Oklahoma Chooses Measured Progress for the Oklahoma College and Career Readiness Assessment Program (OCCRA)
Dover, NH (PRWEB) December 10, 2013 -- The Oklahoma State Department of Education (SDE) has chosen Measured Progress as its assessment partner for the Oklahoma College and Career Readiness Assessment program (OCCRA)—the state’s academic standards initiative. The contract spans five years, with annual renewals required each year.
OCCRA will reflect the learning expectations articulated by the new academic standards. Measured Progress has extensive experience developing new assessment content and technology. In addition to its partnerships with states, the company has worked with the Race to the Top consortia on initiatives ranging from item development to systems architecture. Measured Progress is applying its test development experience to provide a secure item bank for Oklahoma, which will serve as the content foundation for OCCRA.
OCCRA will be administered each year in English language arts and mathematics for students in grades three through eight. Item types will initially include selected response, evidence-based selected response, short constructed response, and constructed response. In addition, Measured Progress will develop innovative item types, such as technology-enhanced items and performance tasks. All content will be designed to gauge students’ readiness for college and careers. In addition to developing test items for OCCRA, Measured Progress will provide field testing, test administration, logistics, scoring, and reporting for the program.
Measured Progress will provide OCCRA in paper-and-pencil format for grades three, four, and five; assessments for grades six, seven, and eight will be primarily administered online. Texas-based eMetric LLC will serve as technology partner to Measured Progress and the SDE. The eMetric iTester platform has been used to deliver a wide array of assessments, including statewide, end-of-course, formative, English language learner, and alternate assessments. It supports multiple test delivery devices, including iPad and Android tablets. iTester also enables the delivery of technology-enhanced and -enabled items.
With a field test planned for spring 2014, the first operational OCCRA test will occur in Spring 2015.
“The State of Oklahoma has articulated a vision of a new assessment approach built on outstanding content, a high degree of quality assurance, and proven and reliable online delivery—all at optimal value,” said Measured Progress President and CEO Martin Borg. “Measured Progress is proud to support the goals of OCCRA, a program that will stand as a model for states with a like-minded vision.”
About Measured Progress
Measured Progress is a Dover, New Hampshire-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to student learning and improving instruction in the standards-based classroom. Since 1983, Measured Progress has successfully partnered with more than 30 states and hundreds of districts across the nation, as well as multi-state consortia, in support of assessment programs that affect millions of students. Measured Progress develops state-and district-level assessments and is the nation’s leading provider of alternate assessments for students with cognitive disabilities. As a not-for-profit organization, Measured Progress is deeply committed to its mission of helping educators improve student learning by connecting assessment, data, and instruction. For more information, visit measuredprogress.org.
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Contact:
Patricia C. Ross
603/749-9102, ext. 2157
ross (dot) patricia (at) measuredprogress (dot) org
Patricia Ross, [email protected], http://www.measuredprogress.org, +1 (603) 749-9102 Ext: 2157, [email protected]
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