COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

P.O. BOX 2120

RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120

SUPTS. MEMO NO. 31

March 7, 2003

INFORMATIONAL

TO:	Division Superintendents
FROM:	Jo Lynne DeMary Superintendent of Public Instruction
SUBJECT:	eTools™ Live Practice Site

I am pleased to inform you that Pearson Educational Measurement has added a new link to the Resources section of the Training Center and the Virginia Standards of Learning Web-based Assessments program located at: http://etest.ncs.com/customers/Virginia/vasoltrng/resources.htm

eTools™ Live is intended to let students practice using different eTools available on their respective Web-based Virginia Standards of Learning assessments. Students may use this application to practice using the highlighter, eraser, choice eliminator, four-function calculator, periodic table of elements, compass, straightedge, and ruler. No log in or password is required. The application stands alone and does not require Internet access. The sample questions are not scored or reported and are not Virginia Standards of Learning test items.

The application may be downloaded to workstations or put on a local server at your schools. The application is available in both MAC and PC versions. The downloaded application runs between 8 MB for the PC version to 14 MB for the MAC version (with Virtual Memory).

I encourage you to have your high schools download eTools™ and allow your students to practice with them prior to administering online Standards of Learning tests within your division.

If you need additional information, please contact Mark Schaefermeyer (mailto:mschaefe@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804)225-2998; Ellen Kozlowski (mailto:ekozlows@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804) 225-2913; or Sarah Susbury (mailto:ssusbury@mail.vak12ed.edu) at (804) 786-5823.

JLD/ce