National Technology Assessments – NEW for 2012

If you followed our @SimpleK12 twitter stream on Friday, February 12^th, you most likely saw tweets about technology literacy assessments for 4^th, 8^th, and 12^th grade students starting in 2012.

That Friday morning, I was tweeting LIVE from a session at the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Convention in Austin Texas. The session, I.T.S. the Question: What Do You Mean Tech Literacy Testing?, was presented by Technology Division of Carrollton-Farmers
Branch ISD. My tweets stemmed from this presentation.

It was obvious by other tweets that this was the first time many people had heard the news. I work a lot in the assessment realm since SimpleK12 offers the free SimpleAssessment for student technology proficiency, and I had been aware of the proposal on the table for some time.  I followed up with National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), who informed me that while the frameworks for the technology literacy assessments are in place, specifics aren’t yet defined. One thing to calm you down…. NAEP assessments are not required and any school/student can chose not to participate. But, this does help show that on a national level, tech literacy rates are a priority and a concern.

One tweeter that had taken notice to my tweets was popular Texas EdTech Blogger, Miguel Guhlin, who runs Around the Corner. Miguel knew I’d be the source for anything dealing with technology assessments, and had actually been tracking me down to get the scoop. Chance brought us together (the conference had over 12,000 people!) and I was glad to comment on the situation for his blog post and to help clarify what is going on in the assessment world.

I have a few calls in with other folks at NEAP to get more specific information. I will be sure to update you via the blog. For now, if your school or district does not currently have a method of technology literacy assessment, please feel free to check out the completely free resource, SimpleAssessment that is being used across the country by more than a million students.