Edulastic Innovator Spotlight: Ashley Wittmer

We are thrilled to introduce Edulastic Innovator Spotlight member Ashley Wittmer! Ashley is a K-12 Assessment and Data Analyst in Riverside, OH. She also recently presented in an Edulastic webinar where she talked about using Edulastic for Ohio State Test Prep. Be sure to check it out below. We enjoyed getting to know Ashley and hope you do too!

Get to know Ashley Wittmer

What inspired you to work in education?

I was inspired by the idea that health, safety, and the preservation of our country relies intensely on the quality of education provided by our public schools. Specifically, the quality of the literacy instruction we are using to support our students’ development.

Please sum up your teaching philosophy in a few sentences.

I believe that all students have the right to a high-quality curriculum that centers on complex texts and rigorous activities.

How did you learn about Edulastic? What is your Edulastic story?

In 2016, I was looking for a solution to allow my students with read-aloud accommodations to be more independent. In searching for that, I discovered Edulastic and realized that it could also support students in preparing for the AIR (Ohio proficiency test). I started using the program to give our ELA curriculum assessments.

In 2018, all ELA teachers in my building (Grades 7&8), as well as a large group of teachers from other grade levels began to utilize Edulastic to give and analyze assessments. I became an Edulastic Innovator, as well as a Level 2 Certified Educator, and started to give training sessions to buildings in our district that wanted to start using the program.

In 2019, I changed positions in the district to work in our district office as an Assessment and Data Analyst, which involves looking at district-wide data and helping teachers make instructional decisions as part of a coaching team. We adopted Edulastic Enterprise to give our common assessments. Edualstic will allow us to look at student progress over time, as students travel through grade-levels.

What do you love about Edulastic? How do you use it in your classroom?

I love that I can integrate test prep into my classroom without changing my curriculum. The only form of test prep I use in my classroom is using Edulastic to give the assessments I was planning to give anyway.

Edulastic saves grading time, not only on multiple choice questions, but using the rubric feature on essay questions makes providing feedback quick and easy. The essay question type also allows students to go back and revise their work using the redirect feature. I love that I can see student drafts, and keeping that process organized online saves time and space.

I am excited to use the Enterprise system this year, particularly allowing our elementary teachers share data between buildings, something they have been unable to do in the past.

What tips do you have for teachers who are new to Edulastic?

Jump in! Playing around with a free teacher account is the easiest way to get comfortable with the question types. The paid teacher account is affordable and completely worth it for the features it provides.

Share an #EduVictory from the past year. In other words, do you have a particular success story that happened in your classroom or school?

Immediate feedback from Edulastic has allowed us to keep students involved in their data. Edulastic has taken some of the mystery out of grades for students.