A Primer on the Common Assessments

The following article is about a Webinar I participated in and comes from Curriculum Matters and was Posted: 30 Nov 2011 12:42 PM PST

It would be quite an understatement to say that there is intense interest in the common assessments.

Judging by the outpouring of participation and questions we had for our webinar on the topic yesterday, people in the edusphere are craving a whole lot of information that isn't really available yet and are anxious about the many unresolved questions. That makes sense, of course, given the stakes that will be riding on the tests when they become available in 2014.

The presenters were Laura Slover and Joe Willhoft, leaders of the two assessment consortia, PARCC and SMARTER Balanced, respectively. They walked participants through the basics of their test-design ideas and reported on where the projects stand and what we can expect in the months ahead. (The webinar and accompanying Power Point presentations are available on a special page of our website. You'll see that if you were a registered participant in the webinar, you have to log in to see the archived webinar. If you didn't register, you have to do so in order to see the archived presentation.)

In the hour we had, we were able to ask Willhoft and Slover only a small fraction of the questions that inundated us before and during the webinar. A sampling of the questions, though, offers interesting insights into what's on people's minds, and the broad range of people who are watching this work very keenly.

Among those listening in yesterday were curriculum, assessment, technology, and content-area specialists from school districts and state education departments; superintendents, principals and classroom teachers; representatives of major education publishing and testing companies; folks from a wide range of advocacy groups; college professors and high-ranking university administrators.

There were long-range policy questions (How will the consortia be funded once the $360 million in Race to the Top funds runs out?) and nitty-gritty implementation questions (Can calculators be used for the PARCC math assessment? What are the plans for essay scoring?).

There were questions that suggested a need for clarification of the assessment dialogue itself, such as this one from an assistant superintendent in a school district: "Is the term 'interim' synonymous with 'benchmark'?" And this one: "What is the difference between formative assessment and classroom instruction?"

Unusually large numbers of questions fell into several key areas, though. One was how the new assessments will be accessible to students with disabilities and those learning English. Another was a vein of concern about districts' and schools' technological capacity to move to large-scale online assessment.

Yet another probed the question of comparability: With two assessment systems, will you really be able to compare the performance of students in a PARCC state with that of students in a SMARTER Balanced state? Another cluster of questions sought clarification of how the tests will be used by higher education: Will they be used for admission? What about for course-placement purposes?

Answers to these buckets of questions are worth listening to for yourselves; some are more nuanced than others, and all are clearly influenced by the early stage of the work.

Another bucket of questions focused, of course, on concrete details about the tests themselves (When will we be able to see prototype test items? When will the test blueprints be available?). The consortia's timelines offered some answers there. But clearly, folks are anxious for far more concrete information than what is currently available. We'll do our best to bring that to you as we get it. But that gap between standards and assessments is not a comfortable place for states, districts, schools, and teachers to find themselves.

- Catherine Gewertz

Archipelago Learning Acquires English Language Learning Provider Alloy Multimedia

Executing on Strategy to Offer Teachers a Comprehensive, Fully Digital Supplemental Solution

Archipelago Learning, a leading subscription-based, software-as-a-service provider of education products, announced recently that it has acquired Houston-based Alloy Multimedia, publisher of ESL ReadingSmart, an online, standards-based program for English language learners (ELL), for $2.0 million in cash, and the founder will receive a royalty on future net sales of ESL ReadingSmart. The transaction closed on June 24, 2011.

"We are excited to complete the acquisition of Alloy Multimedia and its flagship product ESL ReadingSmart, and welcome Clara Rojas and her team into our organization. ESL ReadingSmart is another high quality, rigorous and engaging product to add to Archipelago's portfolio, and enables us to better meet a growing need for our customers," said, Tim McEwen, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for Archipelago Learning. "We continue to take the necessary steps toward delivering on our strategy to become a leading provider of digital supplemental education by offering a comprehensive suite of products."
He went on to say, "There are approximately six million English language learners enrolled in K-12 schools in the U.S. annually, and that number has grown by nearly five percent per year. We believe a compelling online ELL product that is simple to implement and use, is engaging, and actually works, will serve as an invaluable tool to help teachers improve the English language proficiency and academic performance of these students."

Clara M. Rojas, Founder of Alloy Multimedia commented, "We are enthusiastic about becoming part of the Archipelago Learning product set and family. English language learners are a growing and underserved student-base. With Archipelago Learning, a proven digital education provider with a robust sales and marketing infrastructure, we will be able to offer ESL ReadingSmart to millions of students across the U.S."

Launched in 2002, Alloy Multimedia publishes ESL ReadingSmart, an online, standards-based program for English language learners targeted toward grades 4-12. The product offers individualized, content-based instruction to develop English language proficiency with emphasis on literacy and academic language development for newcomers, beginners, intermediate, early advanced, and advanced English learners. ESL ReadingSmart is currently used in approximately 350 schools, primarily in Texas.

We plan to fully integrate Alloy Multimedia into Archipelago Learning this year with six employees joining our operations. Mark S. Dubrow, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Archipelago Learning commented, "We view this strategic opportunity to enter the ELL market as an effective use of free cash flow to enhance shareholder value. We anticipate that this acquisition will be accretive in year two."

Archipelago Learning Unveils Enhancements to its Study Island Digital Lessons

Archipelago Learning a subscription-based software-as-a-service provider of education products announced the release of Study Island’s Fall enhancements that include mobile optimization, new games, interactive flash animations and enhanced lessons

In a release, Tim McEwen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Archipelago Learning said, “Districts and schools are under immense pressure to improve student performance, while dealing with severe budget constraints and changing state and federal accountability mandates.”

