TestHound Success Story: Finding a System That Grows With Your Needs
When Tricia Baldwin first joined Tomball Independent School District (ISD), it was serving about 9,000 students in grades K-12. However, in the past 10 years, that number has more than doubled — and so have testing needs. With 22 campuses, Tomball ISD currently serves over 20,000 students across the district. Thankfully, Tomball ISD first implemented TestHound about nine years ago to help the staff and teachers that were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of tracking, documentation and processing that was originally required manually.
The Challenge
Before Tomball ISD added TestHound, Baldwin was the main testing person for the entire district. This meant that she had to count each of the materials and test booklets by hand to ensure that every detail was accurate and correct.
“I had campus people, but they all had other responsibilities that took up their time."
“I counted each and every booklet for the entire district. And then I would double-check and count everything again. That was nine years ago and our students have more than doubled. It would be impossible to do this today without TestHound.”
Beyond the overwhelming hours of labor, there are also ramifications under state law if all materials aren’t provided and accounted for during testing. If a testing irregularity occurred, the district was required to document the incident and report it to the state.
“I’ve never had a testing incident that involved lost materials,” said Baldwin. “But because of these rules, we had to be accountable for every single testing booklet and personally verify that everything was correct. TestHound gives us that accountability and ability to track everything.”
The Solution
The increasing challenges of manually processing test booklets for a growing student population was the main reason that Tomball ISD chose to pursue TestHound — but it wasn’t why they stayed loyal to it. In the past 10 years, the district has transitioned to online testing, but the need for an accurate, efficient, and compliant testing process still remained top of mind.
“My biggest goal is that the kids get what they need,” said Baldwin. “I need to make sure everything is verified and correct – and that’s what TestHound does. We rely on it to make sure that our students are getting everything they need to succeed.”
With a background as a reading specialist, Baldwin has always prioritized student needs and continues to ensure they get the support and accommodations they need. From her first experience with TestHound, Baldwin was excited by the organization and improvement possibilities.
“I met TestHound at their booth at a conference,” she said. “I knew nothing about technology and from the start, they held my hand through the whole process. Even the founder was taking my phone calls and helping me with the system. I had my tech people call their tech people and it was a great experience.”
Now, almost 10 years later, TestHound has continued to meet Baldwin’s vision for success when it comes to district testing needs.
“We needed a solution that simplifies things for campuses,” said Baldwin. “Most of our campus testing coordinators have other full-time responsibilities alongside testing, so anything that can streamline the work makes a huge impact.”
The Results
As the district continues to grow, Baldwin shared the value of how TestHound grows with their needs to resolve challenges that come with increased students and online testing. Recently, it helped her track the End of Course tests (EOCs) to have visibility into which students needed to retest.
“All of the information was right there in TestHound for us to easily access,” explained Baldwin.
“One of my biggest fears is that we’re not going to test a kid who needs to take a retest — which could affect their graduation. Having that information immediately available in TestHound’s Performance Tracker is a huge benefit for me and for our students.”
Beyond providing ease of mind and confidence in tracking capabilities, TestHound has simplified and created a uniform process for campus testing — campus testing coordinators no longer need to make their own spreadsheets to track accommodations. On a district level, it adds one more layer of protection and accountability.
“TestHound saves us time and allows me to breathe easy knowing that the students are getting what they need. I don’t know how I’d get everything done on a district level without it."
Tomball ISD is continuing to grow and so are the pressures on testing coordinators across the district. Following state requirements and preventing irregularities is a top priority for Baldwin, which is why TestHound has changed the testing game for her. “With TestHound there’s one less step that a human may have missed something. It also gives us back time, which is invaluable because testing is just one component of what we do in our positions.”
“I love that they grow with us and they're willing to listen.”
The Product
TestHound is a comprehensive K-12 testing software and the only test enablement solution that integrates data from disparate systems into a single platform for efficient assessment coordination. During the 2019 school year, more than 325 districts used TestHound to schedule 3.5 million students for 225 state-mandated assessments and processed roughly 7.3 million student accommodations across various special programs. By utilizing the efficiencies provided through the platform, tasks that could take several days to accomplish using alternative methods can be done within a matter of hours. TestHound empowers overextended school staff to efficiently and accurately coordinate K-12 assessments, allowing them to spend their valuable time on other priorities.
