Due to COVID-19, many schools will be conducting remote universal screening and progress monitoring during the 2020-2021 school year. Although remote learning is very new to most educators, certain components of the traditional school experience can be continued through online instruction and assessment. In particular, standardized assessments that have remote administration available must be conducted according to the publisher instructions so that they provide the same standardized conditions for all students.
What is Standardization?
Standardization refers to using the same content and procedures every time an assessment is used. For example, the examiner reads from a script and uses the exact same materials every time a test is administered. In other words, the same testing conditions are used with each student.
Why Does Standardization Matter?
By using the same conditions with each student, the assessment results can be used to compare student performance to benchmarks and norms. Only scores from standardized administrations can be reliably interpreted because they document the same task conditions across students and time periods. Scores from non-standardized administrations reflect different tasks and conditions and should not be compared because they will lead to inaccurate conclusions about student skills. Taking time to ensure that all administrations use the standardized materials and procedures, will yield reliable results that can be interpreted with confidence.
Can Remote Administration be Standardized?
Yes. FastBridge has developed detailed instructions for conducting remote administrations. For most assessments, these procedures are identical to those used for in-school testing. Certain FastBridge assessments require very minor adjustments for remote online testing. These adjustments are necessary so that both the student and teacher can view and hear each other during an assessment.
More Information about Remote Assessment
Additional information about the remote assessment and detailed directions can be found in the following articles:
- Additional Resources for Remote Administration of earlyMath
- Additional Resources for Remote Administration of earlyReading
- Remote Screening with Computer-Administered FastBridge Assessments
- Remote Screening with Teacher-Administered FastBridge Assessments
- Remote Progress Monitoring with Computer-Administered Assessments
- Remote Progress Monitoring with Teacher-Administered Assessments