TestHound Success Story: Revolutionizing Student Testing Coordination With a Robust Enablement Solution

The Challenge

When it comes to tracking and managing student testing procedures, school leaders know all too well that this can be a complex and time-consuming process. Jennifer felt these pressures firsthand as a test coordinator in her district.

Her original process involved meticulously sorting through a seemingly endless number of Excel documents and reports from different sources, including accommodation lists, pass/fail records, and more. The task of compiling and ensuring the accuracy of this data was labor-intensive and proved particularly challenging as Jennifer had to monitor students withdrawing or enrolling simultaneously — which wasn't her primary professional focus.

“I just had to keep up with so much stuff in so many different places. And I had to be the one making sure everything was properly matched and coordinated."

To no surprise, these exhaustive efforts led to a considerable time suck and a much higher likelihood of errors. The need for a more streamlined and efficient solution became evident as the consequences of maintaining the status quo included increased mistakes, extended hours of work, and challenges in accommodating the evolving needs of the district’s student body. This prompted Jennifer to seek a transformative solution like TestHound.

“I’ve been an administrator and I know what it means to put in work to get the job done. But, at some point, it's too much work for this kind of task. You shouldn't have to spend that much time on something when there’s a product out there that does it as well as TestHound does.”

The Solution

Jennifer’s district adopted TestHound to overcome the complex challenges she faced with student testing procedures, and the comprehensive test enablement solution from Education Advanced quickly emerged as a game-changer.

“I was suddenly more confident that I wasn’t making mistakes, knowing that TestHound was responsible for collecting and keeping up with all of the relevant student information. It was also easier to make adjustments from one test to another when you have all of the data right there in one place.”

TestHound helped to streamline the cumbersome process of managing testing-related data. This included providing a platform that replaced the manual navigation through Excel documents, directly extracted information from the student database and the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) accommodation system, and offered real-time updates.

“It probably took me three times as long to do it the way we had done it before."

Automating tasks like tracking students withdrawing or enrolling eliminated the need for such exhaustive efforts required before, not to mention the 'copy to' and 'sort by enrolled' features enabled Jennifer to organize data effortlessly — boosting efficiency and reducing the likelihood of errors.

In addition to the user-friendly nature of TestHound, Jennifer’s district benefited from the robust support system Education Advanced provides. Jennifer emphasizes the value of both the instructional videos and responsive assistance her team enjoyed throughout the implementation process.

“The help that TestHound provided was second to none in anything that I’ve tried before. I would put it right there at the top of being both user-friendly and having support available when you need it."

The Results

By leveraging TestHound, Baker County experienced a transformative shift in its testing procedures and Jennifer gained considerable confidence in the accuracy of relevant testing information and systems.

This test enablement solution has saved Jennifer substantial time since its adoption. Yet, the overall benefits of this solution extend beyond mere efficiency gains; students were ensured appropriate accommodations and Jennifer freed up time to allocate to other essential responsibilities — namely, her students.

“If I can save time with testing, then I have more time to check in with students. Are they being successful in their classes? Are they coming to school regularly? You know,  those things that kids really need. I have more time to do that part of my job.”

And when annual renewal discussions amongst school leaders began, Jennifer was determined to ensure TestHound would be fully funded. “I was ready to figure out how to get the money for TestHound independently. Do I write a grant? Do I go out and get a loan? I wasn’t sure, but doing the job without TestHound is something I find hard to imagine,” says Jennifer. “I wouldn’t be okay going back to doing my job without it.”

“I want to continue using TestHound so badly that I’ve given my own time in helping other school coordinators get more comfortable using it. That way, if all of us love it and are using it, then my chance of losing it goes down quite a bit."

At the end of the day, TestHound not only met but exceeded Jennifer’s expectations, transforming testing coordination into a seamless and confidence-inspiring endeavor for the Baker County district.

The Product

TestHound is a comprehensive K-12 testing software and the only test coordination solution that integrates data from disparate systems into a single platform for efficient assessment coordination. 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.