Essay on Strategies for Improving MAP Scores

Like most technology being adopted in education, computerized testing has the potential to improve individual student learning. That should be the Southern Reynolds County School 's goal when it selects a new Internet-enabled state test. The move will represent years of study and a desire to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. It will also position the school as the first educational institution in the nation to embrace a technology-based testing system that measures academic growth. The district, Ellington in Missouri will be one of a handful of districts that will be early adopters of the computerized system.

Like virtually every state, Missouri relies on traditional paper-and-pencil standardized testing tools--the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) and the Test of Achievement and Proficiency (TAP)--as primary indicators of school performance. However, these types of tests do not adequately show academic growth; that is, whether a child is being effectively taught what he or she needs to grow and what instructional methods can be used best to achieve that growth. So, we had to find a new tool to address these things, especially considering that growth will likely be the most important measure in meeting the goals of the new education law. Also, since school districts in Missouri began taking advantage of technology long ago, they wanted to investigate whether they could use that technology for their testing. (Edmondson, 2000)

To study the needs and identify potential solutions, the Missouri Department of Education formed an Assessment and Accountability Commission of five educators and five representatives of the state's business community. The commission's charter was to review and offer recommendations for statewide testing procedures that provided data to assess what's being taught, as well as assure individual student learning and growth............................

ESSAYS ON TECHNOLOGY