Groundbreaking FCRR-Developed Assessment Honored

A computer-adaptive assessment developed by researchers at Florida State University’s Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR) has received a 2016 Award of Excellence and Best of Show award from Tech & Learning magazine.

The prestigious Award of Excellence honors innovative tools and applications that address management, safety, communication, differentiated learning, assessment, and other key areas in education. Lexia RAPID Assessment, developed by Drs. Barbara Foorman, Yaacov Petscher, and Chris Schatschneider, was selected for breaking new ground in literacy assessment by using technology to seamlessly connect data to instruction in a practical and actionable way.

The assessment was also recognized at the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) annual conference Best of Show awards program. Lexia RAPID Assessment was selected by a distinguished group of technology advisors for displaying great promise and the potential to impact student achievement.

Lexia RAPID Assessment includes quick screening tasks that predict to grade-level cut points on norm-referenced reading achievement tests. Students may also be given listening or reading comprehension passages and diagnostic tasks that give accurate profiles of their strengths and weaknesses. Computer-adaptive features reduce the time needed to administer the assessments and provide other benefits. According to Dr. Foorman, “the interactive nature of the assessments keep students engaged at a level of challenge where they can be successful, rather than frustrated and bored as is common in existing assessments.”

Since 2015, FCRR has maintained a strategic partnership with Lexia Learning that focuses on research and innovation in the area of language and literacy assessment. FCRR's research expertise, combined with Lexia’s experience in developing interactive language learning software, has set the foundation for a powerful collaboration between two of the most renowned innovators in literacy education. The ongoing relationship between Lexia Learning and FCRR fosters groundbreaking research in reading instruction, contributing to both scientific knowledge and positive student outcomes.

The Florida Center for Reading Research is a multidisciplinary research center at Florida State University that explores all aspects of reading research — basic research into literacy-related skills for typically developing readers and those who struggle, studies of effective prevention and intervention, and psychometric work on formative assessment. For more information, please contact Nathan Archer at narcher@fcrr.org.