Assessment
Ed Policy
PARCC “On Time, On Task”
PARCC chiefs and staff held calls this week to update progress and, in the light of defections, to reassure partners. The message was “PARCC is on time, on task,” and 14 states and the District of Columbia have committed to field-testing the assessment in the spring of 2014.
EdTech
Teachers Now “Pinning” Common Core Resources in MasteryConnect
Recently, MasteryConnect unveiled a cool, social bookmarking feature for standards aligned resources. Much like the Pinterest paradigm of social bookmarking, teachers find or upload any resource on the web, align it to a state or Common Core standard, and “pin” it to a board or collection.
Personalized Learning
Aspire Public Schools Launch Schoolzilla
Aspire Public Schools announced that its student performance tool, Schoolzilla, will launch as an independent startup. This is the first time a public school system has developed an innovative student performance tool that is launching as an independent entity.
Ed Policy
PARCC Unveils Pricing, Stresses Benefits of New Online Tests
PARCC, one of the two big state testing consortia, unveils pricing and a planning tool for states to help them determine what they need to do to get ready to administer the new tests. The price may be a little higher than some had hoped, but PARCC outlines big benefits compared to current state tests.
EdTech
Dell Powers Majority of U.S. Classrooms
With a broad array of access devices, servers, and support services, Dell quietly supports about six out of every ten U.S. classrooms.
Personalized Learning
Infographic | Pearson on College Readiness
In order to better understand the state of college readiness, Pearson has released a series of infographics, which explores three critical areas of college readiness: pre-college, entry/assessment/placement, and developmental education.
Personalized Learning
K-12 Assessments and Teacher Evaluation: Using Data to Help Teachers Strengthen Their Practice
In the second addition to this three part guest series, Dr. Anne Udall of NWEA argues that there is real opportunity for schools and district leaders to use assessment data, particularly from interim assessments, to help educators grow their expertise.
Personalized Learning
K-12 Assessments and Teacher Evaluation: Putting Students First
In the first part of this three-part guest series, Dr. Raymond Yeagley of NWEA discuss putting students first when creating assessments for individual classrooms or at scale.
EdTech
The Running Record, Now on the iPad
Reading is arguably the most important thing an elementary student needs to master and fluency, as the research shows, is a great indicator of how successful overall they will be.
Ed Policy
It’s Time for The Next Big Advance: Comparable Growth Measures
The most important next step in the shift to personal digital learning is the need for comparable growth measures for individual students. With the explosion of adaptive assessment and instruction and the widespread use of digital curriculum with embedded assessments, there is a growing need to be able to compare measures of student progress.