TestHound Success Story: Reducing Testing Irregularities by 77%
Lubbock ISD, located in the Texas panhandle, serves over 27,000 students across 50 campuses. With over 50 years of combined public education experience, former Lubbock ISD Testing Specialist Vanessa Barnett and former Executive Director of Research Assessment and Accountability Pam Leftwich know a thing or two about student testing. When they saw TestHound at the 2014 Texas Assessment Conference, they knew it was the solution they had been searching for.
The Challenge
Lubbock ISD’s district pillars are to value data, love people, and develop leaders. When the district reported 43 testing irregularities in 2013, Barnett and Leftwich knew it was time to evaluate the data, review the test coordination process, and develop a better system for its testing leaders. "We had so many required forms for campus testing coordinators to complete for documentation purposes,” said Leftwich. "We needed a way to streamline the process and reduce human errors.”
"We needed a way to streamline the process and reduce human errors.”
Like many districts, assessment coordination is not a full-time job for most campus testing coordinators in Lubbock ISD. Between performing tasks for their assigned roles, managing dozens of complex spreadsheets with student accommodations, and hand lettering names on testing booklets and seating charts, the testing coordinators were overwhelmed.
"To learn the skillset to manage all the spreadsheets and forms was tough,” said Barnett. Leftwich added, "It took time away from what those staff members really needed to be doing. We knew there had to be a better way.”
The Solution
Barnett and Leftwich weren’t strangers to TestHound when they attended the 2014 state assessment conference. "We had investigated it a little bit prior to the conference, but we needed it to do some things that it wouldn't do at the time,” said Barnett. But when she saw the TestHound demo, she realized enhancements to the product actually did everything Lubbock ISD needed, and more. "We knew we wanted it and we immediately contacted our purchasing director to see if we could get it approved quickly before our spring test administration,” she said. "We talked about TestHound the whole way home on the airplane and we made sure we got the contract turned around as soon as we were back.”
"We talked about TestHound the whole way home on the airplane and we made sure we got the contract turned around as soon as we were back.”
Not everyone on the team was as enthusiastic as Barnett and Leftwich. With 50 campuses, a network of massive spreadsheets, and an impending March test administration, the timeline was tight and there was a lot of work to be done. "We had some very skeptical people because of the timeline,” said Barnett. "But, everyone on the TestHound team was so wonderful to work with and after a day of training, our team was sold!”
Six years later, the TestHound team performed another amazing feat in the face of challenges associated with COVID-19 by quickly releasing pre-code test files for the state testing vendor. "We needed that file much earlier to administer the STAAR beginning of year assessment, but our student information system, which normally generates the file, wasn’t even ready yet,” said Barnett.
Because TestHound syncs disparate data from all other district systems into a single platform, the TestHound team was able to produce the formatted pre-code file with all student accommodations so Lubbock ISD could quickly, easily and accurately register students for that test administration. "Our staff members were already so overwhelmed trying to prepare to administer a test on September 1,” Barnett said. "Being able to pull that pre-code file automatically and get it uploaded to our testing vendor immediately was a life changer.”
The Results
Barnett and Leftwich were overjoyed by the amount of time and effort TestHound saved their testing team, but this dynamic duo was positively shocked by the reduction in Lubbock ISD’s testing irregularities. "We have reduced our testing irregularities by 77% and we attribute that to TestHound,” reported Barnett. “Most of our irregularities had to with student accommodations. TestHound’s master accommodations report, which comes directly from the integration with our special education system, made a tremendous impact in that area.”
"We have reduced our testing irregularities by 77% and we attribute that to TestHound."
TestHound’s ability to track district testing materials from their arrival at the district level to the campuses, teachers and students, and then back to the district also proved to be invaluable. "Many times, our campus testing coordinators would have trouble locating a book, but with TestHound we can scan everything to efficiently and accurately document our testing inventory,” said Leftwich. “The amount of time TestHound saves at the campus level is amazing, and the accuracy is so much better than what we had.”
Leftwich said there’s no going back now that their team has experienced the improved efficiency and accuracy of their testing process and gained the confidence needed to provide required documentation to the state. "If the Texas Education Agency came in and audited us right now, we are confident we would have every piece of documentation required because of TestHound,” she said. "I can sleep at night because of TestHound and you just can't put a price on that value.”
"I can sleep at night because of TestHound and you just can't put a price on that value.”
The Product
TestHound is a comprehensive assessment scheduling and resource management tool and the only test enablement solution that integrates data from disparate systems into a single platform to efficiently coordinate and schedule students and staff. By utilizing the efficiencies provided through the platform, tasks that can 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 assessments, allowing them to spend their valuable time on other priorities.
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