Report: Fourth graders able to “meaningfully participate” in computer-based tests

Driscoll’s statement is based on a first-of-its-kind study of 13,000 fourth graders conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP.

The center spent two years studying whether fourth graders would be able to take the writing test, which is proctored every two years to a national sample of students, on a computer.

The center will be transitioning its exams to computers.

The findings of the report may put some critics of computer-based tests at ease. Those critics have raised concern about whether some students who have less access to technology may not be able to demonstrate their proficiency in writing, for example, because they lack keyboarding skills.

There’s been particular concern about “the digital divide” between technology and students from low-income families and schools.

But the report, which was released last week, found 100 percent of the students who participated reported having access to a computer at school, while 93 percent reported having access at home, and 92 percent reported previously taking a computer-based assessment.

The center  published its finding online with tools and suggestions for educators here.