Tech Coordinator Dispels PARCC Rumors

Courtesy+of+Google+Images+

Courtesy of Google Images

Jack Linkin, Staff Writer

One of the biggest issues that people had with the new PARCC test was that the test would be administered on a ChromeBook, instead of pencil and paper in a  traditional test booklet. Upon learning this, rumors started flying around the school that with so many students on the network at the same time, there would be a crisis, “Everything is going to crash!”, “We can’t handle over 2000 people on the same network at the same time!”

So, after months of listening to people speculate, and the rumors grow,  I asked the MTPS Technology Coordinator, Mr. Jay Attiya, to answer the PARCC technology question once and for all. The answers were very surprising.

 

 

  • What changes needed to be made to the district technological infrastructure to accommodate for the PARCC test?
  • How much time did you have to make these changes for the test?

 

 

“The changes and upgrades we have made in technology over the last few years have really not been solely geared toward PARCC, but for the betterment of the district’s delivery of instruction.  PARCC’s arrival on the education landscape has coincided with the evolution of technology in our school district.  Increases we have made in Internet bandwidth and infrastructure are serving a far greater need in the classroom than just PARCC. The Internet is used throughout the school day for research and educational content delivery.  In fact we could have every student in our district in grades 3-11  taking the PARCC test at the same time and it would use up less than 10% of our total Internet bandwidth. The introduction of low cost devices such as ChromeBooks has allowed school districts to start implementing one-to-one programs changing the delivery of instruction in the classroom.  The introduction of online assessment is just another step in the digitization of schools.”- Jay Attiya

 

I would like to personally thank Mr. Attiya for his time and generous response to the issue.