“Binghamton schools put data program to the test
Beth Bidwell calls the wall at Binghamton's Horace Mann Elementary School "the data wall."
Posted on the wall in the room off the school's main office are computer printouts with data analyzing how students performed on benchmark assessments measuring their English and math skills.
The information is generated by TestWiz software, a Web-based testing analysis and reporting tool, being phased in by the city school district. The software can track how individual students and an entire class are doing over time on the benchmark assessments given to the school district.
More than that, the software can analyze how different demographic groups are performing and analyze what students got right and wrong to identify gaps in student performance, said Tonia Thompson, director of planning and evaluation for the district.
Currently, teachers in grades K-5 in all seven of Binghamton's elementary schools can access the data, but the district plans to expand this access to teachers in all grades. Teachers also meet as frequently as every six weeks in "data huddles" to analyze the data.”*
To learn more about TestWiz
click here or contact us at help@testwiz.com.
*Written by George Basler at
pressconnects.com, April 26, 2011.