Multimedia Enhancements

A busy summer is transitioning to a busier fall for all of Assessment Technology Incorporated’s (ATI) Assessment and Instructional Design team. A key component of that increase in production is the development of new technologies and item types to promote authentic, engaging, and interactive assessment of students’ abilities to address new priorities in state standards assessment and instruction.

ATI has been a leader in developing innovative assessment tools, instructional materials and educational management systems. As we transition from the current state standards to each state’s customized version of the Common Core State Standards, we are developing resources that enhance and expand our ability to provide educators with valid and reliable measures of student performance. These resources allow teachers to put these measurements to use, informing instructional approaches to develop students’ skills.

Projects begun over the summer are bringing enhancements to the interactivity of our Instructional Dialogs, innovative item types, and assessment of early literacy.

One area that provides a natural opportunity for student interaction through technology is in our science content. Computers, models, and student involvement are all components of successful science instruction.

Students are able to review the parts of the skeletal system by pointing to each part.

This activity is available now in the fifth-grade Dialog bank.

In “Weather Maps and Symbols (Interactive)” students can review again, but they are also able to design their own maps from the forecast.

Students can make multiple maps to practice their use of the weather symbols.

This activity is available now in the fourth-grade Dialog bank.

In expanding the assessment of crucial early literacy standards, content designed by English Language Arts Content Specialists now integrate audio technology and student controlled listening items to focus on these fundamental skills.

These assessment items use recorded directions and narration to guide students through skills involving phonemic awareness and text-response for students who are not yet reading fluently. Being audio items, it’s hard to convey their function through images; you can find them in Galileo’s Early Literacy assessments for K-2. Please contact your Field Services Coordinator to schedule these assessments.

Finally, we are in the initial stages of development of items that allow students to take online tests that allow them to answer questions, not by choosing an answer, but by performing the tasks to show mastery and answer the question directly. These items are slated for piloting in 2012.

These new tools will offer our partners in education the ability to assess students beyond multiple-choice and written responses, enabling students and teachers to interact with the Galileo Instructional Improvement System even more directly.

One skill which is useful in all subjects is sequencing. The following examples give students the ability to order the information as required by the standards.

Sequencing events in a text is also a common standard across many grades.

Labeling is another skill appearing in multiple content areas. The example below is being developed for life sciences

Measurement also benefits from this interactive approach to the assessment of student skills.

Students are able to move the ruler, align it properly, and record their measurement in standard or metric units.

The development of assessment items that move students beyond multiple-choice, and enable them to manipulate information to demonstrate understanding and mastery of required concepts and skills is a priority for ATI. Emphasis on nationwide efforts to refine standardized assessment is also a priority. We look forward to sharing further instructional and assessment enhancements over the coming weeks.

Start the School Year Right with Galileo

Here in Arizona, it certainly still feels like summer, but the start of a new school year is upon us. When preparing for the start of your school year, keep the following things in mind for an easier transition.

Data Uploads

As you prepare your 2011-2012 program year data for import, please remember the following important points:

1. Be sure to include all 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.
• Any omitted optional data can be imported at any time throughout the program 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 student information system, 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.

Need help? Contact ATI’s IT staff through any of the following methods:
Contact Us
1.800.367.4762
GalileoDataImport@ati-online.com

Assessment Planner

ATI provides guidance and ongoing recommendations to assist in the planning, construction, and review of district assessments through its Assessment Planner and Educational Management Services staff. Used by districts to help ensure assessments meet district needs, the Assessment Planner is particularly useful when determining what standards to asses, test length, and test delivery dates.

Learn how your district can benefit from the Assessment Planner and other Galileo tools by registering for a K-12 online overview. If you’re currently using Galileo, contact your Field Services Coordinator to learn more about the tools Galileo brings to you.

One Test, Many Uses

“Help! I’m stuck between my administrators who want to use the December benchmark as a predictive and my teachers who want to use the December benchmark as a summative semester final. What can I do?”

One single benchmark, if created appropriately, can serve both purposes.

How?

