MISSISSIPPI STATE-WIDE K-3 ASSESSMENT PROGRAM OFF TO A PROMISING START

Educators and administrators collaborate to make practical data-driven instruction a reality

 

 

Jackson, MS - Aug 18, 2009 - The Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) is expanding its K-3 assessment program this August. The goal of the program is to improve student literacy and mathematics achievement by proactively monitoring progress in the early grades and responding with timely actions at the school, district and state level.

Building on a successful pilot implementation with more than 35,000 students in 25 percent of the state’s elementary schools this May, the MDE will offer the program to 60 percent of elementary schools in August and to all 490 elementary schools (serving 151,545 students) state-wide by 2011-2012.

Children’s Progress Academic Assessment (CPAA), the computer-based assessment and reporting program used in the K-3 initiative, was selected by the MDE through a request for proposals (RFP). The CPAA was designed by Children’s Progress – a New York City- based educational technology company with academic roots. It was created specifically for the earliest grades and consists of a computer-based assessment that adapts to each child’s strengths and weaknesses, immediate reports for educators and recommended activities for instruction and intervention. It has been used in 39 states and 9 countries.

The program has been met with enthusiasm by teachers, administrators and technical personnel. Educators appreciated its developmentally appropriate format and ease of use. Jean Pope, Assistant Superintendent at North Pike School District, described the CPAA as “one of the best assessments ever encountered for the early grades.”

“I have been looking for a tool like this for my district,” said Dr. Ann Harsh, a District Test Coordinator and ELL Coordinator at the Hattiesburg Public School District. She added, “I have been an early childhood educator, so I didn’t want children to be subjected to assessment that was inappropriate. The CPAA was enjoyable for students, provided valuable information for teachers, and made it really easy for us to view our data immediately.”

Dr Laura Kramer, a psychometrician for the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) said, “Throughout my entire career, I’ve been fighting the notion of looking at a child as a single score. A child is not a number. It’s much more helpful for educators to see scores in context – at the class, school, and district level.” The CPAA was chosen to provide a holistic perspective about each student through in-depth reports that could be used to drive decision-making before high stakes testing begins. As echoed by Dr. Harsh, “If we know what the areas of difficulty are in kindergarten, we can help children before they reach grade 3.”

The K-3 assessment program is helping the MDE achieve its goals of increasing the rigor of the assessment system and redesigning education for the 21st century workforce. Dr. Kramer is “looking forward to helping all children get to where they need to be with the help of the CPAA” and hoping that this user-friendly program will “serve as a good lever to help integrate technology into other aspects of instruction.”

Dr. Harsh’s positive experience suggests that collaboration between administrators, teachers and technology coordinators will continue to make the program a success. “Six schools from my district are participating. We had two teachers and a technology coordinator from each school attend training. After training, my team sat down to discuss our strategy. We have been very pleased so far and we are excited about working together to use the data this coming school year.”

About Children’s Progress
Children’s Progress (www.childrensprogress.com) is an award-winning educational technology company based in New York City. It specializes in the development of engaging computer-adaptive programs for young children that help educators pinpoint how to best challenge and support each child. The company grew out of decades of research at Columbia University and patented its products in collaboration with software developers at MIT. Children’s Progress products have been used in 39 states and 9 countries.

 

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