In the Technology for Education Systems Transformation project (TEST) project, World Education developed, tested, and implemented a digitized and automated early-grade reading assessment. The benchmarks and assessments used for the TEST app were developed by the Total Reading Approach for Children (TRAC) project, and were formally endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) at the conclusion of TRAC. The TEST project worked with over 2,000 students and 57 teachers to develop the app and optimize its usability; at the conclusion of the TEST project, the app was ready for scaling up in an additional hundred schools.
The TEST app improves upon the previous pencil-and-paper version of the TRAC assessments by increasing uniformity in test administration, reducing scoring error and bias, and automatically compiling student score data to quickly identify struggling students. These improvements also promote teacher understanding and use of the Continuous Assessment System (CAS) as a diagnostic tool for student learning, while at the same time facilitating teacher and student use and understanding of technology in the classroom. TEST was supported by DAI through their Development Innovations Project, which is funded by USAID.
