Solution: Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
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Kindergarten Entry Assessment in Maryland and OhioKindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA)

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop the technology to support the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment for Maryland and Ohio. Administered to about 400,000 kindergarteners in multiple states, the assessment is used daily by more than 11,000 teachers and administrators. A combination of hands on mobile apps, teacher assisted activities, and observations are used to administer 50 items.

The Challenges

  • Accommodate many concurrent users; currently 11,000 users and 400,000 students
  • Rapidly implement nine cross-platform user interfaces including mobile iOS and Android
  • Decentralize data management to respect school district autonomy
  • Address wide range of audience technical familiarity
  • Support an entirely new process without precedent

Our Approach

  • Gather requirements from multiple states and create a single system
  • Pilot a prototype and collect user feedback
  • Create scalable system using the Amazon Cloud
  • Include interactive games developed for young children
  • Provide sophisticated data management tools for loading and managing data by district
  • Build a system flexible enough to adapt as the process evolves
  • Utilize the Electronic Learning Community to provide integrated professional development

The Results

  • Successful completion in multiple states in 2014 and 2015
  • Baseline results reported in each state by subgroups

 

Screenshot of KRA Screenshot of KRA Screenshot of KRA

Solution: Early Learning Assessment
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Formative Assessment for Early Care & Education in Maryland and OhioEarly Learning Assessment

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop the technology to support the statewide Early Learning Assessment in Maryland and Ohio. The formative assessment will be administered to about 1,000,000 early learners across both states and will be used daily by over 20,000 teachers and administrators. Teachers plan, score, and collect artifacts on any combination of up to 50 items in a special activity workspace built into the solution.

The Challenges

  • Collaborate with content experts, stakeholders, and decision makers
  • Accommodate many concurrent users; 120,000 users and 1,000,000 students
  • Meet special education requirements regarding Child Outcomes Summary
  • Decentralize data management to respect school district autonomy

Our Approach

  • Develop a cross-platform mobile app
  • Integrate with existing classroom process and flow using activity planner approach
  • Speed data entry using recognizable browser based spreadsheet style data entry
  • Build on platform developed for Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
  • Gather requirements from both states and create one system
  • Create scalable system using the Amazon Cloud
  • Provide sophisticated data management tools for loading and managing data by district

The Results

  • Targeted implementation in both states for 2016
  • An extremely useful and widely used tool for teachers that is useful in the classroom as well as at local and state agency levels

 

Screenshot of ELA iPad App Screenshot of ELA iPad App

Solution: BeWhatIWantToBe.com
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Maryland Business Roundtable for EducationCareer Planning Website

No.Inc partnered with the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education to create BewhatIwanttobe.com, a website that uses an innovative interface to introduce career options to high school students through the voices of real professionals. Using a collection of in-depth profiles and career information, the site organizes profiles into career clusters that show how jobs fit into various industries.

To enhance student engagement we incorporated quizzes and challenges into the site that users can take to win prizes.

The Challenges

  • Create a game-like quiz system that allows students to earn points
  • Develop a content management system

Our Approach

  • Interview high school and middle school students about careers, games and prizes
  • Observe speaker and student interactions in classrooms

The Results

  • Reached over 244,000 Maryland students
  • More than 13,000 active accounts participating in challenges and quizzes each day

 

Screenshot of BeWhatIWantToBe.com