MAP will be useful, also, for assessing our special education students. We now test these students annually, but with the relative ease of computerized testing, we can assess their progress more frequently and adjust our curriculum accordingly. Critics of computerized tests say they might be a disadvantage to students who struggle with the technology. But from our perspective, it's difficult to imagine a solution that offers us better information more quickly to help us target instruction for each student. Teachers can use the information from an assessment administered today to make adjustments in the classroom tomorrow.
Computerized testing does require schools to block out time to use their computer labs.
Although this was not a problem during our pilot program, full implementation will create a heavier burden on the labs. Districts with fewer computers per student should take this factor into consideration. The real payoff of our new tests is that they allow us to generate and track important data on student performance. We can obtain individual student growth information from semester to semester and from year to year. We can look at growth on a grade-level or district basis.