Contact:

Matthew Bowman – matt@iassessment.com

What purpose does your assessment tool serve? 

To comply with NCLB, educators must assess 1) teachers and substitute teachers to identify and compare teacher proficiencies against state standards of “highly qualified” teachers, direct the appropriate professional development that will bring teacher proficiencies (where needed) up to state standards in core subjects, and report to state and federal agencies on progress being made; and 2) assess students to identify student technology proficiencies for curriculum alignment, to fulfill requirements of measuring student achievement in ways other than grades, and to determine effectiveness of policies and practices.   Merely assessing users is only the first of several steps necessary to comply with NLCB.    iAssessment’s DLS is much more than an assessment tool, it helps educators accomplish all of the above.

Our DLS helps educators manage assessment, professional development, system wide reporting, resources management, and improve individual and institutional decision support; all of which facilitate NCLB compliance with Title I, Title II, Title V, Title VI, and IDEA/Special Education.

Designing and delivering effective staff-development systems require gathering data from all personnel in order to identify areas of individual and aggregate training needs, opportunities for growth, and validation of existing strategies.  iAssessment provides assessment, data collection, and diagnostic tools for all types of users and abilities - combining data for planning and designing differentiated professional-development activities in a way that confidentially accommodates each user, yet provides a way to "inventory" end users for goal setting and effective planning. Current and future professional-development initiatives can then be designed based on priorities established by the results.  Users can pull up aligned and best-fit resources (training or curricular) based on their skill levels and key demographic user profiling information; therefore, resources get put to use by the folks that can use them the most. In addition, the data collection and reporting functionality of iAssessment products are useful with creating state and school district report cards, tracking Adequate Yearly Progress, and keeping parents informed.

How it works - DLS first assesses the user to determine current proficiency levels or understanding of the subject at hand.  Then, the user is provided with instant results to show how they compare to state or other standards.  Comparison criteria and standards can be customized to client’s needs. Third, DLS generates a personalized action plan (Professional Development Plan for teachers or Individual Learning Plans for students) pointing them towards a variety of resources (online courses, seminars, books, state programs, etc.) aimed at helping the user improve their knowledge and proficiency.

DLS is the technology platform on which any number of assessments can be offered.  We have developed a variety of assessments for use with teachers and students.  All of our assessments conform to state standards and are based on the NETS for Teachers/ISTE and assess users on subjects ranging from technology proficiency to language skills.  

DLS was also designed with the future in mind.  Assessment instruments themselves serve as a module that can be “plugged into” the DLS platform for online administration.  As federal guidelines continue to change, new assessments can be affordably developed and plugged into the client’s existing DLS platform.

Please indicate which category best describes your tool:

a.        __x__ Tools that allow users to ask questions of data (tools for collecting and disaggregating data, including surveys, self-reported data and standardized data)

b.       ____ Tools for observation (including teacher observation and observation of student behavior or performance)

c.        ____ Tools for reviewing student products (including electronic or digital portfolios)

Who is the audience for this assessment tool?

To comply with NCLB, educators must assess 1) teachers and substitute teachers to identify and compare teacher proficiencies against state standards of “highly qualified” teachers, direct the appropriate professional development that will bring teacher proficiencies (where needed) up to state standards in core subjects, and report to state and federal agencies on progress being made; and 2) assess students to identify student technology proficiencies for curriculum alignment, to fulfill requirements of measuring student achievement in ways other than grades, and to determine effectiveness of policies and practices.   Merely assessing users is only the first of several steps necessary to comply with NLCB.    iAssessment’s DLS is much more than an assessment tool, it helps educators accomplish all of the above.

Our DLS helps educators manage assessment, professional development, system wide reporting, resources management, and improve individual and institutional decision support; all of which facilitate NCLB compliance with Title I, Title II, Title V, Title VI, and IDEA/Special Education.

Designing and delivering effective staff-development systems require gathering data from all personnel in order to identify areas of individual and aggregate training needs, opportunities for growth, and validation of existing strategies.  iAssessment provides assessment, data collection, and diagnostic tools for all types of users and abilities - combining data for planning and designing differentiated professional-development activities in a way that confidentially accommodates each user, yet provides a way to "inventory" end users for goal setting and effective planning. Current and future professional-development initiatives can then be designed based on priorities established by the results.  Users can pull up aligned and best-fit resources (training or curricular) based on their skill levels and key demographic user profiling information; therefore, resources get put to use by the folks that can use them the most. In addition, the data collection and reporting functionality of iAssessment products are useful with creating state and school district report cards, tracking Adequate Yearly Progress, and keeping parents informed.

