ATI: Creating, Distributing, and Supporting Technology to Promote Learning

Since 1986 ATI has made it our mission to support educators through the use of research-based, innovative technology. For those of you who have wondered how ATI continues this mission year-after-year, please take a moment to browse our goals. As you will see, we take our opportunity to support today’s educators very seriously. Thank you for your interest in our company and services.

ATI Goals

• To continue an unwavering track record of technological innovations that began in 1986 and that supports educational initiatives.
• To sustain evolving, comprehensive educational technology that provides a single place to access curriculum, assessment, reporting, monitoring, and instructional effectiveness measurement tools. 
• To create web-based technology and provide electronic services that: assist teachers and administrators in managing learning effectively. 
• assist learners in acquiring new knowledge and skills. 
• assist educators in the delivery of curriculum aligned to academic standards and learner needs. 
• provide customized assessments aligned to standards to inform instruction and document learning outcomes. 
• provide curriculum tools and resources to support stakeholder efforts in providing standards-based educational opportunities. 
• provide rapid and flexible access to data used to document learning outcomes and to inform educational policy.
• collect data as part of a locally-designed instructional-effectiveness initiative that can be used both to inform  instructional and professional development decisions made throughout the course of the year and to identify proficiency levels of teachers and administrators at the end of the year.     
• To advance the state of knowledge through research and development designed to improve assessment and instructional technology aimed at promoting learning.
• To provide scalable training paradigms making it possible for educational groups of any size to learn to use technology to promote learning. 
• To provide state-of-the-art technical support when and how educators need it, across platforms and across the country. 
• To provide responsive service when and how educators need it so that users receive maximum benefit from the electronic services provided by ATI. 
• To promote the establishment of partnerships among teachers, parents, administrators, practitioners, and policy makers dedicated to improving the quality of education. 
• To provide professional growth opportunities for individuals utilizing technology and for our staff that will enhance their ability to make significant contributions to the improvement of education.

Webinar, June 18: Galileo® K-12 Online and Insight 360™: Bridging student learning, assessment, instruction, and reporting

Galileo K-12 Online and Insight 360: Bridging student learning, assessment, instruction, and reporting
Hosted by Assessment Technology Incorporated (ATI) and eInstruction
Time: 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. MST / 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT
The webinar is complimentary.

ATI and eInstruction have teamed up to offer an innovative, technologically advanced partnership that transforms the classroom into a dynamic, 21st century learning environment. This solution builds on the combined strengths of Galileo K-12 Online and Insight 360 in ways that further empower teachers as educators and students as learners with quick and easy access to actionable data, powerful reporting, and innovative instruction.

This integration makes it possible to use assessment information to guide classroom instruction, enrichment, intervention, and professional development in alignment with the goals of Common Core State Standards and educator effectiveness initiatives.

Learn more
Register

Complimentary webinar: Galileo Pre-K Online Innovations Supporting School Readiness in Head Start

Head Start defines school readiness as children possessing the skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary for success in school and for later learning and life. The Head Start approach to school readiness is designed to ensure that children are ready for school, families are ready to support their children's learning, and schools are ready for children. This complimentary webinar, hosted by Assessment Technology Incorporated, will illustrate new, innovative and research-based tools in Galileo Pre-K Online. These advances are designed to support the efforts of Head Start educators to meet Head Start Program Performance Standards and the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework requirements for establishing school readiness goals and implementing plans to support the success of programs, children and families in achieving those goals.

Date: June 11, 2013
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. MST / Noon - 1:00 p.m. EDT
Presenters:
Jason K. Feld, ATI Vice President Corporate Projects
Michelle C. Larson, ATI Preschool Special Projects Coordinator

Learn more and register.
For more information, click to view Galileo Pre-K Online website.

