ATI has You Covered with Comprehensive Assessment Options

Whether you need a benchmark or a computerized adaptive test, Galileo® K-12 Online has you covered with its full range of assessment options. As an all-in-one instructional improvement and instructional effectiveness system, Galileo offers a comprehensive assessment system including not only benchmark and computer adaptive tests but also formative, screening and placement tests, plus interim and final course examinations, pretests and posttests, early literacy benchmarks, and instruments documenting instructional effectiveness. Additionally, ATI item banks are aligned with both Common Core and state standards and now contain selected-response, constructed-response, and technology-enhanced item types reflective of planned consortium assessment approaches.

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Cumulative Tests

Educational testing has increased dramatically in recent years. Both the number of student assessments and the types of assessments provided for students have grown extensively. These changes have produced significant challenges for the testing industry and for schools implementing assessments. In the past, test development was a slow process controlled in the main by test developers. Today, rapid ongoing test development driven by continually changing educator needs is the norm. The result is an accumulation of tests comprised of many closely related assessments administered to many groups of students at many different times. 

The demands associated with the construction of high quality assessments in the current educational environment are significant. In many cases the number of students taking a test is too small to support adequate psychometric analyses. Test length is also a major issue. Tests that take longer than one class period to administer pose a scheduling challenge for schools. Yet, tests administered in one class period often do not provide the degree of measurement precision that can be obtained from a longer assessment. In addition, short tests typically provide only limited coverage of the underlying ability that the test is designed to measure. For some time now, ATI has been working on a new cumulative approach to test development, test scoring, test analysis, and test reporting. 

A cumulative test is typically thought of as test that covers the full range of content in a course of study. Aside from the range of content covered, a cumulative test is like any other test. That is, it is one test given to a group of examinees at one time. The cumulative construct being addressed by ATI expands the definition of a cumulative test. A Cumulative Test, as it is conceptualized in this is typically comprised of many tests, administered in many sessions to many groups of examinees on many occasions across an extended time period. A Cumulative Test is assumed to measure a single latent ability. However, sets of items on the test may also reflect specific factors in addition to that ability. In the limiting case, a Cumulative Test will include two tests administered in two sessions to two groups of examinees on two occasions. A given examinee can be expected to respond to some number of test items, but not all of the items comprising the test. To qualify as an examinee, an individual must respond to at least one item on the test.

The introduction of Cumulative Tests into educational assessment produces many potential benefits.  A Cumulative Test makes it possible to use all of the available data for parameter estimation. The responses of all students responding to a given item can be considered in estimating parameters for that item. Cumulative Tests provide an increasing amount of data as time passes. Thus, the precision of estimates of ability improves as students respond to an increasing number of items. A Cumulative Test provides massive amounts of information that can be used to guide instruction when a large number of items are included in the assessment. A Cumulative Test has the potential to improve forecasting accuracy because it facilitates the use of all of the available data in making the forecast.  Cumulative Tests support the measurement of growth from customized assessments aligned with district curricula because they provide extremely broad coverage of the knowledge and skills to be acquired through instruction. 

Given the many advantages of the cumulative assessment paradigm, it is reasonable to expect that the use of Cumulative Tests will expand in the years ahead. The availability of technology in schools is likely to play an important role in that expansion. As technology availability increases, assessments providing information to guide instruction can be expected to become an integral part of the instructional process. As this increase occurs, Cumulative Tests, which are designed to guide instruction, can be expected to take their place as a new and useful assessment tool uniquely positioned to serve changing educational needs that have emerged as the world has entered the information age. 

Innovative Technology Supporting Innovative Education

ATI is committed to continuous innovation - evident through a number of existing patents and several pending.  During the past year, ATI has built hundreds of new features into Galileo Online, provided at no additional cost to all clients. This fall ATI will release a complete Instructional Effectiveness System, again at no additional cost to Galileo users. The system includes three components:

• comprehensive assessment providing reliable and valid measures of student progress used to determine the value added to student performance by each educator being evaluated;
• educator rating scales built using ATI assessment planning, item banking, scale construction, and Item Response Theory (IRT) technology making it possible to accommodate customized scales that can be continuously updated to improve rating scale validity; 
• an Evaluation Score Compiler combining and differentially weighting indicators of student progress, educator proficiency, and surveys of school climate to produce an instructional effectiveness score for each educator being evaluated.

