Case Study: National Center and State Collaborative meets unique assessment needs with Open Assessment Technologies TAO

TAO Addresses the Unique Assessment Needs of Students with Cognitive Disabilities

The National Center and State Collaborative, a multi-state consortium, began developing a comprehensive assessment system for students with significant cognitive disabilities and needed a platform that could meet strict requirements for cost, integration, external item acceptance, scalability, and security. It selected Open Assessment Technologies and the TAO open source solution after issuing an RFP in 2013.

Open Assessment Technologies implemented TAO for the MSAA Partner States, and the first major deployment took place in spring 2014 with over 9,000 students from 17 states participating. In spring 2015, approximately 70,000 tests were administered to 35,000 students in 15 states, and a fall 2015 pilot included approximately 6,000 students from 19 states. The customer said TAO provided the flexibility to customize assessments, including manageable reading passages, simple navigation, and the ability to print items if necessary.

National Center and State Collaborative

Chris Domaleski

Senior Associate