By Brenda WinterHills-Beaver Creek Elementary School students will use a new standardized test beginning in the spring of 2004, Elementary School Principal Todd Holthaus told the School Board Monday.Holthaus said the NorthWest Evaluation Association (NWEA) test, which will replace the California Achievement Test (CAT), is an interactive test that students will take on a computer. Results will be available to teachers immediately. "We’ll know how a student did as soon as he walks out of the computer lab," Holthaus said. Superintendent Dave Deragisch said the test can be given as often as four times a year. "We can give this test in the fall and have a better idea where the kids are at. With the CAT, we give the test in the spring and get the results in the summer which doesn’t do the teachers much good." Holthaus said he believes having test results sooner benefits everyone. "This is a great way to monitor teaching and learning," he said. "It will help us learn how we can change our curriculum to meet the needs of the kids. This will also be a better way for us to convey to parents how their kids are doing."Holthaus said the test is an adaptive test, which means the next question depends on the student’s last answer. If a student is doing well, the questions will get harder. If a student answers several questions incorrectly the questions will not increase in difficulty."This eases the frustration for kids who struggle on tests and will be more challenging for the kids who breeze right through them," Holthaus said.The cost of starting the NWEA testing program is $5,000 and will be funded through Title I and Title II. Annual cost of the test is $1,500 instead of the $2,500 spent on the CAT. The test will initially be given to students in grades 2 through 6 and it is designed for students in grades 2 through 10.Pulled quote"This is a great way to monitor teaching and learning. It will help us learn how we can change our curriculum to meet the needs of the kids," said H-BC Elementary Principal Todd Holthaus
