The Examiner
An ADE Newsletter for Test Coordinators
February 2022 Edition |
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Audra Ahumada
Deputy Associate Superintendent
of Assessments |
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First, thank you to all of you who are being asked to take on additional tasks as COVID continues to impact our schools.
Thank you to all of the DTCs and schools that administered the AZELLA Stand-Alone Field Test! Over 85,000 students completed testing! The information we will receive from this field test will help us determine how to proceed with the best performing items!
ADE is continuing to move forward to administer statewide assessments. We do not have any waivers for test administration nor legislative action regarding not administering statewide assessments or pausing State Accountability. While we acknowledge the challenges our educational system is facing, we are trying to be responsive and provide support as quickly as possible.
On the first day of this window we had over 12,000 students complete testing, and currently, over 98,000 students have completed testing! Thank you!
We are hearing from parents and teachers and want to be sure that you are passing along information regarding testing. Parents are seeking information and want to know the plans schools have in place to test safely in-person. We have updated and reposted the Creative Solutions List for schools (https://www.azed.gov/assessment) to use when making plans to test students in-person.
We will continue again this testing season with test administration observations. If schools continue to not allow guests on their campuses in the spring, we will be gathering information from DTCs about test security and training virtually. We will also gather test accommodation information for students with IEPs from Test Administrators through the pre-test administration surveys as we have done in the past. The number of schools will be greatly reduced from previous years. We will notify LEAs that have been selected to observe virtually, and in the event that schools are open to observations, we will notify schools to set up in-person observations. Our focus during the observations will be on test security, appropriate use of accommodations for students with IEPs and 504 plans, and consistent test administration practices. Our virtual visits will focus on test preparation, test security, and appropriate use of accommodations.
First Annual State Assessment Conference is coming!
September 26-28, 2022. More details to come, please look for the email! |
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Friday Focus Webinars
There is one more Friday Focus webinar scheduled in the 2021-2022 series - Accountability: What Now?. It will be held on April 1, 2022, 1:00pm-2:00pm. A registration link is included below. Recordings of previous webinars are posted on our website.
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Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) emails will continue to be sent out weekly through the testing windows, or more frequently if additional updates are necessary. Please be on the lookout for these emails and the information shared within them regarding any deadlines or updates for all of the Achievement tests:
- AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (Grades 3-8)
- AASA (Grades 3-8 ELA and Math)
- AzSCI (Grades 5, 8, and 11/Cohort 2023)
- ACT Aspire (Grade 9/Cohort 2025)
- ACT (Grade 11/Cohort 2023)
In addition, all DTC emails are posted on our website for easy reference at:
Friendly Reminders:
- Please include your Entity ID in emails to us.
- Please include which test you are asking about when you email us.
- Please send your email to only one of our inboxes (AASA, AzSCI, or Testing). Please do not copy the other inboxes on your email. This helps us to track emails that have been completed vs. those that still require follow-up.
- For issues that occur while students are testing, please include in your email subject line, "Urgent - Students Testing".
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Infographics
We have created several infographics this school year to help summarize important testing information. These infographics are posted on the homepage of our website: https://www.azed.gov/assessment, and many have been recently updated.
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Statewide Achievement Test Windows
Please note the AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (SAFT) window has been extended through March 4, 2022. |
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ACT Test Windows
Districts and charters with Grade 11/Cohort 2023 students have selected a test window in ACT's PearsonAccessNext platform. Please remember there is only one ACT standard paper test date in each testing window, but there are six standard online test dates in each window. Schools that are administering the ACT on paper may utilize the additional online test dates within the same window for any makeup testing needed.
Note:
- Cohort 2023/Grade 11 students will take both ACT, which includes a Science section, as well as AzSCI, the statewide assessment for Science.
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Schedules of Tasks for Achievement District Test Coordinators
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Achievement District Test Coordinator Training
There are four training modules:
- AASA - required for all Achievement DTCs with Grades 3-8
- AzSCI - required for all Achievement DTCs with Grades 5, 8, and/or 11 (Cohort 2023)
- Accommodations - required for all Achievement DTCs with Grades 3-8 and/or 11
- Achievement Test Administration Responsibilities - required for all Achievement DTCs with Grades 3-8 and/or 11 and for all employees who will administer, proctor, or be in contact with Achievement test materials.
