8th Grade Technology Literacy - What is your school/district doing?

[Nancy White]

I am curious about how other schools & districts will handle this NCLB requirement this year. Who is doing program-based assessment? Paper/pencil test? (or electronic version) Project-based? We are primarily program-based - meaning that since we have gone through the process of aligning the ET-IL standards & benchmarks to the curriculum, we will say that if a student passes the 8th grade, they have the appropriate level of "technology literacy." However, we are developing a test to collect some specific data. I wonder about the validity though --since it is not project-based, but actually multiple choice.

[Mary Beth MacLeay]

Aurora Public Schools is working on a paper/pencil test I believe. Something multiple choice. Also working on creating lesson plans that integrate technology with classroom instruction so that projects using Word, PowerPoint, etc will be assessed for tech proficiency as well as content. I think we are all at the jump in and see what is truly effective and how it works as assessments.
Technology changes so fast it would seem that once an assessment is created it will have to be radically changed every year. RSS feeds, Ning, social bookmarking...who knows what's next?

[Sandi Jordet]

Our school is used a project-based assessment based on the curriculum of 8th grade technology class. If they can pass their class, they are proficient. We are looking to try and find another way to assess that is more accurate. Since we are in the process of re-aligning the ET-IL standards and benchmarks (necessitated by the changes in both sets of standards) we are hoping to create a better assessment. What would a valid assessment look like since technology is not taught as a core literacy for 3rd grade on? It is taught consistently every week grades 3 to 5, but then goes to a quarter system in middle school. What does the exempler look like for technology assessment in this type of system? Our tech teachers and I struggle with trying to get all teachers to implement ET-IL into their current curriculum to help them with their instruction. The mindset is still "This is just another curriculum" instead of "this is a tool to help me with my curriculum." Thanks for listening.

[Missy @ Legacy]

I wonder about the standards that are being used--if NCLB is using the NETS/ISTE standards, what about the new AASL standards? Does anyone know what standards are being used in his/her respective districts? Who is writing your tests? Who is administering your tests?
In Adams 12, all the high school librarians administered the same test from TRAILS-9.org. It was based off the old AASL standards, and we have data, though we're not sure what it tells us.

[Sandi Jordet]

The new standards are not in place in our district. We are using the NETS/ISTE standards in our district. The "test" is being written by our middle school technology teacher who is also administering the test.

[Mary Beth MacLeay]

We are using the NETS/ISTE standards I believe. One of our tech trainer/coaches is in charge of putting the test together with other tech teacher/coach input. I love the statement, "we have data, though we're not sure what it tells us." I think a lot of us feel that way. Librarians are not involved at this point.

[Wendy]

Hi,

Are you scheduled to get involved at a specific time? We are currently at the beginning stages of aligment and integration K12.

[Nancy White]

Colorado has adopted the new ISTE NETS, and a memo earlier in the school year indicated that school districts who are doing program-based assessments/data on 8th grade technology literacy should align to those standards. Of course, this was before the new AASL learning standards were released. Doug Johnson has posted a great comparison between the 2 (ISTE & AASL) on his blog. I think this will be helpful as I present the new AASL standards in my district.
In my district, a committee made up of myself and two middle school teacher-librarians, our director of IT-Education Services and district technology specialist were tasked to come up with a test to be used this year. (Eventually we hope to be entirely program-based) This year, we are using TRAILS.