For decades, dozens of states have relied on the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) to evaluate all aspects of their educational assessment programs, including when testing does not go as planned. In 2018, the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) asked us to investigate the impact of disruptions students experienced while completing their computer-based TNReady exams. Designed to assess student knowledge and understanding across a variety of domains, TNReady plays a vital role within the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) by providing information on what students know and can do. Understandably, TDOE was concerned that the disruptions could have negatively affected student test scores. To address this concern, our researchers used multiple, advanced psychometric and statistical methods to conduct a rigorous comparison of student test scores between disrupted and non-disrupted peers.
Through our role as an independent, objective evaluation partner, HumRRO was able to help Tennessee make informed policy decisions by clearly detailing the potential impact of the computer disruptions. Like the rest of the world, the educational domain has become dependent on myriad technologies, and challenges will inevitably arise. When they do, HumRRO stands ready to help our clients address these challenges quickly, thoughtfully, and thoroughly.
Read more here: https://www.tn.gov/education/news/2018/7/19/2018-tnready-scores-show-mixed-results–encouraging-areas-of-progress.html
