Technology
Readiness
for
College
and
Career
Ready
Teaching,
Learning
and
Assessment
As
schools
and
districts
across
the
country
continue
to
move
forward
in
implementing
the
Common
Core
State
Standards,
two
multi-state
consortia
the
Partnership
for
the
Assessment
of
College
and
Career
Readiness
(PARCC)
and
the
Smarter
Balanced
Assessment
Consortia
are
designing
and
developing
Common
Core-aligned,
next
generation
student
assessment
systems.
Schools
in
participating
states
can
expect
to
administer
these
new
tests
beginning
in
the
2014- 15
school
year.
One
important
feature
shared
by
both
the
PARCC
and
Smarter
Balanced
assessment
systems
is
that
student
assessments
will
be
technology-delivered.
At
least
33
states
currently
deliver
one
or
more
state
tests
via
technology;
however,
for
many
schools
and
districts
the
shift
to
computer-based
assessment
will
be
new.
While
there
are
compelling
advantages
to
a
technology-based
assessment
system
as
compared
to
current
paper-
and
pencil-based
approaches,
schools
and
districts
will
need
to
validate
their
technology
readiness
for
2014-15.
Validation
for
technology
readiness
is
important
even
for
states
and
districts
currently
administering
tests
online,
as
these
Common
Core
assessments
are
being
designed
to
move
beyond
multiple-choice
questions
to
technology-enhanced
items
to
elicit
the
higher
order
knowledge,
skills,
and
abilities
of
students.
As
guidance
regarding
minimum
technology
specifications
are
released
by
PARCC
and
Smarter
Balanced,
education
leaders
must
consider
this
information
in
the
context
of
the
full
range
of
technology
issues
schools
are
addressing
today.
SETDA
strongly
encourages
education
policymakers
and
leaders
to
undertake
a
proactive
systems
approach
to
addressing
school
technology
needs
for
the
long-term,
explicitly
considering
the
present
and
future
technology
needs
to
meet
curricular,
instructional,
assessment,
professional
development
and
school
operations
goals.
Specifically:
Digital
learning
is
necessary
to
approach
the
higher
levels
of
critical
thinking
set
forth
in
new
college
and
career
ready
standards,
to
meet
the
individual
needs
of
every
student,
to
support
and
enhance
teachers
in
improving
their
practice,
and
to
realize
cost-savings
and
efficiencies
in
school
operations.
Digital
testing
requires
digital
learning.
Students
using
technology
to
take
high- stakes
tests
must
have
significant
opportunities
to
develop
and
demonstrate
mastery
of
tested
knowledge,
skills
and
abilities
via
substantially
similar
technology
prior
to
being
tested.
Teachers
must
be
prepared
to
support
this
shift
in
instruction.
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
www.setda.org
Instructional
goals
and
needs
must
be
paramount
in
long-range
technology
planning
and
purchases,
including
in
planning
for
technology
for
assessment.
The
Common
Core
establishes
ambitious
college
and
career
ready
expectations
for
all
students,
including
deeper
learning
skills
especially
well
suited
to
innovative
instructional
approaches.
School
leaders
must
prioritize
investments
in
broadband
infrastructure
for
teaching,
learning
and
assessment
within
schools,
within
districts,
and
to
the
internet
due
to
the
time
and
complexity
required
to
address
any
insufficiencies.
Infrastructure
Considerations
The
May
2012
SETDA
report,
The
Broadband
Imperative,
establishes
clear
national
targets
for
connectivity
to
support
next
generation
approaches
to
college
and
career
readiness:
schools
will
need
external
Internet
connections
to
their
Internet
service
provider
of
100
Mbps
per
1,000
students
and
staff
by
2014-15
and
of
1
Gbps
per
1,000
students
and
staff
by
2017-18.
Schools
and
districts
should
evaluate
their
current
and
future
needs
against
these
targets,
recognizing
that
robust
broadband
access
is
the
limiting
factor
in
digital
learning
in
far
too
many
schools
across
the
country.
It
is
vital
that
the
quality
of
broadband
access
is
verified
to
be
at
recommended
levels
in
all
instructional
spaces
in
schools
and
with
the
full
range
of
devices
in
use.
Even
if
schools
believe
that
they
have
procured
sufficient
bandwidth,
local
network
architecture,
server
settings,
the
number
of
wireless
access
points,
and
weak
wireless
signals
(and/or
the
use
of
outdated
wireless
protocols)
may
affect
performance
in
individual
classrooms.