Community Assessment and Item Banking Initiative Professional Development Offerings

The Community Assessment and Item Banking (CAIB) Initiative provides a way for users to develop and to share both assessment items and assessments for use in evaluating student capabilities in areas not tested on statewide assessments. As part of the initiative, ATI is offering professional development to prepare educators for developing high-quality items and is providing services related to assessment development and data analysis. Participating districts are provided access to a continually growing repository of shared, district-written, high-quality items and customized assessments in areas not currently addressed on statewide tests.

CAIB Professional Development Modules:
Professional development supporting the CAIB initiative consists of a series of three modules that guide districts through the process of developing high-quality assessment items and assessments. The first module introduces participants to the Galileo item writing and review tools and guides districts through the process of writing items for their own use. The second module takes participants through a guided review of the items they have written. Participants in this training refine their review skills and help contribute vetted items to the shared Community Item Bank. Module Three is offered online and on an ongoing basis to district staff members who have completed the first two modules and as the district wishes to refine and expand on the items available for district and community use.

To schedule a professional development session:
On-site (Modules One and Two) and webinar instruction (Module Three) is arranged through the ATI Professional Development Department. Up to 40 participants may take part in on-site sessions held at a district-provided computer lab. Sessions are booked on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact a Professional Development staff member at 1.877.442.5453 or at ProfessionalDevelopment@ati-online.com for additional information, pricing, and to reserve a date.

For more information:
View Professional Development Community Assessment and Item Baking Initiative

Mathematics Content for Common Core State Standards

Traditional expectations for students studying geometry frequently take forms such as:  "What is the perimeter?"; "Which angles are congruent?"; "Find the volume." While proficiency with procedural skills retains its importance in the Common Core standards for mathematics, understanding of procedures involved in calculations has acquired increased importance. In the introduction to the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics we read:

Mathematical understanding and procedural skill are equally important, and both are assessable using mathematical tasks of sufficient richness.

One hallmark of mathematical understanding is the ability to justify, in a way appropriate to the student’s mathematical maturity, why a particular mathematical statement is true or where a mathematical rule comes from.

Although the new emphasis on understanding is evident throughout the Common Core standards, in some cases it is particularly prominent. We find good examples in two related high school geometry standards G-GMD.1 and G-GMD.2. These standards direct students to an understanding of the volume formulas that they have learned to recite, write, and apply. Mastery of these standards requires students to be familiar with Cavalieri's principle.

Mathematicians have used Cavalieri’s principle (not necessarily under this name) for thousands of years. It finds its way to school as an essential element of high school geometry only now. ATI believes that Instructional Dialogs can aid both students and teachers (and even parents) in working with Cavalieri’s Principle. To this end, we have developed two dialogs devoted to this fundamental concept.  One is a teacher version, which contains supplemental notes and insights to prepare teachers for content delivery. The other is a teacher-student version, containing the same instructional content but designed for use with groups of (or individual) students. These dialogs were carefully crafted to build upon geometric concepts students are already expected to understand, and the questions posed are articulated to assess understanding of Cavalieri’s principle as well as the ability to apply it.

These published dialogs are introductory in nature. In the near future, ATI plans to publish related dialogs to address the role of Cavalieri’s principle in explaining or proving volume formulas.

We are pleased to present these tools, and trust they will prove useful in teaching a potentially-challenging topic.

Need Assistance?

ATI provides various avenues for our users to get help within Galileo® K-12 and Galileo® Pre-K.

Help Icon
ATI has recently introduced widget technology within the Galileo K-12 environment. Widgets display information graphically, such as charts or tables, and invite you to act upon the presented data in various ways, such as quickly drilling down into further information or completing information in a form. When you click the Help icon located within a widget, a reference guide opens in a new window. The guide walks you through utilization of that widget.

Help Menu
From every page within the Galileo application, you can access the Help link on the gold menu bar in the header. Galileo’s Help menu provides users with step-by-step directions on using Galileo.

