:00 pm EDT for a complimentary webinar offering a brief overview of the robust features of Galileo focusing on new interfaces including a streamlined menu bar and an easy-to-use Teaching Dashboard. These latest enhancements were designed specifically with teacher use in mind. It is now easier than ever to build and administer curriculum materials and assessments as well as to access data which can inform next instructional steps to promote learning. Additionally, participants will view the redesigned student testing interface through the K-12 Student-Parent Center. The sleek interface is designed to easily communicate information between students and teachers and between teachers and parents. Communications to students and parents can focus on curriculum and instruction including scheduled lessons and assignments, on assessments and assessment results, and on instructional resources for home use. The enhanced K-12 Student-Parent Center Dashboard includes user-friendly icons, responsive design accommodating use on various screen sizes, search capabilities, and the integration of Google Translate.

Register for the complimentary webinar today!




Districts and charters have the option to begin using the new Teaching Dashboard now or later in the year. Learn more about making the switch during the September 14 webinar.

Monday, August 29, 2016

K-12 Online Help Files

Galileo K-12 Online help is within reach. When working in Galileo K-12, just click the User Options/Help menu and select Help. With a click of the mouse or a finger tap on a tablet you have a wealth of information to help you use Galileo effectively and efficiently.  


Whenever Galileo K-12 is enhanced, the online help files will have the most up-to-date directions. From the online help files you can quickly access links to FAQs such as:
How do I…
  • analyze data?
  • view a roster?
  • administer a test?
  • create a test?

If you prefer, you can use the Search tool to immediately access a topic. Just type the desired search words in the Search box on the right side of the page or click the magnify glass icon on the left side then press enter. The results will show you everywhere the word(s) appear in the help files.

Many industries have their jargon and abbreviations. Education is no different. ATI has included a Glossary to help you understand key words and concepts referenced throughout the application. Click the book icon located in the upper left corner and locate the term along with the definition.


Once you have accessed the desired topic, you can follow the directions, print out the directions, open quick reference guides and view videos. 

Monday, August 22, 2016

New 2015-16 ATI Research Briefs Assist Pre-K Programs to Interpret Developmental Level (DL) scores

Galileo Pre-K is a reliable and valid assessment tool that can be used to define, assess, and track learning. ATI applies procedures based in Item Response Theory (IRT) to information gained through observational assessment to estimate a measure of child learning called the DL score. The DL score indicates a child's position on a developmental path and provides information about which capabilities the child has learned and which capabilities the child is ready to learn. Each year, ATI conducts research to evaluate how a child's DL score relates to both a child's age as well as to the time a child is enrolled in a preschool program. The results of the research are summarized in the following two research briefs and can be used to gauge child growth. 

  • Estimated Growth for Children Birth through 5 Years Based on 2015-16 Assessment Data: The change in the DL score over time can be used to evaluate child growth. ATI's research may be used to estimate child growth for various time periods. This information can be used by early childhood providers to evaluate whether children are demonstrating adequate growth over time. Read the full brief. See sample excerpt of data below.


  • Predicted Developmental Level Scores for Children Birth through 5 Years Based on 2015-16 Assessment Data: ATI conducts annual research that can be used to predict the DL score for children at various ages. Early childhood providers can use the up-to-date information provided by this research to evaluate whether children are progressing appropriately over time relative to their peers. Read the full brief. See sample excerpt of data below.

Access more research briefs by ATI, click here

Thursday, August 11, 2016

Ready to Use! New Galileo Menu Bar and Teaching Dashboard

Galileo's two newest interfaces are now live. ATI is excited to provide the streamlined menu bar and Teaching Dashboard each offering a fresh look and enhanced functionality. The new interfaces offer many user-friendly features such as one-click accessibility, responsive design, efficiency, integration, smart technology, and convenience. The new menu bar is being used by everyone at this time. Districts and charters have the option to begin using the new Teaching Dashboard now or later in the year. We encourage you to preview the new Dashboard and see for yourself how easy it is to both build and administer curriculum materials and assessments as well as to access data to inform next instructional steps for promoting learning.

Several resources are available to help guide you through interacting with the new interfaces including:

  • Easy to follow instructions on how to preview the Dashboard
  • A webinar demonstrating the efficiency of both interfaces, and 
  • Quick reference guides (QRG) offering step-by-step illustrations of the menu bar and Teaching Dashboard

Teaching Dashboard user friendly interface.


Monday, August 1, 2016

Ensure that Your District Assessments are Ready When Needed!

At the beginning of each school year, ATI recommends that districts and charters contact their ATI Educational Management Services (EMS) coordinator to begin the assessment planning process. EMS staff will help district/charter personnel to create a comprehensive assessment plan that addresses their goals and that answers questions such as:

  • How many benchmarks assessments will there be during the year?
  • When will benchmark testing occur?
  • Which subjects and grade levels will be tested?
  • Should technology enhanced items be included on assessments? 

EMS staff works closely with district personnel to ensure that the resulting benchmark assessments are of the highest possible quality. Of course, quality requires time so we ask that you please allow for a 2 week delivery window for pre-made assessments and a 6 week window for assessments aligned to district curriculum

Email or call 1.800.367.4762 to speak to an EMS Coordinator today and get the process started.