Achievement DTCs are responsible for ensuring that all testing staff have received training prior to administering any tests. This training must include, but is not limited to, the Achievement Test Administration Responsibilities training module. Testing staff may view this training module in TMS, or DTCs may present this module in a group setting. Either way, DTCs are responsible for tracking staff completion of training as well as ensuring that testing staff have the information they need, based on their user role(s), for any test(s) they will be administering.
Additional training for Achievement District Test Coordinators with Grade 9/Cohort 2025 and Grade 11/Cohort 2023 students:
- ACT webinars: DTCs must attend either the live webinars or watch the recorded webinars, which can be accessed after the live events from the ACT-hosted website for Arizona.
- ACT Test Administration Webinar #1: available on demand
- ACT Accommodations Webinar: available on demand
- ACT Test Administration Webinar #2: February 2, 2022, 9:00-10:00am. This webinar will also be available on demand following the live event.
- ACT Aspire on-demand webinars: DTCs must view the recorded webinars for ACT Aspire in preparation for test administration. Three webinars are available at: https://success.act.org/s/article/ACT-Aspire-Webinars
- PearsonAccessNext Basics
- Technical Readiness
- Test Administration
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PearsonAccessnext (PAN) and TestNav |
In Spring 2022, all of the Achievement assessments will utilize the PAN and TestNav platforms. There are three separate PAN websites, with three separate logins, depending on the grade level of students in your LEA.
Please see links below for TestNav technical requirements for each assessment.
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Accommodations
Special Paper Version (SPV) Tests - AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire
- Reminder: Any requests for Special Paper Version (SPV) tests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire, including braille, large print, or regular paper, should be submitted to ADE for review by February 25, 2022 using the secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2022. Please contact us at AASA@azed.gov or AzSCI@azed.gov if a student has an injury or illness after February 25, 2022 that necessitates a paper test.
Additional Accommodations - AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire
- Note: This webform should not be used to submit requests for Universal Test Administration Conditions or Universal Tools, which are available for all students. Please refer to the Achievement Assessments Accommodation Manual for additional information about Universal Test Administration Conditions and Universal Tools. Please also refer to the Special Email about Achievement Accommodations, which was sent to DTCs on January 4, 2022.
- ACT Aspire - only requests for SPV tests or Speech-to-Text (for Writing and Constructed-Response questions) need to be submitted to ADE. Please note that Speech-to-Text requires a paper test administration.
ACT Aspire Accommodations
Personal Needs Profile (PNP) - NEW!
ADE will be utilizing the Personal Needs Profile (PNP) file to allow LEAs to upload accessibility tools that must be turned on ahead of time and ready for any student(s) that has these tools as accommodations. The PNP file is available for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire.
For AASA and AzSCI, please see the Quick Guide - Personal Needs Profile (PNP) Import, located in PearsonAccessNext, under Support > Documentation, for instructions and layout.
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Student Eligibility Reports
ADE's upload of students has now been completed for AASA Writing SAFT, AASA (operational), ACT, and ACT Aspire. ADE's upload of students for AzSCI is coming later this month. Following each upload by the State, DTCs should be verifying that all students who are eligible for testing have been uploaded, and if not, DTCs need to ensure that all eligible students are added to the appropriate PAN site in preparation for Spring testing.
Reports are available in ADEConnect to identify the students who need to be in your file upload for each assessment and will create the correct upload file for you, if needed. To access this in ADEConnect, select Assessments > Achievement Reports, then select the Eligibility Report for the appropriate assessment. |
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PearsonAccessNext (PAN) Tutorial Videos and Quick Guides
In addition to the overall PAN User's Guide, we have worked with our vendor, Pearson, to create some PAN tutorial videos and additional PAN Quick Guides. These are posted on the Achievement DTC page and the AASA page of our website.
PAN Tutorial Videos (approximately 2 minutes each)
- How to Unlock Student Tests
- How to Find Testing Groups in Sessions
- How to Resume a Test
PAN Quick Guides
- Work Requests and Transferring Students
- Personal Needs Profile (PNP) Import
- Creating Testing Groups Using the Student Test Update File
- Grade 3 (includes information about ORF for CBT and PBT schools) - Coming soon!
Test Coordinator's Manuals and Test Administration Directions for AASA are coming soon!
AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (SAFT)
All students in Grades 3-8, except for those who qualify for the alternate assessment, MSAA, will participate in the AASA Writing SAFT. The test window is open now and has been extended through March 4, 2022. DTCs should be using this additional time in their contingency plans for this test administration. Currently, over 98,000 students have completed testing!
Due to the extended test window for the Writing SAFT, the Additional Order window and the Materials Return window have also been adjusted. The DTC Checklist has been revised to reflect these updated dates, which are also summarized below. Date changes are in bold font.
Revised Dates - AASA Writing SAFT
- Test Window: January 24 - March 4, 2022
- Additional Order Window (test materials): January 14 - February 25, 2022
- Additional Order Window (return materials): January 14 - March 4, 2022
- Materials Return Window: February 28 - March 7, 2022
As with all field tests, districts and charters, schools, and students will not receive score results from the AASA Writing SAFT.
Test Irregularities
Any student test irregularities, test administration errors, and test security breaches must be reported immediately by the Achievement DTC in PAN and by sending an email to AASA@azed.gov.
Tips for Spring 2022 Testing
- Proctor and pre-caching can help alleviate connection and lagging issues during testing.
- As students move through the test, some items may take a few seconds to display.
- To organize students into smaller groups, such as by classroom or testing session, use the Testing Groups function. You can name these groups by school and grade, teacher name, etc. Please do not rename test sessions.
Testing Groups
- Testing groups are optional.
- Please see the Quick Guide - Creating Testing Groups Using the Student Test Update File, posted in PearsonAccessNext under Support > Documentation.
- Testing groups created for the Writing SAFT will carry over to AASA; however, students in the groups will not carry over. Students will need to be re-added to testing groups for the operational AASA test.
Testing Tickets - online testing and Special Paper Version tests
- Testing tickets for the Writing SAFT will not carry over to the operational AASA test. New testing tickets are required for AASA.
- Testing tickets are considered secure test materials and must be kept in locked storage after printing until needed for test administration. After testing, they must be securely destroyed.
- For the operational AASA test, the following number of testing tickets will be required for students. Grade 3 will require additional test tickets due to the new Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit.
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Pre-ID Labels - Paper Testing
- Pre-ID labels are shipped separately from paper test booklets but should arrive on or near the same day as the test booklets.
- Pre-ID labels should be applied to student test booklets prior to testing.
- Pre-ID labels should not be applied to Special Paper Version tests, which are non-scorable materials.
- If a Pre-ID label for a student is incorrect, it should not be used. The student's demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the test booklet.
- If a Pre-ID label is not received for a student, the student demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's test booklet prior to testing. New Pre-ID labels are not available and may not be printed.
- Pre-ID labels are considered secure test materials. Any unused labels must be securely destroyed after testing.
AASA Sample Tests
Sample tests for AASA (Grades 3-8), including the Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) Sample Test, are located at https://home.testnav.com/. Select "Arizona," then click on "Mic Check and Sample Tests." Scoring Guides for AASA Sample Tests are posted on our AASA webpage under "AASA Sample Tests."
Please have students practice with the Sample Tests so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different types of items on the online tests. Please also have third grade students practice with the ORF Sample Test.
AASA Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency
All third grade students will have a new (separate) ELA test unit for Oral Reading Fluency (ORF). Each student will read three separate passages, with a time limit of one minute per passage. This is similar to what is done for other Oral Reading Fluency tools used in schools.
The ORF test unit is being field tested in Spring 2022. The ORF items will not be included in the students' ELA score nor the Move On When Reading score this year. As with all field tests, districts and charters, schools, and students will not receive score results from the ORF test section this year.
Computer-Based Testing (CBT) Schools and all Students with Special Paper Version (SPV) Tests
- This test unit will take approximately 15 minutes for each small group of students (up to 6 students in a classroom or computer lab)
- ORF must be administered online in TestNav for any students at CBT schools and any students taking an SPV form of the test
Paper-Based Testing (PBT) Schools
- ORF default testing mode for PBT schools is a telephone test. A lithocode will be required, and the test must be administered in a 1:1 test administration with a landline speaker telephone.
- Optionally, third grade students may be administered the ORF test online in TestNav.
- Detailed steps to switch PBT students from the default telephone test to an online test will be included in the Grade 3 Quick Guide, coming soon!
