Ohio to Institute Online Standardized Testing
April 5, 2014
Elementary school students in Ohio will make the switch to online standardized testing at the start of the 2014 school year. This method, designed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, is advertised as a better indication of students’ overall performance in mathematics, reading and a variety of other academic subjects.
The new tests, which have been under construction for the past two years, have already been implemented in most states around the country and are now undergoing trials in 2,000 select Ohio schools with students in grades three through eight.
According to Ohio Technology Integration Specialist Eric Curts, a main impetus for the switch is to unify the test and prevent variations across districts.
“We’ve had standardized tests forever,” Curts said. “Their purpose is trying to get a standardized take on how well students are achieving standards. But if you leave it up to each district then you have variations. Some districts will have a more difficult test than another. So all states want a tool like the SAT that gives a fairer representation of how students are achieving.”
Curts also said that the online tests diverge from the “bubble-filling” approach of current testing, allowing students to more aptly demonstrate their intelligence.
“[For] some of the questions it’s almost like you have to run a highly interactive experiment and draw conclusions between multiple answers,” Curts said. “It’s not just a simple question [like], ‘here’s this plus this.’ So it really shows a deeper understanding than previous tests.”
“I think it’s too soon to say if this is going to be better than just pencil and paper. But I think it has forced schools to start taking technology seriously. So if nothing else comes out of it, at least schools are updating devices and [will] be able to use computers and wireless in great ways in the future,” Curts said.
According to Curts, two other advantages of the new tests are reduced material cost and more straightforward score analysis. Although Curts trusts the intentions of the new design, many speculate about possible technological constraints.
Restrictions on the new testing system include the fact that many schools don’t have enough functional computers to administer the tests, and that many students aren’t taught how to use a computer, significantly hindering their ability to perform.
In light of these concerns, Curts said that he plans to make technological education one of his priorities.
“It’s been a big stress on schools because to take these tests online… you’ve got to have computers,” Curts said. “A lot of schools don’t have enough devices or connectivity. So my focus has been trying to help give students skills using computers. There [are] some schools where all the computers are old and no one uses them, and these tests require you to know how to use them. Plotting points, typing — these are things they’ll have to know, so they won’t [only] be graded on how smart they are but also how good they are with computing skills.”
Director of Professional Development and Assistant Professor of Education Nancy Varian said she believes that these tests have the potential to be helpful but aren’t
always a good tool to help struggling students improve their skillsets.
“I think one of the biggest concerns is that it’s become almost overkill. There are so many assessments being done, even at the kindergarten level,” Varian said. “The teachers don’t have time to teach. An other problem is that some assessments should be formative in nature, and used so teachers can figure out what they need to improve, but what happens a lot of the time is teachers don’t receive the results until much later. My personal belief is that that kind of formative assessment should be happening in class on a daily basis. The teacher should have access immediately, instead of a test that could take months to receive.”
Varian, whose son is an Ohio kindergarten teacher, said she agrees with Curts’s point that technology and wealth can be a big hindrance on the efficacy of tests.
“His student population is very diverse,” Varian said. “Some are poor, some affluent. So the poorer students have a lot of problems using computers. The ironic part is that other students are used to iPads, so they think they can just touch the screen. So now they have to learn to use a mouse.”
According to Varian, some of the more complex questions require plotting points on a graph or using an online protractor, as well as word-processing for written evaluations. But while the questions may prove challenging to some, others may find that they help them to increase their computer skills.
“I wouldn’t want computer skills to be a barrier. But at this point in time to be a successful college student and possibly [successful] in employment, you need to be computer literate. So if the testing is helping students to be more proficient in computers, it’s only to their benefit,” said Kent State University Director of Academic Services Lisa Hart.
The new tests are intended to be more rigorous than their written versions, as they are discarding the four-choice answer model.
“I admire the initiative,” Hart said. “I don’t see anything wrong with setting the bar high. I just hope students aren’t penalized for unrealistic goals in the short term. There needs to be incremental changes in the difficulty.”
The tests will be administered to 12,000 students in Ohio, who will be chosen at random in the coming days.