“With the launch of these enhancements, educators using Study Island have the latest customizable digital education tools to increase student learning and improve academic performance, all in one affordable, easy to use web-based solution,” McEwen added.

According to company sources these new enhancements are expected to help educators and students enjoy easy access to a better learning experience. It will also showcase how Study Island makes the print-to-digital transition affordable and easy for schools. Study Island is actually a high impact, low cost educational solution offering standards-based instruction, practice, assessment and productivity tools.

Besides being very useful for K-12 students and their teachers this updated offering will be suitable for use on mobile devices such as iPad, iTouch, and iPhone besides Android tablet and smartphone devices.

This enables teachers and students to easily access Study Island lessons, activities, and reports from any connected mobile device, emphasized officials.

The new lessons will come with easier navigation, and new videos, slide shows and interactive animations that are sure to increase engagement and reinforce academic concepts. Study Island’s new animations will feature interesting characters, for 2nd through 5th grade math and English language arts that will facilitate individualized, self-paced instruction or whole-class instruction on interactive whiteboards.

Study Island ensures that the lessons and activities are designed to suit individual state standards and Common Core State Standards. The lessons offer fun-based and engaging content in math, reading, writing, science and social studies.

Also the real-time reporting on student performance will help teachers to differentiate instructions using a research-based content bank that encompass more than 440,000 unique items which will prepare students for state assessments. The product also includes tools for parent communication and professional development added officials.

In related news a recent report published by education market research firm Simba Information reveals that the highly competitive PreK-12 landscape will go digital soon owing to budget constraints. The study shows that the digital courseware segment will drive the PreK-12 school market, growing 34 percent to $1.43 billion by 2014.

If The Test Doesn’t Matter To The Student, How Does It Matter At All?

With most Kentucky schools on Spring Break this week, I have some time to ponder and here is one this that has been on my mind since KERA started as the first high-stakes test in Kentucky:

If The Test Doesn’t Matter To The Student, How Does It Matter At All?

In other words, why would we assume a student will do their very best on a series of high-stakes tests over several days if the student has no stake in the result? Why would adults invest so much time, effort and money when students have no vested interest?

In my high school for the very first KERA Test, we immediately devised a way to tie the student’s effort to their classroom grade and we were a “Rewards” school every year until they scrapped the “Rewards” program.

But, if students know the results of their assessment efforts won’t be known until the next school year when they are in a different grade and/or school, what incentive do they have to really try their best? Now, I would assume that many, if not most, students will probably put forth a real “good-faith” effort but, I can definitely envision a significant number of students that, especially when they get into succeeding days of testing, don’t try so hard.

And, the older they get, the more they sorta figure this out – a very possible reason why scores drop in middle school and high school! I think the End-of-Course (EOC) exams coming to high schools next year will have a definite impact on this phenomenon. Maybe, folks should explore similar approaches in lower grades.

The idea of having a quick turn-around in accessing results is also very appealing to me. Maybe, one day we will have a computer-based assessment that can provide real-time results for a major part of the test so students’ current teachers can get results on their students while they are still in their class.

Ideas? Comments? Suggestions? Concerns?

Archipelago Learning Wins 2011 Stevie(R) Awards for Best Customer Service Team

Archipelago Learning has been chosen as a winner of the 2011 Stevie® Awards. For the second consecutive year in which the company has been eligible, Archipelago Learning was selected as Best Customer Service Department – Public Service and Education. Additionally, the company received the People's Choice Award for Favorite Customer Service – Public Service and Education, a new award added this year.

Archipelago Learning, Creator of Study Island and Northstar Learning is a leading subscription-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of primary, elementary, secondary and post-secondary education products.

Now in its fifth year, the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service is the world's leading sales awards, customer service awards, and call center awards program, recognizing organizations and individuals for their recent achievements in these disciplines. The awards are governed by a board of distinguished judges and advisors that includes many leading business figures. The Stevie Awards organization also hosts the prestigious American Business Awards.

"Providing outstanding customer service has been a guiding principle since our inception, and part of the core values our employees live by every day," said Tim McEwen, President and Chief Executive Officer of Archipelago Learning. "We are so proud to be recognized for our strong customer service efforts for the second time. It is our customers — school administrators and teachers — that make it easy for us to go above and beyond to provide them with the support they need to help their students achieve greater academic success."

Used by millions of students in thousands of schools across the United States, Archipelago Learning's web-based educational programs, including Study Island, Northstar Learning, EducationCity and Reading Eggs, create a multitude of age-appropriate, engaging learning experiences for students and teachers, alike.

More than 800 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted to this year's Stevie Awards competition, an increase of more than 60 percent over 2010. There were 25 categories for customer service professionals as well as 40 categories for sales professionals.

Archipelago Learning's award for the Best Customer Service Department of the Year was determined by more than 177,000 public votes. Companies in other business categories that received awards for Customer Service included: Macy's, Marriott Vacation Club, PetRays, and India's TATA Motors Ltd.

About Archipelago Learning

Archipelago Learning is a leading subscription-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider of education products used by approximately 13 million students in over 35,000 schools throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Our supplemental product offerings facilitate the evolution of education as technology transforms the learning experience. For more information, please visit us at www.archipelagolearning.com.

About The Stevie Awards

The Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie Awards at http://www.stevieawards.com.