This preparation information is for version 2.2 and 2.3 of the ITPA.
Link to the previous version preparation information here.
This
is for those who are retaking a task that they have previously failed in
the old version prior to 1/1/2006.
In January 1999, the Idaho House and Senate Education Committees approved a State Board Rule pertinent to a technology competency requirement that school districts must have 90% of their teachers pass a state approved technology assessment model by 2001, and that all pre-service teachers must have passed a state approved technology assessment model to receive Idaho teacher certification.
Each of Idaho's universities has developed an approved assessment instrument. The University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College model is called the Idaho Technology Performance Assessment (ITPA). The ITPA is administered to both pre-service teachers and in-service teachers.
This document provides information for teachers and administrators in Idaho regions 2, 3 and 6 who are preparing to take the Idaho Technology Performance Assessment (ITPA). This performance assessment can be taken at your own school site once a local monitor has been trained and approved by LCSC and given permission to administer the assessment by the local building principal. To sign up for this assessment, contact your local ITPA monitor, or, if you do not know of a local monitor, visit our ITPA Monitor Contact Information Page. Those in Idaho regions 1, 4 and 5 please visit the University of Idaho ITPA Information Page, for information regarding taking the ITPA in those regions of Idaho.
The Idaho Technology Performance Assessment was developed, through the collaboration of the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College, to assess two levels of competency for teachers and administrators: computer use and integration of technology into instruction and curriculum. The assessment addresses the ISTE technology standards for teachers and consists of five computer-based tasks designed to take from 30 to 50 minutes each, however the individual has 70 minutes (Task 3 is allocated 75 minutes) to complete each task. The Idaho Technology Performance Assessment tasks are:
Task 1. Check computer information and review/evaluate an educational web site.
Task 2. Create a standards based technology integrated lesson plan and e-mail as attachment.
Task 3. Analyze data using spreadsheet application software and discuss equitable use of technology.
Task 4. Acquire graphics and create flyers addressing the following topics: (1) safe (include personal protection in web site usage), healthy and ergonomic use of technology; (2) ethical, legal, and copyright issues related to web site usage; (3) e-mail protocol (i.e., language use, spelling, grammar, tone, privacy, having a permanent electronic record).
Task 5. Create and run an electronic presentation on the topic of using Technology to Accommodate Students with Diverse Needs.
The cost for taking all five tasks is $100. The cost for taking individual tasks (as in retaking a failed task) is $20 per task.
The existence of the Idaho Technology Performance Assessment, and others like it, reflect the idea of technology's importance and permanence in our lives and our schools. In the implementation of these assessments, we ask no more from our teachers then they ask from their students; that they continue to move forward to learn and grow.
In this task, you will first be asked to find and describe basic information about a computer. You should know enough about an operating system (either Windows or Mac OS) to do the following:
You should also be familiar enough with computer applications to effectively use menus, save documents, and print. You are expected to correctly use basic computer-related terminology such as hard drive, mouse, RAM, CD drive, menus, folder, application, icon, drag, click, right click, double click, etc.
You will also be asked to navigate to an educational World Wide Web site and evaluate it in terms of its educational value. This may include providing suggestions as to which grade level or subjects the web site is most appropriate for and articulating a method for integrating the use of this resource into educational activities for students.
In this task, you will be asked to demonstrate your word processing skills by describing a lesson where students use educational technology. You should have basic word processing skills that include the following: create text, copy and paste text, change font type and size, set document margins (this is not the same as paragraph indents), spell check, use the bullet and numbering feature, and create a simple table. You should also have basic document management skills, including being able to open a word processing application, save, print, and close the application.
You will be asked to select a topic and describe how to teach that topic in a way that includes the use of educational technology. For example, your lesson could include having students use the computer to write or take notes, or use reference software or the World Wide Web to do research, or make and present electronic presentations to the class.
The topic of your lesson must be matched to formal content standards that are applicable to your content area. You will be asked to demonstrate your ability to find these content standards on-line, reference the standards URL and use them as the foundation for your lesson.
You will also be asked to demonstrate your ability to send documents as e-mail attachments.
In this task, you will be given data that must be entered into a spreadsheet application, i.e., Microsoft Excel. You should be competent enough with spreadsheet software to do the following:
You will also be asked to analyze and comment on the data in relation to the issue of providing an equitable opportunity to learn with technology to all students -- that is, you will be asked to show an understanding of the issue of technology equity for students in a classroom.
In this task, you will be asked to create one-page flyers that include graphics, objects and text. You should know how to use a scanner and/or digital camera and be able to insert graphics into a document where they can be moved, resized, and combined with text in order to communicate an idea.
You should be prepared to build your flyers around the following topics:
Graphics and text should be used to communicate in a clear manner the concepts of the flyers.
The flyer should demonstrate the examinee understands the topics addressed by the flyers at a level appropriate for a pre-service teacher who is prepared to enter the educational profession as an educator.
In this task, you will be asked to create an electronic presentation (slide show). The slide show must have a minimum of five slides: introduction (title) page, three additional content slides, and a reference slide. You will be allowed access to World Wide Web (WWW) resources to help you with the content of the presentation, thus, you should know how to access the WWW, use a search engine, copy text from a web site into your presentation and identify the URL of individual web sites.
You should be prepared to create slides on the following topics:
The presentation should demonstrate the examinee understands the topics addressed by each slide at a level appropriate for a pre-service teacher who is prepared to enter the educational profession as an educator.
In order to complete this task successfully you need to be able to complete the following technical requirements within the electronic presentation:
• Before signing up for the assessment, you must have an e-mail address. This address will be used during the test and when your results are sent to you.
• You must make arrangements with an ITPA monitor and know his or her monitor number before you can sign up on line for the assessment.
• Monitors for school districts in Regions II, III and VI are trained and approved through Lewis-Clark State College. Teachers or administrators in these regions who are interested in taking the assessment should contact an approved ITPA monitor in their school and then sign up on-line at http://education.lcsc.edu/itpa/
• Monitors for school districts in Regions I, IV and V are trained and approved through the University of Idaho. For information about monitors in those regions visit http://coe.ed.uidaho.edu/index.cfm?SiteID=7.
• Before you begin the assessment, you should know whether your district or school will be directly paying LCSC or whether you will be paying for the assessment yourself. Please be aware that when you begin the assessment, you are agreeing to pay the $100 fee (or, if arrangements have been made in advance, to have your district pay the $100 fee).
• When you arrive to take the assessment, you will not be permitted to use anything you bring with you other than a pencil or pen. The monitor can provide you with a dictionary and pictures at your request.
• Your results will be sent to you approximately 3 to 5 weeks after your completed packet is received at Lewis-Clark State College. If you have not been notified of your results within 45 days of completing your last task, please contact the ITPA Administrator (itpa@lcsc.edu).
• When you pass the ITPA your certificate will be sent to your monitor. If you have been notified that you passed, but have not received your certificate within three weeks of that notification, please contact your monitor (first) and then (if necessary) the ITPA Administrator.
• If you require special accommodations, or would like to submit a suggestion or complaint, please contact the ITPA Administrator at itpa@lcsc.edu.
This page last revised on 4/23/07.