<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
@font-face
{font-family:Cambria;
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:"Franklin Gothic Medium";
panose-1:2 11 6 3 2 1 2 2 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph
{mso-style-priority:34;
margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:.5in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";}
span.EmailStyle17
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:windowtext;}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:959144323;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:1157664500 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0B7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:o;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:"Courier New";}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0A7;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple">
<div class="WordSection1">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">To: Assessment Advisory<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Subject: TIDE Focus Groups<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">AIR is recruiting TIDE users at the school and district level to serve on focus groups between January 11 and 22 to offer feedback on a redesign of the current TIDE system designed to improve the user experience.
Based on logistics, participants can either join an in-person focus group or be interviewed one-on-one. Some of the interviews will be conducted remotely using conferencing software.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Participants will be asked about their current TIDE use, including the types of activities they perform using TIDE, how they batch these activities, and which activities are most time consuming. They will then
view and comment on prototype pages from an updated TIDE interface designed to address the most common issues raised by users in the past. Participation by TIDE users in Oregon will help to ensure that the updated TIDE system meets your needs. Below is additional
information about the scope of the proposed focus groups:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><b><span style="color:black">Sample<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">AIR is looking to talk with the people who use TIDE the most. The mix of school-level versus district (or area) level users can be adjusted based on your understanding of how Oregon schools and districts
use TIDE. However, AIR would like to avoid mixing people with different levels of responsibility, i.e., district- and school-level, in the same focus group.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">AIR also wants to represent large districts with full time staff assigned to test coordination and smaller districts and schools, where test coordination is only one part of a person’s job.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">AIR is currently planning to conduct two focus groups, each with 4-7 STCs, and 2-3 interviews with DTCs or district-level TIDE users. (Note: Focus groups with STCs would need to be done with STCs from schools
that are close to each other so that the STCs could travel to a central location for the focus group.)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><b><span style="color:black">Duration</span></b><span style="color:black">
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">One-on-one interviews are expected to last 90 minutes; focus groups will last 90 to 120 minutes and will be scheduled after school at convenient locations.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><b><span style="color:black">Incentives<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">Where appropriate, AIR will provide a $50 incentive for each participant. Thank-you incentives (in the range of $100) can also be considered for schools that host focus groups or for agencies that allow
their employees to participate during work hours. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><b><span style="color:black">Scheduling</span></b><span style="color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraph"><span style="color:black">AIR would like to complete all the interviews and focus groups between January 11 and January 22.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">To help ensure that Oregon users are effectively represented, ODE requests your input on how best to recruit STCs, DTCs, and other district- and school-level users of TIDE. Of course, if you have individual recommendations,
please feel free to share those as well. So that AIR can meet its timeline, we request that you please provide your input (or nominations) to Jordan Heide at
<a href="mailto:jordan.heide@state.or.us">jordan.heide@state.or.us</a> by <b>Wednesday, January 6.</b> Thank you for any help you can provide us with this!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black">Holly Carter</span></b><span style="color:#1F497D">
<br>
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">Interim Director of Assessment</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">Office of Learning | Inst., Stand., Asmt, &Acc. Unit | Oregon Department of Education</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Cambria","serif";color:#595959"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">Phone:</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">503.947.5739</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#595959"> | Fax:</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Franklin Gothic Medium","sans-serif";color:#595959"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">503.378.5156</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#595959">
| </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Wingdings;color:#595959">*</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959">holly.carter@state.or.us
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#595959"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>