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Early pilot schools are reporting
that Test Factory is giving students a new sense of responsibility for
their own learning progress. Test scores are broken down by objective
and as a result, students are proactively coming to teachers and asking
for help on specific topic areas such as "fractions" or "percents".
According to Keddell, "The straight forward design of Test Factory is
allowing students to work towards an educational career that is self-evaluative
and forward looking."
Test Factory also gives teachers
and administrators the ability to monitor and track student progress.
Test results may be tracked by age, grade level, race, class, or free
lunch programs, so that the academic achievement of particular groups
of students can be studied and analyzed. With the information gleaned
from test results, schools may begin to address discrepancies in learning
to ensure that no student is left behind. The online tracking capability
of Test Factory increases accountability as it allows district and state-level
officials to get an instantaneous look at how students in every school
are progressing and improving test scores. Our federal legislation now
mandates it.
On January 8, 2002, the No
Child Left Behind Act was enacted. Now, over a year later, each state
in America is facing the challenges of setting "clear and high standards
for what students in each grade should know and be able to do in the
core academic subjects of reading, math, and science" and of measuring
student progress toward those standards by administering annual tests.
Under the NCLB law, schools can no longer afford to let students fail.
Each year, every child in grades three through eight will be tested,
and the pressure is now on students, teachers, and administrators to
raise the level of achievement on standardized tests.
Feeling the pressure to succeed
and fearing failure, most students react to standardized testing with
dread, but Test Factory is already giving kids hope for success as it
makes the whole testing process less painful. One of Bob Keddell's students
has expressed her enthusiasm for Test Factory in a hastily written email:
"hi mr keddell this is Stephanie from your A4 class and I went on the
test factory and took the test and got a 364/375!!!!!!! I was so happy
my mother started screaming and she told me to do that on the real test
so I hope I pass next time but I'll keep practicing just in case bye!
P.S. I hope we don't have school tomorrow, so I can practice some more!!!!!!!!!!"
In Maryland, Test Factory
is free until June 1, 2003
For a free school account contact
Heather Chirtea at (802) 375-6549 X-202 or email heather@toolfactory.com.
Thereafter Test Factory will be sold as unlimited site licenses to schools
and districts throughout the state. Unlimited site licenses allow for
in-school use of the service as well as teacher take-home usage, and free
at-home access for students and parents. The price for an annual license
to the Maryland Functional Math Test service is: $999 per elementary school,
$1499 per middle school, or $2999 per high school.
Pilot Schools Needed
Tool Factory is now looking
for pilot schools in all states, to help develop additional testing
services for other subjects and grade levels. Pilot schools are accepted
on a first-come, first-served basis until testing content in all subjects
and grade level are covered. In order to be selected, a school must
have a body of written practice tests which Tool Factory will then integrate
into the online Test Factory system. In exchange for donating their
paper-based practice tests, Tool Factory will give tremendous discounts
to pilot schools on the Test Factory service.
Contact Tool Factory
www.toolfactory.com
, www.testfactory.net
For a free school-wide license
through June 1, contact Tool Factory at: 3336 Sunderland Hill Rd, Sunderland,
VT 05250. Phone (802) 375-6549, Fax (802) 375-6860. info@toolfactory.com
See http://www.nochildleftbehind.gov/start/facts/testing
for more information about NCLB.
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