A decision has been made to pilot the Aztec instructional software this spring 2009 trimester through the end of the winter 2010 trimester at the Anaheim campus in the High School Lab and Learning Center.
The Anaheim Learning Center will pilot the Aztec assessment developed for non-diploma students (i.e. DSPS, ESL, and VocEd students) referred to the Learning Center to improve skills. The Aztec non-diploma assessment will be administered by Anaheim Assessment Center proctors under the supervision of Anna Garza. At this point, the goal is to begin assessing non-diploma students utilizing the Aztec software in April or May 2009. Anna will meet with the Anaheim Learning Center faculty and staff along with Lori Givens, Special Projects Coordinator of Basic Skills/High School Diploma Program, this afternoon.
Although the High School Lab and Learning Center at Cypress and Wilshire can currently access the Aztec software online, this will change in the near future due to the contract not authorizing the use of Aztec at multiple campuses. I understand the majority of Cypress and Wilshire faculty and staff have been trained on the Aztec software by Lisa Wing, Basic Skills adjunct faculty and former professional expert, and it was indeed our intention to have all labs on board this fall. However, there has been discussion the last few weeks to determine whether we should invest additional funds now to permit the use of the software at all three sites. After learning the quoted amount from Aztec representatives, the best decision is to remain with the current 50 licenses and the LAN product piloting the software at Anaheim for one year.
As we approach the spring 2010 trimester, the High School Lab and Learning Center faculty can determine if Aztec is a valuable piece of software worthy of an additional investment to transition to the WAN version that will permit SCE to implement the software at Cypress and Wilshire.
Dione M. Carter
Manager, Basic Skills/High School Diploma Program
