Designing an Online Formative Assessment that Helps Prepare Students and Teachers for a Summative Assessment

Abstract

Across the nation, even prior to the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, many states had instituted statewide assessment programs. In response to these initiatives, school systems were interested in how to better prepare their students and teachers for the statewide assessment. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, founded in January 2000, was, and is, committed to exploring the ways in which the improved technology in the 21st century can be utilized to improve educational processes and programs. Based in Seattle, the foundation was interested in working closely within its home state. So the Washington State Education Department, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and the foundation worked together on funding and managing an online formative assessment system. From 2000 to 2002, a classroom online assessment system was piloted in several districts in the state of Washington. The goals were threefold: 1. To determine the effectiveness of classroom online assessment 2. To give teachers a tool to help them assess student competency during the course of the year toward meeting or exceeding state-required standards 3. To increase teacher knowledge of the state standards