Case Studies

Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, Idaho

Standardized Testing

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise is responsible for administering the Idaho Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) to all school-aged children grades two through nine within the Catholic schools system in the state of Idaho. Located in the capital city of Boise, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise administers the ISAT test to over 1800 students, in 13 separate schools across Idaho, up to four times per year. The ISAT test is used to measure a student's academic progress in comparison to other students of the same age and gender. It also measures the progression of a student from previous years, and how the student and the school compares on a national level.

Business Challenges

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise saw the need to automate the test-taking process for the students and to provide an online test-taking solution for all of its schools across Idaho. Previously, the tests were administered via paper and pencil, and the information had to be consolidated and manually entered into a database. This method was time consuming, did not provide adequate records of student data and was very costly to administer. Another challenge was finding a simple solution that would utilize the schools' existing and diverse hardware, instead of forcing them to purchase new and costly machines.

Solution

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise enlisted its IT management company IntegriNet Solutions Inc., to find the appropriate web-based application management system to serve its needs. After receiving and testing an evaluation version of New Moon Canaveral iQ from Propalms®, IntegriNet found it to be the perfect fit. The company found Canaveral iQ to be easy to install, administer and support. The software also solved hardware concerns by supporting Windows 95 through XP clients and numerous application servers.

Canaveral iQ was installed in the server farm located at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Boise, Idaho.The configuration consists of one Microsoft SQL database server, two web servers and seven Dell application servers. Canaveral iQ pushes out the testing software to 200 clients at a time, at 14 schools and has the capability to grow as more services are offered. The solution is secure, easy to use and cost-effective.

Benefits

Canaveral iQ makes it easy for the administrators at each school location to access the ISAT testing software via the Internet or through a wireless LAN. The test administrators are then able to login each student with an individual password to the testing software. Once the testing is complete, the reports are run through Canaveral iQ and distributed back to the specific schools. Data collected is used to measure a student's academic progress in comparison to other students of the same age and gender, and the school's progress on a state and national level. With direct access to this data, the teachers can track the progress of their students and prepare future course material based on the results of the testing.

In the near future the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise plans to use Canaveral iQ to deploy additional educational applications as well as back office administrative software.

"Canaveral iQ has enabled our administrators to bring secure, online standardized testing to students throughout the state. With this solution we can cost-effectively collect the data we need to do a better job of educating our kids," said Bob Sabotta, educational administrator for Idaho Roman Catholic Schools.

The Challenge

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise saw the need to automate the test-taking process for students and to provide an online test-taking solution for all of its schools across Idaho.

The Solution

After receiving and testing an evaluation version of New Moon Canaveral iQ from Propalms, IntegriNet found it to be the perfect fit. The company found Canaveral iQ to be easy to install, administer and support.

The Benefits

Canaveral iQ pushes out the testing software to 200 clients at a time, at 14 schools and has the capability to grow as more services are offered. The solution is secure, easy to use and cost-effective.

Customer Testimonial

"Canaveral iQ has enabled our administrators to bring secure, online standardized testing to students throughout the state. With this solution we can cost- effectively collect the data we need to do a better job of educating our kids." Bob Sabotta, Idaho Roman Catholic Schools