As we all know, every state is required to have a list of standards students at each grade level need to master. It is the district’s responsibility to make sure that every child masters these standards by the end of the school year. In order to ensure this goal is achieved, most districts provide pacing guides to teachers in order to keep both teachers and students on pace to master all standards by the end of the year. These pacing guides identify which standards are supposed to be taught at what point during the year. The benchmark assessments are then created based on the district pacing guide.

The ideal benchmark assessment should be between 35-50 items long and have no more than five items on one specific standard. Using the standards taught during the first half of the year can provide both a reliable predictor of students’ progress towards mastery of the state standards and a valid summative assessment for what students were taught in the classroom. The question then becomes how do teachers take the results of these benchmark assessments and translate them into grades?

The answer to this question depends on the district’s philosophy for grading. The easiest and most straight forward is the use of a standards-based grading system. This method of grading provides information as to whether a student has mastered a standard or skill or where he or she is at in developing the skill. Information on this can be obtained using the Galileo Intervention Report.

It becomes slightly more complicated using a traditional method of grading. The one thing to keep in mind is that in order to provide accurate ability estimates for students at all ranges of ability, it is important that there is a range of difficulties on the items and that even the student at the highest academic levels is challenged. As a result, the raw scores themselves cannot be depended upon to represent the level of growth and success students have actually demonstrated. One example is an assessment where the average raw score percentage was 46 percent, yet students demonstrated an average growth of 20 points on their Developmental Level scores. Teachers and districts can easily keep these facts in mind and make the appropriate alterations in the grading scale when actually assigning traditional grades.

Karyn White, M.A.
Educational Management Services Director

Computerized Adaptive Testing Pilot

Increase measurement precision this fall by piloting Computerized Adaptive Testing (CAT) - a form of assessment in which administered items are selected based on the ability levels of the students. Initial item selection is typically based on the assumption that the test taker is of average ability; subsequently selected items are based on ability estimates obtained from preceding responses. This approach optimizes precision by increasing the selection of items that are neither too easy nor too difficult.

The Galileo Computerized Adaptive Testing Pilot is an integral part of ATI’s next generation comprehensive assessment system. Engineered by ATI’s Research and Development and Assessment and Instructional Design teams, Galileo Computerized Adaptive Testing and the entire comprehensive assessment system are completely integrated into ATI’s Galileo K-12 Online Instructional Improvement System.

Integration within Galileo ensures that educators, administrators, and specialists have easy and rapid access to the full range of innovative assessment, reporting, curriculum, and measurement tools provided all within one system. ATI’s comprehensive assessment system is part of our ongoing commitment to “think ahead” so that school districts and charter schools can continuously build their own capacity to lead change in ways that enhance the quality and impact of education on our nation’s children and youth.

ATI's approach to Computerized Adaptive Testing is explored in greater depth in Composition of a Comprehensive Assessment System.

"The Media Generation"

“Without question, this generation truly is the media generation, devoting more than a quarter of each day to media. As media devices become increasingly portable, and as they spread even further through young people's environments—from their schools to their cars—media messages will become an even more ubiquitous presence in an already media-saturated world. Anything that takes up this much space in young people's lives deserves our full attention.”

— Kaiser Family Foundation

For school age children, television and video are the medium of choice, and harnessing the power of the medium for learning is of interest to educators. With the reach of digital technology, the possibilities for adaptability and delivery are at their highest point.

Though people may ask, isn’t watching a video strictly a passive activity that turns children’s brain to mush? Simply put, no. According to Dr. James Marshall, a faculty member in the Department of Educational Technology at San Diego State University, evidence shows that “active television viewing by a child is not a simple response but a complex, cognitive activity that develops and matures with the child’s development to promote learning” (Marshall “Learning with technology: Evidence that technology can, and does, support learning.” 2002 p.7).

