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New Technology Available to Assess Student Progress

October 28, 2004
Teachers are using handheld computers to automate the process for assessing reading levels of students in Grades K-2. The handheld devices allow teachers to calculate, record, and graph scores in a matter of seconds.

A press event at Clopper Mill Elementary School on Wednesday, November 3, from 10:00 until 11:00 a.m., will provide an opportunity for the news media to see these remarkable teaching tools in action in the classroom and to participate in an actual computer-based assessment that responds to the reading level of the test taker.

By receiving instant feedback, teachers are able to tailor instruction to individual needs of students more quickly and more effectively, an approach of particular importance in responding to the federal No Child Left Behind Act. When this feedback is available in the classroom via a handheld computer that quickly calculates and displays areas of success and areas where further instruction is required, teaching and learning are greatly enhanced.

Teachers who participated in pilot studies of the devices report that record keeping and analysis that used to require hours every week now is done almost instantly. Availability of the devices to elementary school teachers is being phased in, with elementary teachers throughout MCPS scheduled to use the handheld computers by 2006.

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