The Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) announced a collaboration with Learning.com to offer a technology literacy assessment to all eighth-grade students across the state at no cost to districts. Phase one of the online assessment will launch in Spring 2011, followed by a full roll out statewide in Spring 2012.
The assessment will provide districts with the data they need to understand how well students grasp critical 21st century skills. It will be based on the Technology Application TEKS (TA-TEKS), and will be updated to reflect the new standards in the 2012-2013 school year assessment. The test uses a blend of interactive performance-based questions and multiple-choice knowledge-based questions to measure and report technology literacy and skills for middle school students. Districts will receive their own data, along with comparison data from statewide results, to support improved student technology learning and help teachers plan how to integrate technology more effectively into the core curriculum.
Districts may find more information about participating in Phase I in Spring 2011 at www.tcea.org/assessment, as well as additional details about the assessment and implementation.