But, just watching a TV show isn’t the answer, content and context are key. A video presentation is multi-modal by nature, not only linguistic, like a textbook, but also aesthetic, logical and narrational which appeals to a wide range of learners. Great, though how do you use video most effectively in the classroom? The answer is integration. Research has indicated that positive outcomes occur when the video is integrated into the rest of the lesson (Corporation for Public Broadcasting. (2004). Television goes to school: The impact of video on student learning in formal education.) This addresses one of the main criticisms of video in the class, that it’s just filler, passively taking the place of the teacher. When it’s integrated into classroom learning, being an active participant in the lesson, then positive outcomes can occur. One of the most obvious ways this can be done is to show relevant video presentations to the lesson. For instance if you are teaching Shakespeare, after the students read Romeo and Juliet, watch a well-preformed stage presentation that is authentic to the play. Upon reading the play, the students will have their image, then watching the actors’ presentation it will broaden their understanding of it. You can also show experiments that can’t be done in the classroom, not only hear but watch important moments in time, go around the world, and take impossible field trips, like inside the human body with a 3D animation.

That all seems pretty obvious, but there are other ways video can be utilized in the classroom. How about recording classes? Teachers can put together their own course material with the footage, giving the students a self-paced resource that can be especially useful if they need to review a topic. This material, or other video lectures, can also be assigned as homework, so what was traditional homework is now done in the class. For instance, have the children watch a video on how to do quadratic equations at home, and then in the class do math problems. This encourages interaction, gives the teacher more one on one time with the students (a higher student to teacher time ratio) and moves away from the “one size fits all” approach to lectures.

Assignments that are fun for the students can also be created. For example, if the assignment is a research paper, give the students an option to do a video. For instance, if the assignment is on WWII, they could create a news report by playing a reporter and using media from public domain sources like archive.org. If it’s an assignment on creating instructions, give them an option to do a cooking show, and they can make their favorite snack while showing the steps.

Long gone are the days of carting in a 16mm film projector from the school’s AV department for a filmstrip presentation. Today, video can be used in many facets of everyday education. Click here to see how video is integrated into Galileo Online’s Instructional Dialogs. Hint, it’s near the end.

Advantages of Cloud-Based Computing for Educational Systems

“Cloud computing” is a common but often misunderstood phrase, both in its meaning and the benefits thereof. In simple terms, cloud computing refers to the performance of computer work using Internet-based (“hosted”) services. For the curious, this use of the word “cloud” originated in technical flowcharting where the cloud symbol was first used to represent the telephone network and later, the Internet.

There are three general categories of cloud computing: Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). PaaS and IaaS both present Internet-based “environments” enabling users to combine related functions into a single integrated, Internet-hosted service.” SaaS is a simpler (and the most popular) form of cloud computing. With SaaS, a service provider such as ATI (typically) offers subscription-based access to software built and deployed by the provider. In using ATI’s Galileo Online, much data is entered primarily by school teachers, administrators and students; however, the “service” component of SaaS is clearly evident at ATI with staff members updating item banks, importing Student Information System (SIS) data, importing and exporting statewide test and Galileo data, and generating and scheduling Instructional Dialogs, and several different types of assessments – all on a daily basis.

The benefits of cloud computing are increasingly apparent as the number of cloud services increases, and Galileo Online has been providing a cloud-based Instructional Improvement System (IIS) since 1999. When deciding whether to invest in a cloud-based service of any sort for your district, school or Head Start program, consider the following benefits:

1. COST SAVINGS: Educational systems are able to deliver applications without a heavy investment in hardware, software, or increasing the burden on an already-taxed (and possibly shrinking) IT staff. Where a locally-hosted application may require purchase of one (or more) servers, software licenses, and related hardware, cloud-based solutions require only the Internet connection and desktop computers for individual users. SaaS can also enable educational systems to more effectively deal with growth or increasing student populations without requiring additional hardware (or staff to support new hardware).
   
   Another contributor to the cloud computing return on investment (ROI) is the possible extension of the desktop life cycle. As the number of software packages running directly on the desktop decreases, the ability to extend the life of a desktop system by one or more years increases.
   
   One final cost benefit is in the area of greener computing: power consumption. To deploy locally-hosted roles (such as SIS or IIS) requires possible addition of application servers, data servers, disk arrays and associated hardware for each new role. It’s realistic to expect three or more additional power-hungry devices per locally-hosted role. When using SaaS, the client-side hardware requirement is reduced to just networking equipment.
   