Out-of-school
access
to
broadband
by
students
and
teachers
is
now
arguably
as
important
to
the
overall
quality
of
the
student
learning
experience
as
access
at
school.
Education
leaders
should
consider
ways
to
extend
access
to
learning
beyond
the
school
day
by
addressing
access
outside
of
schools
including,
but
not
limited
to,
in
students
homes
and
such
publicly
accessible
institutions
as
libraries
and
community
centers.
Device
Considerations
Planning
to
use
computers,
servers
and
networks
purchased
prior
to
2010
i.e.,
machines
that
will
be
five
or
more
(5+)
years
old
during
the
2014-15
school
year
will
increase
the
chances
of
disruption
and
lost
productivity
due
to
a
technology- related
problem.
The
longer
these
devices
are
relied
upon,
the
greater
the
odds
are
that
serious
issues
will
arise
that
will
result
in
lost
student
work
and
disrupted
learning.
Version:
December
4,
2012
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
www.setda.org
Due
to
the
dramatic
escalation
in
security
and
software
incompatibility
issues
as
well
as
increased
odds
of
hardware
failure
schools
should
not
plan
to
rely
on
computers
running
operating
systems
that
are
or
will
no
longer
be
updated
and/or
supported
by
their
manufacturers
as
of
the
2014-15
school
year.
Virtualization
is
one
promising
and
potentially
cost-saving
approach
to
repurposing
older
computers
to
extend
their
useful
lives.
In
this
context,
virtualization
solutions
allow
older
devices
within
a
school
to
be
managed
centrally
and
in
so
doing
to
run
modern
operating
systems
and
software
that
they
might
not
otherwise
have
the
capabilities
to
support.
For
high-stakes
assessment
purposes,
virtualization
solutions
must
be
able
to
manage
the
unique
security
requirements
of
testing.
Whether
or
not
your
schools
are
ready
to
commit
to
providing
one
device
per
student
as
many
have
already
done
or
are
planning
to
do,
in
purchasing
new
devices,
schools
should
consider
how
best
to
meet
student
learning
needs,
including
by:
o Preserving
flexibility,
by
favoring
devices
designed
for
mobile/portable
general
purpose
use
(over
desktops
and
single-purpose
devices)
that
can
be
used
in
a
variety
of
locations
and
ways
within
the
school
day
and
over
the
school
year;
o Addressing
the
need
for
students
to
complete
assignments/create
content
(such
as
to
write
essays,
analyze
data
and
prepare
presentations)
in
addition
to
accessing/consuming
content;
o Meeting
the
learning
needs
of
specific
populations
of
students,
including
but
not
limited
to
students
with
disabilities
and
English
language
learners,
who
may
require
special
accommodations
to
access
critical
functionality;
and,
o Easily
managing
large
numbers
of
devices
that
over
time
will
require
regular
software
updates,
security
patches,
and
other
routine
maintenance.
There
are
many
reasons
schools
are
looking
to
bring
your
own
(BYO)
technology
initiatives
as
a
way
to
support
student
learning
in
and
out
of
school.
For
purposes
of
being
technology
ready
for
high-stakes
assessment,
schools
should
carefully
consider
whether
their
specific
BYO
implementation
is
sufficient
to
addressing
the
full
range
of
testing-specific
security,
comparability
and
liability
issues.
Human
Resource
Considerations
The
Common
Core
will
require
many
teachers
to
change
their
approach
to
teaching
related
subject
areas,
including
the
integration
of
new
instructional
materials
and
teaching
tools.
Professional
development
must
assist
teachers
to
make
these
instructional
transitions
with
technology
and
not
treat
technology-related
professional
development
as
distinct
from
the
instructional
process.
Version:
December
4,
2012
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
www.setda.org
States
and
districts
have
found
that
instructional
technology
facilitators/coaches
can
be
a
powerful
approach
to
providing
just-in-time
support
for
educators
in
shifting
to
not
just
using,
but
relying
upon
digital
learning
resources
as
a
core
component
of
instruction
and
student
learning.
Adequate
numbers
of
qualified
technical
support
personnel
are
critical
to
supporting
technology
use
in
schools.
