8 th Grade Technology Competency Test

1. 8th GradeTechnology Competency Test Michelle ObertInstructional Technology Specialistmobert@mcsdga.net

2. The goal for the Georgia Department of Education's Office of Instructional Technology is to support the GaDOE’s mission by: • Helping educators meet the needs of 21st Century Learners by engaging students in authentic learning experiences and preparing them for the workplace of the future; • Creating 21st Century Learning Environments; and • Providing teachers with diverse and innovative instructional strategies and pedagogical tactics to implement these strategies effectively. • The Office of Instructional Technology programs are designed to assist every student – regardless of race, ethnicity, income, geographical location, or disability – in becoming technologically literate by the end of eighth grade, while providing opportunities for all students to improve their technology literacy through 12th grade. The Instructional Technology initiatives are focused on encouraging effective technology integration, promoting research-based instructional curriculum methods, and supporting quality professional development that supports the integration of technology with the new Georgia Performance Standards.

3. NEW! 8th Grade Technology Literacy Assessment Option offered through GaDOE!The GaDOE, in response to requests from local schools and LEAs, has developed an OPTIONAL 8th grade Technology Literacy assessment. This assessment is one more choice for schools to consider when addressing the NCLB requirement to report 8th grade tech literacy. The Georgia Virtual School and the Office of Technology Services, Title II-D, for the GaDOE have collaborated to create three 60 question assessments addressing the technology standard requirements. These assessments will be accessible through the Office of Standards, Instruction, and Assessment's Online Assessment System (OAS). (http://www.georgiaoas.org)

4. Technology literacy is the ability of students to use the tools of their society with skill in an ethical, accurate, and insightful manner to meet the demands of the 21st Century workplace and world. This includes the ability to use appropriate technology responsibly to solve problems and to create knowledge and learning by: Georgia Technology Literacy Defined • Accessing • Managing • Evaluating and Analyzing • Integrating and Synthesizing, and • Communicating information

5. It is the responsibility of each LEA or school to develop the definition, criteria, and assessment, and then document the technology literacy proficiency level of each eighth grade student at the completion of each school year. Districts will be expected to report the measures on an annual basis. This documentation will be collected and reviewed beginning in the 2006-2007 school year. Based on this documentation, every district should be prepared to report the following: 1. Method of assessment used by the school district to determine mastery/competency. 2. Number of students assessed on 8th Grade Tech Literacy skills. 3. Number of students who achieved mastery/competency on 8th Grade Tech Literacy skills. 4.Number of students who were NOT assessed on 8th Grade Tech Literacy skills. Required Components

6. The portion of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act known as 'Enhancing Education Through Technology Act of 2001' (E2T2) has a goal: To assist every student in crossing the digital divide by ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade, regardless of the student's race, ethnicity, gender, family income, geographic location, or disability. The Georgia Department of Education considers this a local control issue to be defined by each district. The GaDOE Office of Instructional Technology developed this website to assist school systems in determining how to assess student technology literacy. Why Technology Literacy is Important - NCLB

7. Who Will Test This Year 2008-2009 5th Grade 8th Grade 10th Grade

8. Test Dates and Login • http://georgiaoas.org • Monday, Nov. 3- Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 • Teacher Login: Email ID + mcsd; Example: mobertmcsd Password: email password • Student Login: GTID Example: 999999999 Password: initpass

9. Preparing to Test • Create a class for each teacher(If you want to view the data by teacher.) • Enroll students in the appropriate class • List students that need a User ID for OAS • Create a User ID for students not in the OAS • GTID should be used for the Student ID • The default password is “initpass” • Create a User ID for teachers who are not in the OAS • “Email ID” followed by “mcsd” is used for Teacher ID

10. Preparing to Test • The GA 8th Grade Technology Competency Test 1 has been assigned to all students in the OAS System in 5th, 8th and 10th grade. • The test must be administered online via the GA OAS site • Distribute User IDs and Passwords to teachers and students • Instruct users to access the site via the Novell app object labeled “GA OAS”

11. Preparing to Test • Check all computers to be used for testing to make sure that ALL pop-up blockers are disabled • Testing Window is Monday, November 3 – Friday, November 21 • Note that Tuesday, November 4 is a Teacher In Service day • Test results are compiled over the weekend for GA OAS tests that contain Level 3 items • Test results will be available on Monday of the week following testing

12. Accessing the Report Data • The test data will be located under the “Reports” tab • Select “Benchmark and School System Level Reporting” • Then select the type of report to view

13. For Questions or Assistance Contact Michelle Obert at mobert@mcsdga.netor Jana Reese at jreese@mcsdga.net or MCSD Technology Academy at 706-569-3777