AASA Reporting
Writing SAFT: Districts, schools, and students will not receive data or score reports.
Operational AASA
- Score reports (electronic) - Grade 3 - May 14, 2022
- ELA (including Move on When Reading) and Math electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PAN to view, download, and print
- Score reports (electronic) - Grades 4-8 - May 25, 2022
- ELA and Math electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PAN to view, download, and print
- Score reports (paper) - Grades 3-8 - June 15, 2022
- Paper copies of student score reports will be delivered to districts and charters
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AzSCI Information
Spring 2022 will be the first operational administration of the AzSCI assessment for grades 5, 8, and 11 (Cohort 2023). The AzSCI assessment is a computer-based assessment. There will be two test units at each grade level, with a combined total of 60 questions. Each test unit is estimated to take 60-90 minutes each. If both AzSCI test units are administered on the same day, then there must be a significant break between each test unit.
Please note: No hard copies of Test Coordinator's Manuals and Test Administration Directions will be automatically sent to districts and charters. These documents are posted on our website and may be used electronically. A limited number of copies are available for order during the Additional Order window, February 28 - April 7, 2022.
Student Data Extraction
Students in Grades 5, 8, and in Cohort 2023 (generally 11th graders) that are enrolled in AzEDS by February 17, 2022 will be uploaded and will be visible in PAN on February 21, 2022. Students not uploaded can be manually added to PAN starting on February 22, 2022.
AzSCI Sample Tests
Sample tests for AzSCI (Grade 5, 8, and 11) are located at https://home.testnav.com/. Select "Arizona," then click on "Mic Check and Sample Tests." Scoring Guides for AzSCI Sample Tests are posted on our AzSCI webpage under "AzSCI Resource Suite."
Please have students practice with the Sample Tests so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different types of items on the online tests.
AzSCI Reporting
Districts and charters, schools, and students will receive score results following Spring 2022 testing. However, scores will be delayed until August 2022 as Standard Setting will occur in Summer 2022.
- Score reports (electronic) - August 3, 2022 - Score reports and student data files will be available in PAN to view, download, and print.
- Score reports (paper) - August 16, 2022 - Score reports will be delivered to districts and charters.
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ACT Webinars and Office Hours
The ACT-hosted webinar, Test Administration #2, will be held on February 2, 9:00am-10:00am in preparation for the upcoming ACT testing windows. There will be pre-recorded information from ACT followed by a live Q&A session with ACT experts who work directly with the Arizona program.
Webinar Registration:
Office Hours:
ACT Office Hours sessions are held live on Wednesdays (1:00pm Arizona time) and Thursdays (9:00am Arizona time). In addition, previously held Office Hours sessions, covering a variety of ACT topics, are available on demand. A list of topics, dates, and registration links can be accessed from the ACT-hosted website under the dropdown for "Office Hours".
Materials Receipt and MyACT
Depending on the materials receipt week your district or charter selected in PearsonAccessNext, you have either started to receive non-secure materials, or you should be receiving them soon. Included with the non-secure materials will be the MyACT non-test instructions and Taking the ACT, to be distributed to students.
When students complete the non-test information in MyACT, they will receive their scores 11-14 days faster than waiting for scores to be mailed. In addition, students can select up to four free score recipients (colleges and/or scholarship agencies) by creating a MyACT account. For more information, please see Step 4: Preparation on the ACT-hosted website.
Tips for Spring 2022 Testing
For issues when students are testing, please contact ACT at 319-337-1567.
Please note this is a state-specific number for Arizona.
ACT test sections are timed and must be administered in the following order. Standard test times are listed below.
- English - 45 minutes
- Mathematics - 60 minutes
- Reading - 35 minutes
- Science - 35 minutes
- Writing - 40 minutes
For schools administering the ACT on paper: Please remember you have one standard paper test date in your selected test window. The additional online testing dates in the same window are available to you for any makeup testing. ACT has created a document, Switching from Paper to Online Testing, to help you with this process.
Calculator Guidance - Correction
The online embedded calculator for ACT is the Desmos Graphing Calculator. In the November edition of The Examiner, we incorrectly stated that it would be the Desmos Scientific Calculator. Please see the ACT Calculator Policy for information about allowable handheld calculators.
ACT Reporting Schedule - coming soon!