As
teachers
and
students
increasingly
rely
on
technology
for
teaching,
learning
and
assessment,
investments
will
need
to
be
made
in
technical
support
personnel
to
keep
pace
with
technical
support
requests
or
risk
lost
productivity.
Maintaining
a
diversity
of
older
machines
and
operating
systems
will
dramatically
increase
technical
support
needs
in
schools.
Long-Range
Planning
and
Budgeting
While
there
will
be
one-time
costs
associated
with
technology
readiness
for
assessment
in
some
schools
and
districts
by
2014-15,
technology
costs
must
be
included
as
an
ongoing
line
item
in
annual
budgets.
Schools
spending
less
than
5
percent
of
their
budgets
on
devices
and
infrastructure
will
be
hard
pressed
to
meet
existing
and
future
needs.
Leading
states
and
school
districts
have
pursued
a
variety
of
strategies
to
repurpose
existing
funding
streams
and
to
plan
for
recurring
technology
costs,
including:
o Pursuing
joint
purchasing
agreements
at
a
state
or
regional
scale
to
secure
the
best
pricing;
o Repurposing
traditional
textbook
spending
as
detailed
in
the
September
2012
SETDA
Report,
Out
of
Print:
Reimagining
the
K-12
Textbook
in
a
Digital
Age;
o Considering
free
open
source
software
and
open
educational
resources
(OER)
before
proprietary
solutions;
o Considering
the
total
cost
of
ownership
for
technology
for
devices,
software,
technical
support
and
maintenance,
and
upgrades
in
deciding
how
frequently
to
replace
purchased
devices;
and,
o Evaluating
whether
leasing
equipment
is
more
advantageous
than
purchasing
and/or
conducting
advance
planning
to
address
the
need
to
refresh
devices
on
a
regular
cycle.
It
is
important
for
school
districts
to
ensure
that
existing
policies
and
practices
are
sufficient
for
and
encouraging
of
digital
teaching,
learning,
and
assessment;
address
unique
issues
related
to
technology
access
and
use
by
students
and
teachers;
and
are
periodically
reviewed
to
ensure
that
they
reflect
best
practices.
Conclusion
If
we
are
serious
about
pursuing
a
college
and
career
readiness
agenda
for
all
students,
it
will
be
vital
to
leverage
the
power
of
technology
to
improve
instruction,
assessment
and
Version:
December
4,
2012
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
www.setda.org
professional
development
and
to
realize
cost
savings
in
school
operations.
In
so
doing,
education
policymakers
and
school
leaders
must
be
proactive
in
charting
a
sustainable
and
comprehensive
approach
to
using
technology
in
schools
that
puts
the
learning
needs
of
students
at
the
core.
Recommended
Resources
SETDA
Resources
Fletcher,
G.,
Schaffhauser,
D.,
and
Levin,
D.
(2012).
Out
of
Print:
Reimagining
the
K-12
Textbook
in
a
Digital
Age.
Washington,
DC:
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
(SETDA).
http://setda.org/web/guest/outofprintreport
Fox,
C.,
Waters,
J.,
Fletcher,
G.,
and
Levin
D.
(2012).
The
Broadband
Imperative:
Recommendations
to
Address
K-12
Education
Infrastructure
Needs.
Washington,
DC:
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
(SETDA).
http://setda.org/web/guest/broadbandimperative
Levin,
D.,
Fletcher,
G.,
and
Chau,
Y.
(2011).
Technology
Requirements
for
Large-Scale
Computer-Based
and
Online
Assessment:
Current
Status
and
Issues.
Washington,
DC:
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association
(SETDA).
http://setda.org/web/guest/assessment
assess4ed:
An
online
community
dedicated
to
leveraging
the
opportunities
of
next
generation
assessment.
http://assess4ed.net/
The
State
Education
Policy
Center
(SEPC):
a
database
of
state
policies
related
to
education
and
technology
curated
by
the
State
Educational
Technology
Directors
Association.
http://setda.org/web/guest/sepc
Assessment
Consortia
Resources
Partnership
for
Assessment
of
Readiness
for
College
and
Careers
(PARCC):
Technology
Issues
and
Approach
http://www.parcconline.org/technology
Smarter
Balanced
Assessment
Consortium:
Technology
Issues
and
Approach
http://www.smarterbalanced.org/smarter-balanced-assessments/technology/
For
more
information
and
resources
on
this
topic,
please
visit
http://www.setda.org/web/guest/assessment
Version:
December
4,
2012
