Directors:
Michael Russell, PhD
President & Director of Research
Thomas Hoffmann, MFA
Vice President & Director of Product Development
Jennifer Higgins, M.Ed.
Director of Field Operations
Brain LaRaia
Director of Technology
Company Background
Nimble Assessment Systems, Inc. (Nimble) specializes in computer-based testing, with an emphasis on accessibility and accommodations for students with disabilities and special needs. Recognizing the rapid growth in computer-based testing that will occur during the next 10 years and the challenges that computer-based testing pose for students with disabilities, Nimble created NimbleTools. NimbleTools is a computer-based test administration system that flexibly adapts the user interface to provide students with appropriate accessibility and accommodations. Tools specifically designed to meet the needs of students are incorporated directly in the system, avoiding the need for schools to purchase separate software or to configure computers so that external software can interact with the test delivery system. Embedding accessibility and accommodation tools in the system guarantees that tools will be available to all students across a state, that the tools will function properly for the test, and that the tools will provide accommodations in a standardized, controlled manner for all students.
Company History
Nimble Assessment Systems, Inc. was founded in 2005 by Michael Russell and Thomas Hoffmann. Nimble was formed in response to requests by state departments of education and research organizations to employ computer-based test administration and data collection tools developed by Mike and Tom for federally funded research projects. Together, they have 27 years experience in educational testing, computer-based testing, and test accommodations.
Prior to forming Nimble, Mike and Tom worked with the New England Compact (a consortium comprising NH, RI, VT, and ME) on a series of computer-based testing studies. The first set of studies focused on four issues:
- Effect of computer-based administration of writing tests;
- Feasibility and effect of a computer-based read aloud accommodation;
- Feasibility and effect of computer-based respond aloud accommodation;
- Effect of whole page versus scrolling text reading passages.
In addition, Mike and Tom have developed several test administration systems for other research studies. These systems have been used to administer tests and surveys to samples ranging from 40 to 10,000 students.
Nimble’s work began by developing a computer-based test delivery system that provided a read aloud accommodation. This work was performed for the New Hampshire State Department of Education and resulted in a system that was used to deliver the 2006 Grade 10 Mathematics tests to approximately 500 students. The use of the computer-based read aloud accommodation version resulted in 2-fold increase in the number of students who were eligible for a read aloud accommodation opting to use the accommodation for the actual test.
Since the successful NH statewide pilot, Nimble received funding from the National Science Foundation to expand the accommodations provided by its test delivery system. This work led to the development of two tools for magnification of test items (one for students with mild vision needs and one for students with low vision requiring greater magnification), and three tools for item masking. These tools were subjected to feasibility and small-scale efficacy studies in schools in Florida.
Based on feedback from the feasibility and efficacy studies, and from several state assessment programs, directors of special education services, and leaders in the field including Martha Thurlow of the National Center for Educational Outcomes, Jerry Tindal (University of Oregon), and several researchers specializing in assistive technologies at CAST, several additional accessibility and accommodation tools were added to NimbleTools.
Nimble continues to research and expand the possibilities that computer-based tests can offer students, parents, teachers, and administrators.