With Technology
Each year, more school districts embrace the practice of using computer based end-of-course or end-of year assessments to document student learning. Very real cost efficiencies lie at the heart of districts’ decisions to employ computer based testing. Test administration takes place readily when enough computers are available, test items can be generated automatically, and scoring can take place more quickly.
But even as school districts replace paper tests with computer-based versions, a bright light is being shined on the role of students’ own technical proficiency. According to a series of studies undertaken as part of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) Technology-Based Assessment Project, eighth grade students’ performance on computer based tests in two core subject areas – mathematics and writing – relates to the students’ own comfort and familiarity with technology. Students who are more familiar and comfortable with technology tend to outperform their peers, even after adjusting for achievement level. “If students in a school district have unequal access to computers and have to demonstrate their learning on computer based tests, differences in outcomes might reflect disparities in computer skills, in addition to differences in subject knowledge,” observes Dr. Paula Szulc Dominguez, Director of Research and Evaluation at Hezel Associates. “There has to be a level playing field in order for us to interpret the results of scores from computer administered tests.”
In its report, NAEP points out that students increasingly do their academic work on computers, which justifies documenting their learning through the same medium. NAEP will have the chance to further our understanding of how computer based tests interact with student performance as it undertakes a third Technology-Based Assessment study of problem solving in technology-rich environments. The full report and its findings, Online Assessment in Mathematics and Writing, can be obtained online.