DATE:
Thursday, March 14, 2024
TO:
Elementary School Administrators
FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
URGENT: New Acadience Testing Platform and Touchscreen Testing Devices
As announced in the February principal meeting, the state’s contract with Amplify came to end and, through an RFP process, the state has procured a new testing vendor for the Acadience Reading assessment. The new vendor is Acadience Learning and their platform is called Acadience Learning Online or ALO. The Acadience Reading assessment will remain the same, but how it is recorded in the new testing system is different. More information about the new testing platform and a host of training options will be released in the future.
URGENT: The state recently communicated important information regarding the devices used for benchmark and progress monitoring testing. With mClass, several schools have been using click-only testing devices, meaning that the tester uses a track pad or mouse to input student responses. ALO does not allow for click-only devices when administering the benchmark and progress monitoring probes. To administer benchmark and progress monitoring probes in ALO, the testing device must be touchscreen enabled. Additionally, smart phones are not compatible with ALO.
Thus, classroom aides and teachers who are currently administering the Acadience Reading benchmarks and/or progress monitoring probes in grades K-6 using a click-only device will need access to a touchscreen device beginning with the fall of the 2024-25 school year.
A document containing the ALO device and system recommendations is attached with this memo.
Please contact Ben Jameson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with questions about this issue.
