1. North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills 2007 CTE Summer Conference Koury Convention Center – Greensboro, NC July 26, 2007 Presenters: Scott Ragsdale, Randy Craven NC State University, CUACS/TOPS

2. Session Purpose The purpose of this session is to serve as a brief update on the North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills

3. Notable Data from Fall 2006 205 students tested in one day at one school [2005-06: 139] 52 schools tested 100 or more students in one day [2005-06: 7] 5,068 maximum testing sessions used in a single day [2005-06: 3,063] 23 days of testing in which volume of used sessions was 3,000 or more ~133,980 total students tested ~106,035 8 th grade students tested ~2,228 different test administrators with 52 logging in 300 or more students ~3,446 students had the Computer Reads Aloud option

4. Online Progress Indicators

5. Platform Shifting

6. 2007-08 School Year Testing Calendar First Semester [Fall 2007] September 17, 2007 – January 11, 2008 Second Semester [Spring 2008] March 10, 2008 – June 6, 2008

7. 2007-08 School Year NCDesk Stable environment [little change from 2006- 07 school year] Audio verification Auto-update clarification message Automatic font verification Identifies if required fonts are missing [Times New Roman, Courier New, Arial, Verdana] Confirmation check box on test start page

8. 2007-08 School Year General Possible reduction of audio file size from 96-bit compression to 64-bit compression or smaller Test Simulation Flash Movie Demonstration of correct steps/answers by item

9. 2007-08 School Year Reporting Reporting schedule mirrors 2006-07 school year Next day return of results to LEA Test Coordinators [Note: after first week embargo] Feedback by strand at student level

10. Resources http://cskills.ncsu.edu/nccs Link to home page of the North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills http://ncdesk.ncsu.edu/ncdesk Direct link to the home page for the NCDesk application suite http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/computerskills Link to Computer/Technology Skills Standard Course of Study on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/tech Link to Computer/Technology Skills page for Curriculum and School Reform on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/computerskills Link to computer skills testing information on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website http://tps.dpi.state.nc.us/ Link to Technology Implementation & Planning Services page on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website http://www.ncpublicschools.org/techservices Link to Technology Services page on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website

11. Contact Information Scott Ragsdale Project Manager, North Carolina Computer Skills Assessments NC State University, CUACS/TOPS scott_ragsdale@ncsu.edu Randy Craven Director, Technology Implementation NCState University, CUACS/TOPS randy_craven@ncsu.edu Help Desk cskills@ncsu.edu

12. Questions and Comments “He who asks a question is a fool for five minutes; he who does not ask a question remains a fool forever” - Chinese Proverb