How it works - DLS first assesses the user to determine current proficiency levels or understanding of the subject at hand.  Then, the user is provided with instant results to show how they compare to state or other standards.  Comparison criteria and standards can be customized to client’s needs. Third, DLS generates a personalized action plan (Professional Development Plan for teachers or Individual Learning Plans for students) pointing them towards a variety of resources (online courses, seminars, books, state programs, etc.) aimed at helping the user improve their knowledge and proficiency.

DLS is the technology platform on which any number of assessments can be offered.  We have developed a variety of assessments for use with teachers and students.  All of our assessments conform to state standards and are based on the NETS for Teachers/ISTE and assess users on subjects ranging from technology proficiency to language skills.  

DLS was also designed with the future in mind.  Assessment instruments themselves serve as a module that can be “plugged into” the DLS platform for online administration.  As federal guidelines continue to change, new assessments can be affordably developed and plugged into the client’s existing DLS platform.

What technology is used?

One of the attractive features of DLS is that it does not require special client hardware, software or networking to use.  This significantly reduces the cost for districts and state agencies when administering assessments.  To use both the assessment and reporting functions of DLS, users need only a computer with Internet access and at least a 56K modem connection.   DLS also provides system security with https and 128 bit encryption with Verisign.

Approximately how many people are currently using this system?

What professional development (for students or assessors) is required to use the tool?

iAssessment solutions are intuitive and do not require formal training or special skills to use.  Both novice and expert users will be comfortable navigating through the user-friendly graphical interface.  Administrators, teachers, students and even parents can begin taking advantage of our robust technology the moment it goes online.

To use the tool effectively, what else should the school have in place?

iAssessment helps educators by providing robust, effective and user friendly technology without adding complexity or stress to the daily routine.   Our solutions provide useful tools that result in the automation of many mundane functions including data-driven decision making technology that facilitates policy and curriculum management.  Users need not have special familiarity with rubrics, standards, or technology to effectively user our solutions.  User technology is no more complicated than clicking a mouse.

Designing and delivering effective staff-development systems requires gathering data from all personnel in order to identify areas of individual and aggregate training needs, opportunities for growth, and validation of existing strategies.  iAssessment provides assessment, data collection, and diagnostic tools for all types of users and abilities - combining data for planning and designing differentiated professional-development activities in a way that confidentially accommodates each user, yet provides a way to "inventory" end users for goal setting and effective planning. Current and future professional-development initiatives can then be designed based on priorities established by the results.  Users can pull up aligned and best-fit resources (training or curricular) based on their skill levels and key demographic user profiling information; therefore, resources get put to use by the folks that can use them the most. In addition, the data collection and reporting functionality of iAssessment products are useful with creating state and school district report cards, tracking Adequate Yearly Progress, and keeping parents informed.

If you haven't already addressed it, how does your tool help students or teachers demonstrate that they are meeting standards?

What makes our assessment administration unique is that it is formative, not summative, in nature.  In other words, by taking the assessment and going through appropriate professional development training, then repeating the process, iAssessment can help states and districts ensure teachers are making adequate yearly progress towards the "highly qualified" status.

After all, becoming "highly qualified" is a process rather than an event.

Secondly, administrators and educators are now responsible for creating policies and curriculum that are aligned with the new state and federal standards.  iAssessment solutions ease the burden and automate much of the process of policy making through advanced decision support technology that, among other things, helps coordinate policy making at all administrative

levels and makes it easier to align policy with standards.  Teachers benefit from iAssessment's full integration that uses data and online resources to facilitate better curriculum alignment.

Our products and service help education manage assessment, professional development, grants implementation, system wide reporting, resources management, and improved individual and institutional decision support; all of which facilitate NCLB compliance with Title I, Title II, Title V, Title VI, IDEA/Special Education, and other regulations including parent involvement.

What questions would you like participants to address?

• Which level organization do you represent?  A. School. B. District.  C. State.
• Does your organization currently have an assessment (paper or digital) that you find satisfactory?
• If so, is your assessment(s) aligned with federal or state standards?
• Which feature did you find most appealing about our professional development solution?
• Which feature or function is most important to you about online assessment technology?
• When will your organization be deciding on your assessment tool?
• Which feature would you recommend we change in future product development.