Dashboard technology puts control of the evaluation process continuously under district guidance.  Data on student performance, teacher proficiency, and school climate are provided automatically, thereby reducing the burden of gathering evaluation data while assuring continuous availability of data.

The comprehensive assessment component provides continuous feedback to guide professional development during the school year while there is still time to make a difference in student learning.

There are a number of ways to learn first-hand about Galileo K-12 Online. You can:

• visit the ATI website (ati-online.com)
• participate in an online demonstration by registering either through the website or by calling 1.877.442.5453 / 520.323.9033 to speak with a Field Services Coordinator
• visit us at 
• Missouri School Boards’ Association in cooperation with Missouri Association of School Administrators Annual Conference September 28 and 29 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach, Missouri.
• Massachusetts Computer Using Educators and Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Annual Technology Conference October 24 and 25 at the Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts.

We look forward to talking with you online and at events.

Assessment Component in Galileo K-12 Online

Assessment is a central component of the Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement System (IIS). The purpose of the Galileo IIS is to provide management tools that can assist educators to promote student learning. The comprehensive assessment component includes both benchmark and formative assessments along with many other forms of assessment, including placement, computerized adaptive testing, and instructional effectiveness assessments.

Galileo’s assessment component is intended to inform instruction aimed at promoting the mastery of standards reflecting valued educational goals. Currently the standards selected to guide instruction are generally state, local, or in some cases Common Core State Standards. If benchmark and formative assessments are to be effective in informing instruction, it is essential that the relevant standards be reflected in item construction and assessment design. Assessing students using items that do not reflect the standards in use by the district brings to question the validity and accountability of the assessment system and the student achievement data it provides.

As Haladyna notes,

The use of a test that is poorly aligned with the state’s curriculum and content standards, coupled with test-based accountability, results in test scores that may not be validly interpreted or used. (Haladyna, 2004 pp.9-10).

The Galileo assessment component is effective in informing instruction and developing assessments because it:

• adheres to industry standards for item construction and assessment design;
• provides information on student mastery of standards;
• provides recommendations on what to teach next;
• is capable of forecasting standards mastery as reflected in statewide assessment performance;
• is capable of assessing the varying levels of knowledge reflected in the standards guiding instruction;
• is sensitive to diverse background characteristics of students that may affect student performance;
• provides local control of assessment specifications providing efficient measurement of standards targeted for instruction;
• reflects standards that maximize the visual quality of items and ensure that items are appropriate for both online and offline administration; and
• estimates and evaluates item parameters through a continuing research program.

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

Emerging Technology for Common Core State Standards

Implementing Common Core State Standards in your district can be made easier by utilizing technology tools for testing and reporting. As the trend moves toward tailoring content to individual students, with assessment data providing educators a gauge of where students’ knowledge growth is at any given time, there is an increased need for a comprehensive assessment system.

To support Common Core State Standards implementation effectively and efficiently, a comprehensive assessment system should include a variety of standards-based assessments, each serving different but complimentary purposes. Within a Common Core State Standards comprehensive assessment system, results from a variety of standards-based assessments should be placed on a common scale – making it possible to compare results over time and create a more complete picture of standards mastery.

