April 2004 — Editorial
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Technology's Role in Accountability and Assessment
Alternatives. We should have alternatives in how we measure student progress and in having various measurements count in a state's accountability system.
Holism. Never before have we so tightly connected goals (i.e, standards), curriculum and assessment than we are doing today, and assessment is the key. With technology tools, we can have levels of analysis for individual students, campuses, districts, states and the nation that can help us understand everything from individual student learning to the impact of programs.
Stakeholders. Using technology to publish assessment results on Web sites or protected sites for individual student results, we can communicate with parents every day, not just once a semester at parent-teacher conferences.
Long-term view. This is one thing we are sorely lacking, as our focus is only as far as the next state assessment. See the recommendations below.
Vision. There are a number of visions for assessment out there. Peter Robertson, Cleveland Municipal School District's CIO, envisions a data warehouse where daily assignments and short cycle formative assessments come together to form a robust picture of a student that is matched to standards. John B. Watson, Ph.D., provides a piece of his vision in this month's Industry Perspective.
So, what must we do to apply this futures perspective? First, we must realize testing companies are market-driven; they will do what their customers want. If the states and federal government want technology in testing, the companies will provide it. From the policy perspective, we need to look first to the federal government — the driver of the accountability movement — to provide flexibility, as well as short-term and long-term research:
Flexibility. The U.S. Education Department needs to provide more flexibility to the states in designing their own accountability systems.
Short-term research. Those states using online testing should not only be allowed to continue, but they also should receive funds to study all aspects of the experience. They should look at implementation concerns such as those outlined by McHenry et al. (Page 28), as well as costs, impact of the technology on results, etc.
Long-term research. If the federal government is truly interested in helping students learn more with accountability as a hammer, it should fund research to learn more about visions such as those presented by Dr. Watson, author of the Industry Perspective.
As noted earlier, companies, districts and schools are using technology in a variety of innovative ways. A research effort would accelerate and make acceptable the use of technology with all kinds of assessment. It would also benefit all of education. So, what are we waiting for?
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