IT Staff & the Educational Technology Assessments

The educational technology assessments enable teachers to determine student progress toward Washington’s standards for educational technology. Embedded into other content areas, the activities in these assessments are classroom-based, well guided and easy to use. They come equipped with a comprehensive inventory of free and low-cost digital resources.

Role of Information Technology Staff
Teachers who use the assessments for educational technology will need your support:

• We provide a list of resources with each assessment — teachers should let you know which ones they plan to use. Make sure these sites are not blocked by the Internet filter or plan to provide alternative digital tools that accomplish the instructional goals of the assessment.
• Communicate with teachers any concerns you have about hardware, software, or bandwidth issues that could affect their ability to complete the assessment.
• We recommend that you work closely with teachers during the planning process. This is an excellent opportunity to find out more about how they will use the technology and offer ideas for effective implementation.

Assessments Build a Necessary Fluency with Technology
The assessments are designed to model best practices of instruction, including the use of technology, lesson cycle, differentiation, and student-centered learning. In addition, teachers will be able to collect and use formative and summative evidence regarding student performance on the educational technology standards. Taken as a whole, the standards and assessments for educational technology have the potential to move teachers and students toward a necessary fluency with real-world technologies. They support engagement with the participatory dynamic of 21st century culture, in which citizenship, achievement and self-expression have an expanding digital dimension.

A multi-disciplinary group of Washington educators developed the assessments. They represent all four corners of Washington’s geographic regions, and demonstrate a wide range of content area and grade-level expertise. OSPI staff are guiding the process. We are leading the development of the educational technology assessments in response to 2SHB 1906, which requires the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to “develop or obtain” these instructional tools.