   
2. IMPROVED APPLICATION TIME-TO-DEPLOYMENT: With any new service implementation, planning and training precede deployment. With locally-hosted solutions of any centralized information system such as an SIS or IIS, additional time must be factored to include hardware budget cycling, scoping, purchasing and configuration. This can extend deployment by six months or more, depending on challenges faced during hardware configuration. If the student population grows or implementation is expanded for other reasons, IT departments may discover that a mid-cycle hardware upgrade is necessary, increasing costs and lowering ROI.
   
   
3. REMOTE ACCESSIBILITY: The demands on educators are trending similarly to the rest of the workforce – they are ever-increasing, requiring greater efficiency and availability of both teachers and administrators. Lesson planning, grading, exam construction, and data mining- tasks such as these are frequently performed on personal time and from home or other locations outside the school. Remote access capabilities are not unique to SaaS, but SaaS allows educational systems to fulfill this need without exposing networks to the associated security vulnerabilities. Data security is a natural concern with any cloud-based service, but this is effectively dealt with by SaaS vendors like ATI employing user authentication, Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) data transfer encryption, and hardware firewalls to filter network traffic.
   
   
4. HANDS-FREE UPGRADES: Software is upgraded for several reasons. Security and stability improvements are two of the main reasons, but feature-addition and refinement are also important reasons to upgrade software. In a locally-hosted client-server model, IT staff must coordinate and install upgrades provided by the vendor - and occasionally respond to the fallout, should the upgrade cause confusion or introduce bugs. The desktop-based model, where user data is stored on individual computers, poses an even greater commitment from staff because the upgrade must be staged and somehow deployed to every client computer running the software. Cloud-based service subscribers enjoy the benefit of every upgrade provided without any client-side installation. Galileo Online subscribers enjoy an added benefit - not only do software upgrades become available immediately, but content upgrades are immediately available to users immediately upon publication as well (there’s that “service” again). Teachers not only enjoy the benefit of scheduling resources shared by other users within the school/district, but they also have access to ATI’s expanding library of 900+ Instructional Dialogs and 80,000+ test items immediately upon publication by the Assessment and Instructional Design staff at ATI.
   

These are just a few of the benefits offered by cloud-based computing. Of course, it is not without certain challenges I will discuss in a future post. Are you already a Galileo Online user or working with another vendor, and enjoying the benefits of SaaS, PaaS or IaaS? If not, what concerns do you have about jumping “into the cloud?”

ASK Technology: Supports Schools in Managing All Assessment Content in One System

How are you planning to access and maintain all of your assessment content? School systems are investing heavily in assessment and instructional content in order to meet educational challenges of the information age. It is critically important not to fall behind and for schools to be able to integrate all of their assessment resources to promote student learning. ASK Technology by Assessment Technology Incorporated makes a significant contribution to this goal by making it possible to access and maintain all of a school’s assessment and instructional content in one system.

ASK Technology enables users to utilize Galileo with previously created assessment content and makes it possible to align the items in the test to standards, schedule online or offline test administration, and automatically score results. By making external assessment content available in Galileo K-12 Online, ASK assessments are ideally suited for end-of-chapter quizzes, mid-term and final exams.

Online administration occurs in a computer lab or with response pads. Test booklets and automatically generated answer sheets can be printed to support offline administration. The full range of Galileo reports are available for ASK assessments. Moreover, ASK items can be viewed in Galileo reports along with items created in Galileo.

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

• visit the Assessment Technology Incorporated website (ati-online.com)
• participate in an online overview by registering either through the website or by calling 1.877.442.5453 to speak with a Field Services Coordinator
• visit us at the
  o the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents’ 17th Annual Executive Institute July 13 through 14 at Mashpee High School in Mashpee, Massachusetts;
  o the Arizona Association of School Business Officials’ 58th Annual Conference and Exposition July 20 through 23 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort, Tucson, Arizona; and
  o the Colorado Association of School Executives 42nd Annual Conference July 26 through 29 at the Beaver Run Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado.
  

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