Hawaii’s Proficiency Testing Goes Digital

Starting this fall, Hawaii’s students won’t need number two pencils when they take the state’s reading and math proficiency tests. Aloha State schools are going digital.

In addition to switching from traditional pencil-and-paper tests to an online format, schools will have the option of letting students take tests up to three times and accepting the highest score. The goal is to boost test scores, cut costs, and enable teachers to recognize gaps in their students’ knowledge more quickly.

‘More Appealing’ for Students

School officials are optimistic about their students’ reaction.
 
“Kids are computer savvy these days—they’re just familiar with technology,” said Cara Tanimura, who directs the Hawaii Department of Education’s Accountability Systems Office. “Doing a math problem on a computer is more appealing than bubbling in little circles.”

Daniel Hamada, superintendent of the Kauai Complex Area—the island state’s equivalent of a large county school district—said the switch should resonate with students.

“Students and technology are like a duck to water,” said Hamada. “We need to move away from paper and pencil. Technology is more relevant.”
 
Improving Students’ Odds

Tanimura cited flexibility as a primary reason for giving students multiple chances to take the test.

“During their first time they may not be feeling well, they may have gotten in a fight with their parents, something else could be going on during the previous three-week testing window and there were complaints that it was too rigid,” said Tanimura. “So when we move online the testing window will open in mid October and run for seven months.”

Schools are not obliged to run the test more than once, however. “It’s not my place tell the schools whether or not they should test three times,” Tanimura said. “That’s the role of the superintendent or the principal.”
 
Costs Will Rise Initially

The transition from traditional tests to online testing will cost Hawaii about $12 million—more than the $10 million a year it cost to administer the paper tests. However, officials expect the cost to decrease by half in two years, largely thanks to savings on inter-island shipping.

“A lot of money went into packing, counting, and transport, and that adds up a lot of man hours,” said Hamada.
 
Technology also eliminates some of the older, awkward security measures state officials had to take.

“Previously, we had to have a back-up test on standby in case there was a breach or an emergency and we needed alternate forms. Of course, we had to have a Braille and large print version as well. All that added up,” Tanimura explained.
 
“While we were developing the online version over the past year or so we were still obligated to give a paper and pencil test,” Tanimura noted. “Test development is very expensive. We do a translated version in Hawaiian, so that will also be online. The price [hasn’t] come down yet, but further down the road it will.”
 
Quick Results

Online testing lets teachers see results more quickly. The old tests would often require months to process.

“Results would arrive in the summer when the kids were gone. Meanwhile, the kids have moved on and are getting ready for the next grade,” said Tanimura. “It really didn’t help the students with instruction, especially when moving from elementary to middle and from middle to high school.”

“So as a teacher the results did not impact your teaching, and if they did they weren’t as valuable as they could be,” he said.
 
Most grades showed this year’s test scores trending upward compared to the 2008-2009 academic year in reading, with proficiency ranging between 63 and 73 percent of students. However, more than half of Hawaii’s public schools did not meet adequate yearly progress goals under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

“Any time you change the test you’re going to lose some comparability from years past, but we’re doing a comparable study,” said Tanimura.

The board also made it mandatory for all schools to administer an online field test of the new test last year. Some feared disadvantaged students with less computer familiarity would struggle. “But really, we didn’t see any problems. The adults had more issues,” Tanimura added with a laugh.

Rob Goszkowski (robgoszkowski@gmail.com) writes from San Francisco, California.