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SETDA Debuts Free Resource for Online Testing Requirements

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 05/12/14

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) has launched a new Web site, The Guide to Technology Requirements, designed to help K-12 leaders understand requirements for online assessments.

The result of "months of work with all six state-led assessment consortia," according to a news release, the free site covers requirements for assessments developed by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (Smarter Balanced), the WIDA Consortium (WIDA), the English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21) consortium, DLM Alternate Assessment System (DLM) and the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC).

The site features "an interactive chart that allows users to view the assessment consortia to which their state belongs, along with the technology requirements for the assessments from those consortia," according to a news release. The chart can then be customized according to technology appropriate for a particular district. Users can then "access resources related to the effective implementation of technology for learning as well as assessment."

"Many schools and districts already are thinking about how to meet the technology requirements for the new tests, and this site will prove invaluable for their planning needs today and into the future as technology requirements for testing evolve," said Douglas Levin, Executive Director for SETDA. "In preparing for online testing, school districts should take the opportunity to evaluate their overall technology needs, including for teaching, learning and the day-to-day operations of their schools. The guidance we provide along side of the technology requirements for all consortia's assessments will help districts do just that."

More information is available at gtr.setda.org.