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ADE has uploaded Cohort 2025 (typically grade 9) students to ACT Aspire's PearsonAccessNext (PAN) site. Please verify your student enrollments in PAN. If any students need to be added, see Step 2: Configuration on the Aspire website. Please also see Step 3: Accommodation for information on the Aspire Personal Needs Profile (PNP) file, which may be used to assign accommodations for online testing and to create test sessions and assign students to sessions. Optionally, you may also create groups/classes - information about this option is also included under Step 2.
ACT Aspire Webinars and Office Hours
ACT Aspire on-demand webinars are available at https://success.act.org/s/article/ACT-Aspire-Webinars. In addition, there are several upcoming live Q&A sessions with ACT Aspire experts, beginning February 9 and going through May 4. At this same website, you can register for any of these upcoming sessions. Following the live events, these Q&A sessions will also be available on demand.
Tips for Spring 2022 Testing
For issues when students are testing, please contact ACT Aspire at 855-730-0400.
- ACT Aspire test sections are timed and may be administered in any order. Standard test times are listed below.
- English - 45 minutes
- Mathematics - 75 minutes
- Reading - 65 minutes
- Science - 60 minutes
- Writing - 40 minutes
- ACT Aspire test sections may be administered in one testing day, or they may be administered on different days. Individual test sections must be completed on the day they are started.
- Districts/charters/schools do not need to indicate their testing day(s) in PearsonAccessNext. Testing may occur on any days within the published testing window.
- No hard copies of manuals for ACT Aspire will be sent. Manuals are available on the ACT Aspire website.
ADE Policy Reminders
- Spanish Text + Audio is not allowed. It is shown as available in PearsonAccessNext; however, per ADE Policy, this option is not permitted.
- Do Not Report - has Illness as an available option in PearsonAccessNext; however, per ADE Policy, this option is not permitted.
- Will Not Test - has Parent Opt Out as an available option in PearsonAccessNext; however, per ADE Policy, this option is not permitted.
Note: Using any of these options will invalidate the student's test. The student will not count as participating, impacting your participation rate for Accountability.
Reporting
May 23, 2022 - Individual student reports and aggregate reports will be released and viewable in PearsonAccessNext.
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Important Dates for Alternate Assessment |
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Making Changes to Student Lists
The Student Selector Application is closed.
To add students:
- For students who transferred after the start of the school year, send an e-mail with the SSID only of the transfer students. These will be processed throughout the test administration window as needed.
- For students who have been enrolled in the district all year, the Alternate Assessment Test Coordinator must submit a letter signed by the Alternate Assessment Test Coordinator and their supervisor. The letter will include a list of students' SSIDs and an explanation of why students were missed in the selection process, which was open from October 1 - November 30, 2021. For explanations related to a deficiency in policy or practice, include steps the LEA will take to correct the issue. An explanation stating that the IEP team did not make the determination that the student is eligible for alternate assessment before the close of the Student Selector Application, will not be accepted since this does not follow eligibility guidelines. Only one letter should be submitted after reviewing your entire student list starting March 1. Teachers should not be responsible for writing or submitting this letter to the DTC or the State. This task is the role of the DTC.
Eligible students participate in the MSAA Science (Grades 5, 8, and 11) and MSAA ELA and Math (Grades 3-8, and 11).
Making Changes to Test Administrator Lists
Test Coordinators can manage their lists of Test Administrators directly in the MSAA system. Instructions for adding a Test Administrator will be available in the User Guide for Test Coordinators. Refer to State Specific Policy on who can be a Test Administrator. Please note, user accounts cannot be deleted from the system. Please contact us if you need assistance blocking a user.
Accommodations
Please remind all teachers and IEP teams to document accommodations routinely used during instruction and assessment by students, including the need for paper-based testing.
MSAA Paper-Based Tests
Paper-Based Tests are available through the MSAA system by downloading the test. Printed tests are large print. The TA must confirm that the paper test is an approved accommodation (as per the IEP and used frequently during instruction) before downloading for printing. Once the confirmation has been indicated, the test sessions will become available to select. Refer to the MSAA Training and User Guides for information on printing by session. These testing materials must be treated as secure documents and securely shredded following administration.
Accessing MSAA Instructional Supports and Practice Site Information
Sample MSAA items can be accessed on the MSAA Website without logging in. It is recommended that teachers view the sample items throughout the year as they plan for instruction and try out the MSAA test features with their students prior to the test window opening. In addition, two best practice videos that capture writing prompt administration are posted with the sample items.
