Dive Brief:
- David Hutchins, vice president of state and local sales for CDW-G, writes for EdTech: Focus on K-12 that online tests can be safer and faster to grade, but schools need to be prepared to administer them.
- Strategies districts have undertaken to facilitate online testing include increasing bandwidth, buying new computers, improving network capacity and reliability and reinforcing security measures.
- When it comes to technology decisions, assessment consortia have made recommendations to districts based on what operating systems, internet browsers and versions of Java are not supported, as well as how best to secure virtual desktops.
Dive Insight:
The shift to online assessments created so many problems for districts that many states allowed paper-and-pencil versions of the exam to be administered in certain areas, while districts with the resources to offer online versions moved ahead with those. In Ohio, the Cleveland Plain Dealer recently reported a seesaw effect on scores based on which version of the tests students took.
Many districts have looked to the E-Rate program as a way to get discounted network upgrades and better prepare for online administrations. Some have made due by rotating students through a limited number of computer labs, which vastly expands the testing window but limits the required tech investment. As schools get further along with tech upgrades, online tests will eventually become as basic as their paper predecessors. The growing pains in the meantime, however, have been significant.
