Field Tests

School-wide tests, including a tutorial to introduce the help features and item types, followed by approximately 30 science questions.

Dates: Fall 2009 and Spring 2010

The ONPAR test questions significantly reduce language on items by using interactive computer capabilities to facilitate access for these students. Your school’s participation will help us evaluate the effectiveness of the ONPAR items for students with language challenges, including English learners, students with learning disabilities (especially in reading), deaf and hard-of-hearing students, and native English speakers without IEPs.

Time Requirements: The entire field test is administered on school computers, so the number of students in each session will be limited by capacity of the school computer lab. Each session will last approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The scheduling, of course, would be determined by the school and what would cause the least amount of disruption to instruction. Students will see a tutorial to introduce the help features and item types, followed by approximately 30 science questions. The tutorial may be viewed at a separate session if schools are limited to 60 minute periods.

Hardware Requirements: The test will be administered on school computers. CAL will work with the school administrator prior to the testing session to ensure the software is loaded onto the computers. Network connectivity is required. The minimum computer hardware requirements to participate in the field test are:
Windows: Intel® Pentium® II 450MHz (or equivalent), 128MB of RAM
Macintosh: PowerPC® G3 500MHz/ Intel Core™ Duo 1.33GHz, 128MB of RAM

Parental Permission: Bilingual permission forms are available.

Staff requirements: A local contact is necessary to assist with identifying the students, and locating them for each of the sessions. A local educator will be required to supervise the administration. Test administrators will have access to a 30 minute orientation movie delivered via internet. Additionally, information about the students’ English and Science proficiency may be requested for each student. The information will be requested in the form of a questionnaire sent via email to the teachers. It is expected that the questionnaire will require 5-10 minutes per student. There is an incentive provided for completing the questionnaire.

Contact:
e-mail: onpar@cal.org

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