The Impact of Educational Technology on Student Achievement: Assessment "of" and "for" Learning

The author explores current efforts by educators and policy makers to harness the power of educational technology for both assessment of learning and assessment for learning in K-12 classrooms. In this era of accountability brought about through international comparisons that pit the U.S. against other nations and testing requirements resulting from legislation such as No Child Left Behind (U.S. Department of Education (USDOE), 2001) educators, administrators and policy makers require more efficient and effective ways to measure and analyze student achievement data. Moreover, individuals at the local and state levels look to teachers and district leaders to use these analyses to benefit future outcomes. The pressure for accountability affects states and districts as well as classroom teachers. This article explores current efforts by educators and policy makers to harness the power of educational technology for both assessment of learning and assessment for learning in K-12 classrooms. The first section describes efforts to utilize technology for student achievement testing, an assessment of learning. Issues addressed include high-stakes and low-stakes testing, issues for classroom implementation, test preparation programs, special education populations, and adaptive testing. The second section outlines the responses of states, districts and schools to the accountability pressures related to data storage, analysis, reporting and data informed decision making. The last section focuses on the role of technology in networked science and mathematics classrooms where immediate feedback devices provide teachers with formative assessment information about student learning to guide instructional strategies. In a connected classroom, the assessment intends to help students learn. The critical difference between assessment of learning and assessment for learning lies at the heart of current educational technology use in science classrooms. Educational Technology for Testing The increased testing requirements of the "No Child Left Behind" Act (2001) resulted in serious efforts to develop statewide computer-based testing programs to assess student learning. As of the 2004-2005 school year, 16 states have statewide computer-based testing programs in place while 4 additional states are piloting these programs (Fox, 2005). The rapid response, prompt retake possibilities for students close to the cut-off scores and easily captured data provided by computer-based testing programs provide school districts with several advantages. On a practical level, these programs allow schools to gather data to meet the requirements of federal mandates. More importantly they may provide educators necessary information to individualize learning plans for students. Unlike their more traditional predecessors that often require extensive time for scoring and data distribution, computer-based tests provide immediate feedback on student achievement. However, statewide computerbased testing comes with a cost. While technology can streamline assessment and provide needed information for documentation related to accountability requirements, schools need computers for students to take electronic tests. Budget deficits threaten to trump these initiatives. In addition to hardware and software costs, school systems must wrestle with issues of test security to limit potential for invalidating scores on high-stakes tests. Students across the state must take the test in a limited time frame and with similar testing conditions to ensure the fairness of the test. Variations in equipment across schools and districts further complicate the issue. Comparisons of test results from paper and pencil tests versus computer-based tests on modern or out-dated equipment introduce important variables into the evaluation process (Olson, 2003). As a natural consequence of these factors, some states have developed online test preparation programs to help improve student scores. …