The next generation comprehensive assessment system within Galileo K-12 Online is capable of providing an array of Common Core State Standards-aligned assessments. These include:

• Pre-built and district customized interim benchmark assessments: Inform instruction and predict student risk of not meeting standards measured by statewide tests.
• Formative assessments: Provide information on student learning and the impact of intervention as a part of daily teaching and learning activities. 
• Standards-aligned pretests and posttests: Measure academic progress over an extended period of time and support state legislative instructional effectiveness initiatives.
• Screening instruments: Help identify students at risk for learning problems.
• Placement tests: Inform grade-level placements and advanced course placements. 
• Multi-Stage Computer Adaptive Testing (CAT): Provide efficient measures of academic proficiency and help support targeted instruction and response to intervention initiatives.
• Observational assessments: Provide measures of student capabilities as they are demonstrated in the environment in which those capabilities are used.
• Final course and summative assessments: Provide measures of student mastery of specific course content.
• Test arrays: Small item sets administered on separate occasions and combined for reporting. Ideal when it is not convenient to administer a long test on a single occasion. 
• Dialogic assessments: Instruction-embedded online assessments making it possible to use assessment information to rapidly adjust instruction and to track instructional outcomes. 
• ASK Technology: Allows for automated importation of assessments initially built outside Galileo. Once assessment is imported, ASK offers the capability of aligning to standards, automated scoring (selected-response items), reporting, and data aggregation. 

Experience Galileo K-12 Online during an online overview and see how it provides a better way to address your goal of raising student achievement. To register, visit the Assessment Technology Incorporated website (ati-online.com), call 1.877.442.5453, email GalileoInfo@ati-online.com, or visit us at the following events:

• Colorado League of Charter Schools and Assessment Technology Incorporated free seminar, “Galileo K-12 Instructional Improvement System: Supporting Colorado Educational Initiatives with Comprehensive Assessment” May 16 at the Colorado League of Charter Schools, Conference Room, Denver, Colorado. Click here to register.
• 43rd Annual CASE Conference July 23 through 27 at the Beaver Run Resort, Breckenridge, Colorado. 
• Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents Annual Executive Institute July 11 and 12 at the Mashpee High School, Mashpee, Massachusetts.

Benefits of a Comprehensive Assessment System

A well-designed comprehensive assessment system includes different types of assessments to serve the needs of students from preschool to grade 12. The Galileo K-12 Online next generation comprehensive assessment system is part of a fully integrated, standards-based instructional improvement system, offering comprehensive instructional and assessment tools.

Comprehensive assessment system benefits:

• Changes the way assessments are used in education by providing increased information to guide instructional decision-making.
• Places results from a variety of assessments on a common scale. The use of a common scale makes is possible to directly compare results from different assessments, offering a more complete picture of academic accomplishments.
• Increases assessment efficiency. In the Galileo K-12 Online comprehensive assessment system, a technology platform common across assessment types is developed to facilitate implementation of the system. The platform includes artificial intelligence routines that guide the construction, review, publication, security, scheduling, administration, and scoring of tests, plus psychometric analyses, reporting, and the provision of actionable decision options.
• Provides system monitoring tools making it possible to guide system implementation. These tools include information regarding when tests have been constructed, reviewed, revised, and delivered. Monitoring information also provides data on the extent to which different types of assessment are used. This information can be used to guide a customized assessment plan.

Galileo K-12 Online assessments and reports accurately forecast student performance on statewide assessments.

Galileo K-12 Online assessments are reliable and provide consistent estimates of student ability.


Galileo K-12 Online reports indicate whether adequate growth rates were achieved within each district, school, or classroom.


Galileo K-12 Online Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analysis and reports support Instructional Effectiveness initiatives.


Experience Galileo K-12 Online during an online overview and see how it provides a better way to address your goal of raising student achievement. To register, visit the Assessment Technology Incorporated website (ati-online.com), call 1.877.442.5453, email GalileoInfo@ati-online.com, or visit us at the following events:

• Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE) 12th Annual Winter Leadership Conference February 2 and 3 at the Westin Hotel, Westminster, Colorado.
• Colorado League of Charter Schools (CLCS) 18th Annual Conference February 23 and 24 at the Omni Interlocken Resort, Broomfield, Colorado.
• California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) 19th Annual Conference February 27-March 1 at the Sacramento Convention Center, Sacramento, California.
• Watch for details about the upcoming Common Core webinar to be hosted by WestEd and Assessment Technology Incorporated on February 29.