North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills 2006 CTE Summer Conference Koury Convention Center – Greensboro, NC July 19, 2006 Presenter: Scott Ragsdale Project Manager, North Carolina Computer Skills Assessments NC State University, CUACS/TOPS

Session Purpose This session will address: school year Current and future directions of the test as we move into the school year

All great journeys start with one step. Confucius

First Semester 2005 [Fall] Operational Pilot administration October 17, 2005 – January 13, 2006 Delayed Results 109,584 students tested Students completing administration = 99%

First Semester 2005 [Fall] Standard Setting: February 9-10, 2006  Bookmarking SBE approves recommended passing score of 150 on March 2, 2006 Results of Operational Pilot administration released on March 6, 2006

Second Semester 2006 [Spring] Operational administration March 20, 2006 – June 16, 2006 Results reported bi-monthly beginning March 31, ,941 students tested Students completing administration = 99.87% Individual Student Reports and labels available for school year on June 13, 2006

Success High completion rates Coordinated effort across the state Congratulations Thank you for your support, patience, and belief The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. Frank Lloyd Wright

Summer Semester 2006 Operational administration July 1, 2006 – July 28, 2006 Available as an option for students in grades who have not already met the computer skills graduation requirement NOT eligible to participate during this administration:  Students who are rising eighth-graders  Students who have previously participated, or are scheduled to participate, in a different Summer 2006 administration of computer skills [i.e Curriculum Test Edition 2]

Summer Semester 2006 Student registrations must be assigned to the correct school for each student for the school year Student information questions (SIQs) must be completed before a student can be tested Students who are registered but do not have SIQ data completed will not show in the listing of names to choose from when beginning a test

The Future Looking Ahead to School Year Testing Calendar  First Semester 2006 [Fall] October 2, 2006 – January 12, 2007  Second Semester 2007 [Spring] March 12, 2007 – June 8, 2007

The Future Looking Ahead to School Year NCDesk  Windows upgrade to JRE [Java Runtime Environment] 1.5.0_07  Justify option has been removed from NCEdit  No longer supporting Mac OS X 10.2 for testing NCDesk will no longer run on this version  Read-aloud integration [audio files] and JAWS in development

The Future Looking Ahead to School Year SIQs must be filled out at least 1 day prior to testing [continuation from Summer semester]  If SIQs are not complete, the students will not appear in the testing application Once a student begins testing, SIQ can no longer be edited Tests must be started and completed on the same day unless student is registered as multiple test sessions  Forced completion of tests on a nightly basis

Test Information StrandPercent of Test Items Societal/Ethical Issues12-14% Database22-25% Spreadsheet22-25% Keyboard Utilization/WP/DTP18-20% Multimedia/Presentation10-12% Telecommunications/Internet10-12%

Resources  Link to home page of the North Carolina Online Test of Computer Skills  Direct link to the home page for the NCDesk application suite  Link to Computer/Technology Skills Standard Course of Study on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website  Link to Computer/Technology Skills page for Curriculum and School Reform on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website  Link to computer skills testing information on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website  Link to Technology Implementation & Planning Services page on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website  Link to Technology Services page on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website

Contact Information Scott Ragsdale Project Manager, North Carolina Computer Skills Assessments NC State University, CUACS/TOPS Randy Craven Director, Technology Implementation NC State University, CUACS/TOPS Help Desk

Final Thought The secret of success is constancy of purpose. Benjamin Disraeli

Questions and Comments