2009 explore and plan test administration in-service for examiners 1

2009EXPLORE and PLAN

Test Administration In-Service for

Examiners

1

Prior to Testing Attend EXPLORE or PLAN Training for

Examiners. Sign Examiner’s/Proctor’s/Scribe’s Secure

Materials and Test Procedures Agreement and Verification of Training to be kept on file.

Read the 2009 EXPLORE or PLAN Administration Manual, Room Supervisor’s Manual and Instructions for Completing the Answer Folder.

2

Prior to Testing Inform students and their parents of the test date

and the purpose of the test. Ensure each student is familiar with the types of

questions on each test. See http://act.org/explore/ and http://act.org/plan/ for sample questions.

Practice gridding answers as needed. Practice timed tests. Share test taking tips. Suggest students bring a quiet individual activity

in case they complete tests early. Textbooks, classroom materials and homework can not be used by students during the testing period.

3

http://act.org/explore

http://act.org/plan/

Prior to Testing

Inform students of the kinds of calculators that may be used for the Mathematics Test.

All types of memory must be cleared prior to and after testing. Any programs or applications must be removed prior to testing.

Follow instructions in the manuals for additional requirementson calculator use.

4

Morning of Testing

Check-out test booklets and answer folders, and verify count.

Check to see that each student has a pre-ID label or that identifying information has been manually gridded on the answer folder.

5

Before Testing Begins

Ensure that any specific content information pertinent to EXPLORE and/or PLAN is not displayed in the area during test administration.

Place a “DO NOT DISTURB” sign on the door during testing.

6


Students shall be seated facing the same direction during testing.

Desks/work areas are to be cleared of all booklets, papers and other materials.

Cell phones, watches with alarms or pagers are to be turned off

and placed under the student’s desk.

7


Show examples on the board of how to fill in answer circles correctly. Emphasize that students must make complete erasures.

Incomplete erasures can

result in lower scores if

the scanner misreads it.

8


Have at least two #2 pencils with good erasers for each student. Students do not need scratch paper; they may write in their test booklets.

9

Examiner’s ResponsibilitiesMaintain security of testing materials.Honor the requirements of Policy 2340 (testing

security and testing code of ethics).Administer EXPLORE or PLAN under

standard conditions or with accommodations as required by IEPs, 504 Plans, or LEP Assessment Participation Documents.

Return ALL testing materials at the conclusion of testing to the Principal/Building Level Coordinator. 10

During Testing

Read aloud verbatim the student directions. Circulate around the room to monitor student

progress on the test and to make sure students are marking the appropriate section of the answer folder.

Follow testing time limits strictly. Announce to students when they have five minutes remaining on each test. Use the timing verification form and turn it in to the principal/building level coordinator.

Provide a 3 to 5 minute supervised break between tests 2 and 3.

11

During Testing

Document any problem(s) with student/group testing on the Testing Irregularity Report. Irregularities are events that disrupt two or more students. Irregularities that could invalidate the test must be reported as soon as possible to the Principal/Building Level Coordinator.

12

Damaged, Defective or Contaminated Test Booklets or Answer Folders

The Principal/Building Level Coordinator will obtain an undamaged test booklet or answer folder from school overage or from the CTC.

Transcribe student responses to a clean answer folder.

Return the damaged or defective materials to the CTC. If contaminated, place in a sealed plastic bag.

14

After testing has begun, tardy and absent students will have to make up the test at a later time. Do not allow tardy students to enter the classroom during the test. The principal/building coordinator will have a plan for tardy students.

Standardized Conditions RequiredProper administration of tests plays an

integral part in the testing process and is vital to the accuracy of test results.

For the test results to support valid inferences, each Examiner will adhere to the conditions described in the Administration Manual, Room Supervisor’s Manual, and the Testing Code of Ethics in Policy 2340.

16

Standardized Conditions RequiredAdministration

Examiners must be educators, approved employees of the state, county or RESA or an educator in a private/parochial school with a valid West Virginia teaching license.

Examiners shall be trained prior to test administration and shall sign a West Virginia Board of Education Examiner’s/ Proctor’s/Scribe’s Secure Materials and Test Procedures Agreement. 17

Standardized Conditions RequiredAdministration

“No secure test materials, questions, or student responses shall be retained, reproduced, paraphrased, or discussed in any manner” (WVBE Policy 2340).

Examiners shall study procedures/ directions prior to the day of testing.

Specific content information relevant to the test shall not be discussed.

18

Standardized Conditions RequiredSetting

Students shall

-be tested at the grade level enrolled, even if they are repeating a grade and have taken the test previously.

