A Dublin headquartered education technology firm has won a contract to provide the online assessment platform for new computer based standardised testing in schools here.
Prodigy Learning's cloud based "skillify" software was chosen by state agency, the Educational Research Centre (ERC), to run the service in primary and post-primary schools .
The five year contract will see the rollout of the platform to replace the old computer based standardised testing tool for the so-called Drumcondra test.
The online tests complement paper-based tests offered by the ERC and will allow it the flexibility to develop its own question types and test designs.
Initially 40,000 tests a year will be accommodated on the platform but this can increase if required, and tests will be scored immediately.
English reading and Mathematics through both English and Irish for 3rd to 6th classes will be among the first test to be rolled out.
In post-primary, the tests will assess verbal, spatial and numeric reasoning in 1st year, English reading and mathematics in 2nd year and Irish reading in 2nd year.
"This national contract is a major win and vote of confidence in our online assessment platform at a time of growing worldwide demand for online learning and assessment tools," said Prodigy Learning Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Flood.
"We are proud to be selected to provide this critical platform to Irish schools. Our team will be with the ERC every step of the way to continuously improve both the test-taking process and results based on continuous feedback."