Within the Galileo Pre-K environment, additional resources are available to support teachers and program staff in using the Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum. Resources in the Help menu include:

• Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum Guidebook, a comprehensive resource for teachers.
• Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum Materials List, including a checklist for classroom materials recommended for use with the Galileo G3 classroom activities.
• Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum Storybook List, a list of storybooks recommended for use in the Galileo G3 classroom activities, including recommendations for Spanish and bilingual storybooks.
• Galileo Pre-K Online Curriculum Creating and Using Interest Centers handout, to guide teachers as they create interest centers in their classroom.
• Galileo G3 Assessment Scale Alignment with the Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework and Galileo G3 Assessment Scales Alignment with Your State document (as of today there are 37 state alignments plus the Common Core alignment for Math and English/Language Arts.

Tech Support
The Tech Support page may be accessed from every page within the Galileo application; you just need to click the Tech Support link on the gold menu bar in the header. On this page there is additional supporting documentation as well as a Technical Support phone number and electronic form. The form can be completed if the issue is not urgent; ATI personnel will contact you within a business day.

Within the Galileo environment, additional resources are available to support teachers and administrative staff in using the Galileo. Resources in the Tech Support menu include:

• Galileo Pre-K and Galileo K-12: Startup Support Kit
• Galileo K12:  Building Reliable and Valid Benchmarks,  Online Test Administration Manual for District-Wide Assessments,  and Offline Test Administration Manual for District-Wide Assessments

Forum
The Professional Development Forum provides all Galileo users the opportunity to share their experiences, ask questions, and obtain professional development assistance (training manuals, quick reference guides, and videos) from experts at ATI. This is an electronic, user-driven discussion board. Registration is free and only takes a minute. The forum creates an online community for educators, where ideas can be shared and support can be found. The Forum may be accessed from every page within the Galileo application; you just need to click the Forum link on the gold menu bar in the header.

E-Mail
You may always contact ATI via e-mail and ATI personnel will contact you within a business day (or even sooner!)

General questions may be directed to support@ati-online.com.

Questions specifically on professional development opportunities can be directed to professionaldevelopment@ati-online.com.

For users who may have data import and/or export questions e-mail galileodataimport@ati-onine.com. 

Phone
You may always contact ATI during regular business hours at 877.358.7616 in the Mountain Standard time zone.

Professional Development Opportunities

ATI’s Professional Development team offers both onsite and online professional development sessions. Professional development session participants receive materials detailing all topics covered in the session. To learn more about the K-12 professional development opportunities, visit http://www.ati-online.com/galileoK12/K12ProfessionalDevelopment.html; Pre-K professional opportunities can be found at http://www.ati-online.com/galileoPreschool/PreProfessionalDevelopment.html. You may also e-mail professionaldevelopment@ati-online.com or call 800.367.4762.

ATI Releases Research Brief: Categorical Growth Analysis – A Method Involving the Repeated-Measure T-Test

ATI releases a research brief summarizing current research on Categorical Growth Analysis, a statistical method involving the repeated-measure t-test written by Sarah Callahan, Ph.D., Research Scientist with ATI.

As part of the growing implementation of instructional effectiveness initiatives, districts and schools have expressed a need for information about the growth of students for which each teacher and principal is responsible. To be useful, student growth must be estimated based on valid, reliable student assessments and categorized via robust statistical approaches. Via the Galileo® K-12 Online Instructional Improvement and Instructional Effectiveness System (IIIES), ATI provides districts/schools with a wide variety of valid, reliable assessments including instructional effectiveness (IE) pretests and posttests as well as integrated statistical approaches designed to provide districts/schools with precise information about student growth.

This research brief describes and illustrates the underlying method for one of the statistical approaches developed by ATI to provide information about student growth, Categorical Growth Analysis. Categorical Growth Analysis enables educators to evaluate growth throughout the year. Information about student growth can be accessed along with information about student achievement in Galileo reports and used to guide professional development, student intervention, and other activities. Categorical Growth Analysis supports a fair, constructive approach to educator evaluation that evaluates educators against a defensible standard while providing every educator with the opportunity to succeed. This brief also summarizes the results of a simulation study evaluating the appropriateness of the method underlying Categorical Growth Analysis for a wide range of possible datasets.

Read the full Research Brief.