-be tested in settings with adequate lighting/ventilation.

-be seated facing the same direction.

-not use highlighters, markers, colored pencils, or pens on the test. 19

Standardized Conditions RequiredSetting

Examiners and students shall turn off any cellular phones, watches with alarms or pagers during the testing period. Students shall place their devices under their seats. It is recommended that these devices not be brought into the exam room.Information related to EXPLORE or PLAN content shall not be displayed during testing.Place a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door of the testing room.

20

Standardized Conditions RequiredTiming

Breaks shall be provided and adhered to as indicated in the schedule. Students must be supervised at all times during the breaks. Instruct students to not discuss the test during breaks or upon completion of testing.

Students are not to leave the room except to go to the restroom.

21

Standardized Conditions RequiredPresentation

Instructions in the Room Supervisor’s Manual shall be followed precisely with the instructions in the shaded blocks read verbatim to the students.

Assistance to students shall be limited to the mechanical aspects of marking answers, clarifying scripted directions and finding the correct place to mark answers.

22

Options to Standard Conditions The following are changes that may be provided

to any student participating in testing. A special plan is not required. These changes DO NOT alter what the test measures or how the test is scored or reported.Use of visual magnifying equipmentUse of audio amplification equipmentUse of place markers to maintain placeUse of graph paper to align work

23

Options to Standard Conditions

Use of template (i.e., typoscope) to maintain place for responding

Underlining/circling key words/phrases in directions, text or stems

Use of color visual overlaysUse of a Scribe when a short-term

medical condition precludes the student from using the dominant hand to mark responses.

24

Options to Standard Conditions

Provide adaptive furnitureProvide special lighting and/or

acoustics

25

Returning Test Materials

Check in all sheets, test booklets, large print test booklets and/or Braille test booklets.

Return the Timing Verification Form.Return the Testing Irregularities Form(s) to

the Principal/Building Level Coordinator if an irregularity has occurred.

Submit list of absent students needing to be tested.

26

EXPLORE and PLAN Training for Accommodations

27

Accommodation

An accommodation is a change in the administration of an assessment, such as setting, scheduling, timing, presentation format, response mode or others, including any combination of these, that does not change what is intended to be measured by the assessment or the meaning of the resulting scores; an accommodation does not change the construct of the test.

28

Testing Administration Breach for Students with Accommodations

If a student has not been provided a testing accommodation specified in the IEP or 504 Plan, the parent/guardian must be informed by the CTC and the Special Ed Director.

One of the following three options must be offered:


Option #1: If the testing window is still open, the test results may be invalidated and the student be retested using a different form of the test. The school is responsible for paying costs incurred due to retesting.

If the testing window is closed, options 2 and 3 shall be offered.


Option #2: The test may be scored as is, without the accommodation(s).

Option #3: The test may be invalidated and the student would receive no score.


If the parent/guardian chooses #2 or #3, a written agreement between the principal/building coordinator and the parent/guardian must be signed with a copy given to the parent/guardian.


In order to be in compliance with the Office of Education Performance Audits (OEPA) Monitoring Process and the WV Continuous and Focused Monitoring Process, copies of the written agreement must be on file with the CTC and/or Special Ed Director and a copy filed at the school.


County consideration will be given to issuing a verbal or written reprimand to school staff who did not follow the IEP or 504 Plan of the student.

The federal government requires documented monitoring of the WESTEST and APTA accommodations in Mathematics, Reading/Language Arts and Science for students with disabilities. Submitting a WVS.326 for EXPLORE or PLAN is not required, but the accommodations MUST be provided.

35

Students with an IEP, Section 504 Plan or

Limited English Proficiency

ALL students are to participate in EXPLORE or PLAN in the grade level at which they are enrolled, except for those students who meet the criteria for participation in the West Virginia Alternate Performance Task Assessment (APTA).

36

It is recommended that students with an IEP, Section 504 Plan, or limited English proficiency be assessed following the same testing schedule as their regular education peers.

These students are to receive all assessment accommodations as outlined in their IEPs, Section 504 Plans, or LEP Assessment Participation Documents. For additional information, refer to West Virginia Guidelines for Participation in State Assessments. 37

NOTE:

Unlike WESTEST, students who have oral testing are allowed to have the reading tests for EXPLORE and PLAN read to them.

