Supporting Educators Through a Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, school districts across the country had to quickly adjust and adapt to continue educating their students. For developers of education-related software, the necessity to adjust was no different. The TestHound team worked to expand our features to reduce stress and empower educators across the country, even through the most uncommon and demanding times.
As school districts were forced to quickly transition between in-person, virtual, and hybrid learning models, they required a way to track students’ instructional delivery mode and document whether students were taking computer-based tests or paper-based tests. Trying to manually group students according to their instructional delivery mode or test version added undue stress in the middle of an already taxing situation. To ease this burden, the TestHound team developed a significant enhancement, allowing district and campus coordinators to easily track these details within the TestHound application.
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To accomplish this, the TestHound system was modified to allow district-level users to upload data files that included the instructional delivery and test version mode indicators. This information was then populated at the campus level for coordinators to filter their students into test groups based on these criteria. Through our new Multi-Session Scheduling (MSS) interface, campus coordinators were able to group in-person learners into a morning testing session and online learners into an afternoon testing session or select entirely different days for each group.
The development and release of our Multi-Session Scheduling interface was a crucial component in decreasing the stress level of campus testing coordinators during a global pandemic. MSS made filtering students into groups by similar instructional delivery modes, test versions, or accommodations much easier. It also minimized the steps required to coordinate testing rooms, generate test security documents, and track secure test materials (or test tickets).
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The TestHound team is devoted to making continuous improvements based on feedback submitted by district and campus testing coordinators. Another enhancement developed from such feedback was the ability to mark students absent from a test and then reschedule their test on a make-up day. During a time when school accountability components, such as meeting the percent tested criteria, weigh heavily on districts, accurately tracking students for make-up tests minimizes the risk of overlooking students who still need to test. With TestHound, testing coordinators no longer need spreadsheets, notepads, or sticky notes to track this information. In a couple of clicks of the mouse, students can be marked absent in TestHound and scheduled to test on a new day.
Recently, our development team had to adapt yet again when a state-level education agency changed to a new testing vendor. Our team reviewed the current system, evaluated changes required by the new vendor and made improvements to the program to ensure full utilization by our users. Regardless of the situation or the challenges, the TestHound team remains committed to adjusting, adapting and evolving to provide a superior product and customer support for our users.
Over the past year, the educators we serve have been forced to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. The TestHound team is dedicated to adapting accordingly to ensure the highest level of service and support, even throughout a pandemic. We are thankful to serve our loyal, returning districts and excited to provide value to our new clients. We exist to empower educators to transform schools.
If we can be of service, don’t hesitate to reach out. Together, we will build a better future for our students!
