09/25/12California Begins Gathering Data on School Technology
Scoop San Diego (09/25/12)California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has urged more schools to take part in the Technology Readiness Tool survey to gauge the readiness of new online assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. "We know our schools already face enormous day-to-day challenges -- but we also need to understand what issues they face as we move to online testing over the next few years. We know this effort will take time, energy and resources -- all of which are in short supply. That's why we need the broadest participation possible in this survey, so that we provide as much assistance as possible to schools as they make the transition to 21st-century testing," he says. There will be six data extractions between 2012 and 2014, and only 42 percent of California schools have participated in the survey thus far. The survey asked about schools' computers, operating systems, memory size, monitor display size, screen resolution, and Internet bandwidth. Additionally, schools were asked to gauge concerns about the number of test administrators, technical understanding to support online testing, training, and support staff. "While it's obviously too early to draw any firm conclusions, these initial findings suggest that training and technical support will be important areas to address -- perhaps just as important as providing schools the computers and the bandwidth to carry out online testing itself," says Torlakson.
