Next Generation Assessments: Student tools to support online testing are a focus of ongoing development for ATI

This year many school districts began using statewide assessments that were delivered entirely online. These next generation assessments require students to not only answer multiple-choice questions, but also to use digital tools to solve problems. Rather than answer a multiple choice question about a theme a student might be asked to actually highlight a passage in a text that describes that theme. They might be asked to sort words by the part of speech they represent or use a scientific calculator to compute the answer to a complicated math problem. These tools are intended to provide a richer and more authentic evaluation of the skill of interest.

ATI continues to develop features that support next generation online testing with Galileo technology enhanced (TE) items. A scientific calculator is under development and is scheduled for release in the next few weeks. Additional calculators are being developed and are planned for use at different grade levels. Other tools supporting online testing currently under development include strike-through, highlighting, the ability to take notes, and text to speech. These tools are scheduled to be available for use in the 2015-16 school year.


The scientific calculator may be made available selectively for use in desired assessments. Students will easily access the calculator from an icon in the top right of the assessment item.  

For more information about how ATI is supporting districts/charters implementing assessment including TE items, schedule a Galileo overview.

Galileo Technology Enhanced Items

Students across the nation are currently experiencing or will soon experience 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 the next generation of assessments, ATI is introducing the new forms of assessment in the context of digital curriculums that support instruction aligned to new and changing standards and provide opportunities to learn to respond to new forms of assessment.

Within this context, ATI has developed several distinct types of TE items to be introduced in Instructional Dialogs. These include the: multi-part item, selectable text item, sequencing item, expanded selected response item, performance-based item, and customized TE item. 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.

TE items are available in various subjects for kindergarten through high school with ATI item construction occurring at an accelerated rate of producing over 400 new TE items every month. TE items can be incorporated into formative, benchmark, pre- and post-tests, dialogs and in digital curriculums. Corrective feedback is available for many TE practice items presented in dialogs. Additionally, item level psychometrics can be established on the Galileo TE items on a continuous basis.  A sample of a customized TE item for kindergarten containing an audio recording can be viewed at: http://www.ati-online.com/testnew/G5StopSign/G5StopSign.html or by “Control” “Click” on the following graphic.


Technology enhanced item - click to play the sample item.

The development of ATI item types has been informed by SBAC and PARCC examples as well as by information from state departments of education. At a more basic level, they have been influenced by the new waves of technology forging the rapidly developing movement toward digital education. Consequently, the ATI TE item types reflect the wide range of TE items likely to be encountered on statewide assessments such as SBAC and PARCC.

TE items are designed to accommodate different levels of cognitive complexity. Those items that call for a single correct answer to a question requiring recall or recognition memory are used to assess knowledge and skills involving low levels of complexity. Items requiring the application of multiple interrelated cognitive processes are used to assess knowledge and skills reflecting high levels of cognitive complexity. The concept of cognitive complexity has important implications related to test-taking skills. The importance of test-taking skills derives from the lack of student familiarity with the new items. Lack of familiarity may increase the initial difficulty of TE items, which is why we believe that it is useful for students to become familiar with TE item types in an instructional environment. Instructional Dialogs provide the kind of instructional environment needed to introduce TE items.

To learn more about the benefits of technology enhanced items and digital curriculums.

Galileo Early Childhood Assessments for Kindergarten and First Grade

The ATI Early Childhood Assessments are designed to meet the unique assessment needs of children in kindergarten and first grade. ATI currently has one-on-one offline kindergarten assessments in English language arts, math, and science. Multiple choice tests are also available in kindergarten, first, and second grade.

Galileo online benchmark assessment series in early literacy and early math are available for kindergarten and first grade. The computer-presented assessments are aligned to Common Core and local state early elementary standards. Students are assessed on items aligned to the most up-to-date standards in a friendly, early elementary environment involving sounds and images. The early math assessments contain Technology Enhanced (TE) items designed to measure early math skills (e.g. adding and shape recognition). The use of TE items allow for easy assessment and quick intervention to ensure students are progressing in the development of their mathematical knowledge and skills.



EM-BAS assessments use technology enhanced items designed to measure students’ early math skills (e.g. adding, counting objects, shape recognition)

Contact ATI to learn more about early childhood assessments and to schedule a Galileo Overview.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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