38

Additional Accommodations An IEP Team, Section 504 Committee, or LEP

Committee may request from the Office of Assessment and Accountability permission to use other accommodations. A request for a student to use an assessment accommodation that does not appear in the West Virginia Guidelines for Participation in State Assessments must be received by the Office of Student Assessment Services, Attention: Dr. Beth Cipoletti, Coordinator, no later than Friday, October 10, 2008. The request must come from either the County Test Coordinator, the County Special Education Director, or the County Title III Director. 39

Policy 2340

WV Measuresof Academic Progress

WV-MAP

Policy 2340

All personnel who handle WV-MAP materials must be trained on :

test security procedures

Testing Code of Ethics

reporting procedures for security violations

possible consequences of testing or data security violations

Testing Code of Ethics

and Test Security

TEST NOTIFICATION

Students and parents/guardians shall be:

Given notification before testing;

Provided information on the purposes of the test and uses of test results; and

Encouraged to follow test preparation procedures.

TEST SECURITYAs per West Virginia Board Policy 2340, county school personnel shall establish and implement procedures to ensure maximum test security and limit involvement to school personnel.

TEST SECURITYPrincipals are responsible for providing secure central storage for testing materials while they are in the schools. The secure central storage area should be accessible to principals and building-level test coordinators only.

TEST SECURITY

Principals are responsible for providing school-level training on test administration and security procedures.

TEST SECURITY

Principals are responsible for monitoring to ensure that testing is conducted in an ethical and secure manner.

TEST SECURITYAny individual who administers or handles the test materials must be trained and must sign:

•the secure materials agreement

•the verification of training form

TEST SECURITY

Before each daily test administration, materials must be distributed according to instructions provided with the test. Secure test materials must be secured at all times during test administration, including break times. All secure materials must be counted, reconciled, and returned to a centrally located, locked and secure area immediately following each daily testing session.

TEST SECURITY

The test administration area shall be maintained in a secure manner and shall include only those students to whom the assessment is being administered and the examiners.

TEST SECURITY

All student test data will be stored in a locked and secured area. Student test data will be maintained under conditions consistent with the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

HANDLING SECURE TEST MATERIALS

• Do not• Leave secure materials on desks unattended

• Put secure materials in unlocked cabinets

•Take secure materials home

• Throw secure materials away

• Reproduce test booklets in any manner – including taking notes/paraphrasing questions

• Do

• Lock secure materials up in a safe, secure, central location

ETHICAL TESTING

Test booklets or questions shall not be reproduced or paraphrased in any manner.

No portion of student responses to any item shall be kept at the school, copied or reproduced.

ETHICAL TESTING

Personnel responsible for the testing program shall be properly instructed in the appropriate test administration procedures. Documentation for this must be kept in accreditation file 7.5.3.

No one shall violate test security or the accuracy of the test data score results by manipulating the test administration, demographic data or the students’ answers or data.

ETHICAL TESTING

The examiners shall not use any specific information from the secure test questions to review students, create review worksheets, or any other aids that would improve students’ test scores without improving the underlying knowledge base.Students shall not be reviewed for a content area of the test on the day it is given.Specific information, as specified by the test manual, shall not be displayed in the room during test administration.Only references or tools designated in test manuals are allowed.

ETHICAL TESTING

Test materials are not to be in the school more than one week prior to testing.

Access to test booklets and answer sheets shall be restricted to the test administration period.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Tests shall be administered only during the testing window established by the West Virginia Board of Education.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Examiners must be educators employed by the county, RESA or state.

Examiners of standardized tests shall rigorously follow the appropriate administrative procedures as directed in the test’s administration manuals.

All examiners shall strive to create a positive testing environment.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Students shall not have prior access to test questions.Examiners shall limit assistance to students to issues concerning the mechanical aspects of marking answers, clarifying directions, and finding the right place on answer sheets.Examiners shall not indicate right or wrong answers in any manner (including body language and tone of voice) or point out the rationale of an item.

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Accommodations for students with Individual Education Plans (IEPs), Section 504 Plans, or Limited English Proficiency (LEP) Assessment Participation forms shall be provided as established in their plans.

During WESTEST and APTA, the accommodations in mathematics and reading/language arts must be documented by the assigned examiner (WVS.326 Testing Option Report, Assessment with Accommodations).

TEST ADMINISTRATION

Students and examiners shall be monitored to ensure that appropriate test taking and test security procedures are followed.

TEST SECURITYAny breach of security, loss of materials, or

other deviation from acceptable security procedures shall be reported immediately to:

The School Principal County Test Coordinator County School Superintendent Proper Authorities at WVDE

Investigation by WVDE will follow.

INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATION

Any written or oral report alleging a violation of test security shall be investigated. If the investigating team determines that violations have occurred, appropriate action shall be taken which may include:

•Suspension

•Termination

•Revocation of teaching license