Current Issue 3

Title of Article: “Solution aims to transform math assessment”
Publisher: eSchool News online
Date of Publication: October 17, 2007
Author: Laura Devaney

Summary: An interesting connection that is made to a successful Language Arts assessment tool is brought to the attention of readers of this article. While the article’s main purpose is to explain a technological advancement in the mathematics world, the research and rationale behind incorporating the math assessment transformation into classrooms is based in results from English Language Arts education and assessments.
The technology company Wireless Generation created “mCLASS,” a software offering of that offers teachers the opportunity to assess students reading and writing skills in the administration of DIBELS, the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. According to www.dibels.org these individually administered assessments help elementary level teachers assess students ability levels in the following areas: “Initial Sounds, Letter Naming, Phoneme Segmentation, Nonsense Words, Oral Reading, Retelling, and Word Use.”
Due to the success of the ELA assessment program, Wireless Generation is now researching a way to create a mCLASS for mathematics. This assessment would allow teachers to monitor student achievement in the same way as the ELA assessment. According to Devaney, the math version of mCLASS is being created in order “to screen for math proficiency, student progress and the students’ thought processes.” By targeting these three main areas, teachers are able to teach students according to individual struggles with concepts.