Common Core has brought another set of changes to how we educate students. Gone are the days were in a math class we teach students how to perform the process of elimination in order to narrow down the possible right answers. This generation of students must be able to demonstrate that they can solve and communicate their thoughts effectively and concisely.
There is so much more to this new form of testing than just how teachers teach the curriculum. From the perspective of a tech, this new form testing presents many more obstacles than one would imagine from first glance. Below is a list of things institutions, educators, students and parents need to consider:
- What type of computer device (desktop, laptop, tablet or other) will your student use to complete Common Core?
- When are students going to develop the skills to type at a sufficient speed?
- How much time will the student have to complete the assessment using the computer?
- Does your child have enough computer skills practice to feel comfortable with taking a computer based assessment?
- What does a computer adaptive assessment look like?
- Does this mean that schools need to have 1 to 1 computer initiatives to support Common Core?
- What kind of cost is involved for the parent or students?
- Does my school have sufficient bandwidth for a large volume of students to assess online?
- Does m school have enough Wifi access for every classroom?
Hmmmm....... As the date of implementation draws near there are many infrastructure issues that remain as well as professional development opportunities.
William W. Gideon Jr.
Acting Director, Research and Evaluation
Lynwood Unified School District
