If students are to graduate college and career ready in today’s high tech, connected society, they must be competent users of technology tools, online resources, and 21st Century skills. The New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) has licensed NJTRAx from Metiri Group to build the capacity of its schools and districts to achieve academic excellence through digital learning. For a description of New Jersey’s work visit their (Metiri powered) New Jersey Digital Learning portal.
New Jersey was among the first states to license the Metiri Group TRAx software, under their personalized state TRAx system.
NJTRAx is a software-as-a-service licensed by NJDOE through the Metiri Group since 2012. The Technology Readiness for Online Assessment feature of NJTRAx was implemented to assess school and district readiness for student online testing. The tool provided a platform for schools and districts to analyze their technology readiness based on each school’s test-eligible population, number of devices meeting PARCC specifications, Internet bandwidth, room locations of devices and wireless access points, and testing windows. The TRAx tool was instrumental in New Jersey’s achievement of exceptionally high rates of PARCC readiness in schools and districts.
New Jersey Launch of Metiri Group TRAx Digital Learning.
In January of 2016, the NJDOE launched a second feature of NJTRAx, Digital Learning, also licensed through Metiri Group. This Digital Learning Assessment is a school version of the District Readiness Assessment used at the White House Future Ready Summits. Grounded in a key set of indicators for effective digital learning, NJTRAx Digital Learning is designed to assess a school’s readiness for digital learning AND its progress in the implementation of digital learning. The latter is based on survey responses from students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and IT coordinators.
Digital Readiness Measured by TRAx
Digital readiness is a measure the school’s capacity to implement digital learning successfully. TRAx surveys stakeholders to determine if a vision for digital learning has been developed and communicated, and that all policies, procedures, and capacity building are in place and aligned with the vision to begin a successful implementation.
Digital Implementation Measured by TRAx
Digital implementation is a measure of the level of digital learning in classrooms with students. TRAx surveys assess implementation from all perspectives to provide an accurate picture of digital learning practice in schools and classrooms.
Automated TRAx Reporting
All TRAx data collection is automated through a secure digital dashboard. Once the data are collected, a customized report is available to the school which includes ratings of readiness digital learning, progress regarding digital implementation, and comparisons of perspectives across the survey respondent groups. Schools and districts use the data from these comprehensive reports to identify gaps in their readiness for digital learning and to track their progress in school implementation of digital learning over time.