RttT and IA

Race to the Top (RttT) represents an opportunity for all states committed to educational reform to acquire significant funding from the federal government.  The reform that the US Department of Education is encouraging is far reaching but one key area emphasizes the collection and use of data to drive instruction and increase student achievement.  RttT will specifically require states and/or divisions to implement an Instructional Improvement System (IIS).  An IIS is defined by the Department of Education as a

technology-based tool… that provides teachers, principals, and administrators with meaningful support and actionable data to systemically manage continuous instructional improvement, including such activities as: instructional planning; gathering information (e.g., through formative assessments, interim assessments, summative assessments, and looking at student work and other student data); analyzing information with the support of rapid-time reporting; using this information to inform decisions on appropriate next instructional steps; and evaluating the effectiveness of the actions taken. Such systems promote collaborative problem-solving and action planning…

IA offers such a technology-based IIS.  IA’s IIS allows schools and divisions to create and administer secure common assessments to all students.  In addition, IA also provides the ability for teachers to assess their students through formative assessments in order to collect meaningful and useful data to aid them in their instruction.  With a database of over 20,000 questions, IA meets the needs of creating and delivering formative, summative, and interim assessments.  All IA assessments can be administered either online or offline (paper and pencil).

After administering an assessment, teachers and administrators receive “rapid-time” or real time results and reports to which the IIS definition refers.  IA provides reports that drill down by school, teacher, student, standard, question, and answer choice. Our reports provide schools with insight about their instructional strategies and practices that are effective and those that are not.  These reports address the fundamental concepts of RttT and provide a better understanding of what our students are learning, what teaching strategies are most effective, while pinpointing division, school, and classroom areas for improvement.

The success of our nation’s schools depend on the effective collection and use of data to drive instruction.   IA’s IIS assists schools and divisions to achieve such success.

IA understands that implementing an IIS will be new for many divisions and also understands that many divisions will look to improve their existing processes.  IA is committed to making such transitions as smooth as possible.  IA provides thorough training, live remote assistance, email and phone support, tutorial videos, a district manager that is responsible specifically for the division, and additional professional development opportunities.  Professional Development sessions cover interpreting IA reports, addressing specific needs with specific strategies, writing quality assessment questions and more.  IA recognizes that providing teachers and schools professional development is critical to the success of Instructional Improvement Systems.

Learn more about how IA can provide your school or division with an IIS that will change the way you collect and use data to increase student achievement by visiting www.interactiveachievement.com.