TestHound Customer Success Story: Lessons from a Student Testing Expert with Over 50 Years of Experience

The Challenge

Brown describes her experience with test coordination in the early years as taxing and frenzied, retelling a story about tracking assessment inventory manually. "All the boxes and materials were in the library, and the curriculum director and I were trying to figure out how to send it all back," she recalled. "We kept calling the 800 number and finally, on about the tenth call, we started laughing so hard that I had to hang up. We were so exhausted and so crazed about how to do this."

Managing and tracking material inventory by hand is a highly inefficient process that often robs precious time from school counselors. Like many districts across the nation, Lubbock Cooper ISD doesn’t have dedicated campus testing coordinators. The school’s counselors design and deliver the school counseling programs, as well as serve as campus testing coordinators. "Some of our elementary counselors are responsible for 900 students plus coordinating student testing," said Brown. "They have so many other responsibilities, but my counselors are amazing. It’s not an easy job, but they make it look easy."  

The Solution

In 2012, fifteen school districts across the state of Texas were chosen as TestHound beta test sites, and in the 2012-2013 school year, they successfully implemented the web based TestHound for the first time. Brown was among those early adopters and today Lubbock Cooper ISD is one of 450 school districts that benefit from this test enablement tool. Although Lubbock Cooper ISD is a fast growth district, Brown believes TestHound will benefit any school, regardless of the size, the demographics, or the location. "TestHound meets a critical need for anyone administering assessments," she said. "This is not a Texas need. TestHound should be used all over the United States, anywhere state assessments are done."

"TestHound meets a critical need for anyone administering assessments. This is not a Texas need. TestHound should be used all over the United States, anywhere state assessments are done."

Student assessments have evolved into an even more massive undertaking, with new tests and testing methods every year and a myriad of student accommodations to track, but Brown manages the process with confidence thanks to TestHound. Even amid a K-12 one-to-one iPad implementation and a shift to fully online testing, Brown says she’s not worried. "Although we won’t be scanning booklets anymore, we will still use TestHound to schedule testing sessions and assign testing rooms and monitors, as well as for tracking student accommodations," she said.  

"Although we won’t be scanning booklets anymore, we will still use TestHound to schedule testing sessions and assign testing rooms and monitors, as well as for tracking student accommodations."

Effective assessment administration requires testing coordinators to check and double check dozens of data points housed in disparate systems. TestHound’s integration with Lubbock Cooper ISD’s student information system ensures Brown and her staff can access the most current information from the district’s Special Education and English Language Learner programs. "The TestHound master accommodations report provides a check and balance system, so we can make sure there are no balls dropped between special education and general education," shared Brown. TestHound also empowers Lubbock Cooper ISD’s testing staff to easily manage exclusions and special provisions for students, automatically add re-testers to new testing sessions, and verify that students have met assessment requirements for promotion or graduation.

"The TestHound master accommodations report provides a check and balance system, so we can make sure there are no balls dropped between special education and general education."

The Results

Brown works with districts all over Texas, serving as a leader in the Texas Statewide Network of Assessment Professionals (TSNAP) and a trainer for her regional education service center. Many West Texas districts experience high turnover rates for testing coordinators, but TestHound provides a path to success for both experienced testing coordinators and those who are new to the position. "I truly don’t know how any district or campus is coordinating assessments without TestHound," she said. "I tell new districts I work with they just have no idea how much time and energy TestHound is going to save them."  

"I truly don’t know how any district or campus is coordinating assessments without TestHound."

TestHound’s Performance Tracker saved Brown an immeasurable amount of time by automatically generating the data file to register students for state assessments. "If I had to try and create that myself, it would be impossible," said Brown. "I no longer have to wait on my SIS to publish the layout or worry about problems like leading zeroes. Now, I just pull that file, upload it, and my students are registered. It is really the greatest enhancement I've seen with TestHound."

According to Brown, there is no comparison between life before TestHound and life after TestHound. "It helps us work so much smarter, automating all of the paper-based tasks and eliminating the countless spreadsheets," she said. "It really changed everything. The district testing coordinators in my network all agree that their campus testing coordinators would revolt if they ever discontinued using TestHound."  

"The district testing coordinators in my network all agree that their campus testing coordinators would revolt if they ever discontinued using TestHound."