A Big Hit

Looking for an online instructional assessment system? Harcourt Interactive Technology's iloli (www.hit.iloli.com) lets educators measure students' anticipated performance on state standardized reading tests. More than two million sessions were logged on the iloli Web site last year.

There are five reading comprehension tests per grade level. Each test contains six passages with questions. "Kids almost look at it as a game," says Russell Lee, director of educational training at the University of West Florida, hired by Harcourt to conduct an independent evaluation of the product. "They automatically can see how many questions they answered right."

For students in grades two through 10, iloli provides test practice. For educators, it offers instant feedback on test scores and diagnostic reports.

One study the university conducted in Florida schools found a seven percent increase in fourth-grade reading scores among iloli users prior to the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test's Reading exam. There was a seven percent decrease in the number of fourth-grade students who scored poorly. Next up is an iloli program for math.