MSAA Test Administration Training
All Test Coordinators and Test Administrators who had students in the Student Selector Application will receive an email directly from the MSAA Alternate Assessment System with login information and access on February 28. Some districts and charters experience some issues with firewalls preventing the emails from the MSAA Assessment System. If you do not receive an email by February 28, 2022, please notify our office immediately. You may add test administrators as needed. The MSAA training modules will be available as soon as you log in on February 28. The required training is the same format as previous years. There are seven training modules required for test administrators, which should take approximately three hours to complete.
Test Coordinators will be responsible for completing the training modules assigned for Test Coordinators. A Test Coordinator who will also be administering the MSAA Alternate Assessment, will be required to complete all the TA training modules and pass the final quiz as well. The Alternate Assessment Unit provides a professional development certificate for participation in alternate assessment trainings. Certificates will be e-mailed to the test coordinators in April.
Test Administrators will be responsible for completing all modules as well as passing a final quiz with 80% accuracy before access to the test and testing materials. There are seven training modules required for test administrators. Please plan for about three hours to complete training.
Recommendations for completing online training modules:
- Have each Test Administrator complete one module per day during the training window. This will ensure all modules are completed within the training window.
- Each Test Administrator will be required to take the final quiz individually once the final quiz window opens.
- Allow Test Administrators at the same school or schools close in proximity complete the training modules together. Each Test Administrator will still be required to take the final quiz individually.
Testing Window
The MSAA testing window is March 14 - April 29, 2022. Please plan accordingly. All tests must be submitted by the Test Administrator by 5:00 PM (MST) on April 29. There is no final data closeout for MSAA; therefore, no further action is needed once tests are submitted. Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators must monitor test completion for all students and work with Test Administrators to ensure testing is completed. Test Coordinators can track progress directly in the MSAA system. More information will be available in the User Guide for Test Coordinators.
MSAA Testing Procedures
- It is important to ensure that all Test Administrators are aware of all MSAA policies and testing procedures and follow them properly. If these policies and test procedures are not followed properly, it could result in a student's test being invalidated.
- Test Coordinators must report all test incidents using the incident report function in the Alternate Assessment application in ADEConnect. Detailed instructions for submitting incident reports will be emailed to the Test Coordinator.
- If you have questions, please ask for clarification before a potential incident.
- Arizona's MSAA State Specific Policy provides Arizona's procedures which are not in the mandatory training or the Test Administration Manual.
Test Administration Observations
If your LEA was selected for observations by our external education consultants or by ADE staff, you will soon be receiving more information to help plan for the observations.
Test Coordinators must also complete at least one observation and submit the observation for using the online link. Please refer to the Alternate Assessment Test Coordinator Handbook for details.
1% Threshold and Action Plans
Monitoring for exceeding the 1% Threshold has been delayed. Look for more information on your LEA's percentages and instructions for completing monitoring activities soon.
Alternate Assessment Test Coordinator Handbook
The Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators can access The Alternate Assessment Handbook to use as a reference for important dates as well as instructions for each activity to be completed. |
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AZELLA Placement Test
Administered through May 13, 2022
New-to-Arizona students with a Home Language Survey that includes languages other than English and American Sign Language (ASL) and do not have an AZELLA test history are required to be administered the AZELLA Placement Test and parents notified of the results within 2 weeks of the students' school enrollments.
Students associated with EL Group 8 on the EL73 Report and students with a red font message on their EL70 Report require the administration of the AZELLA Placement Test.
Kindergarten Students - Placement Test v. Reassessment Test
Kindergarten students who have attended school during any of the Summer and Fall 2021 months (July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec) at any school in the USA and have not been administered the AZELLA KPT, must be administered the Stage I AZELLA Reassessment Test in early February. The ZELLA KPT is not appropriate for these students because they have been enrolled in school and receiving instruction. Do not administer the KPT for these students.
Kindergarten students who are enrolled in Kindergarten for the very first time and have never attended school prior to January 1, 2022, should be administered the Kindergarten Placement Test, not the Spring Reassessment Test. |
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Continue Efforts for AZELLA Administration
Districts and charters should continue to document the district's regular efforts to communicate (via email, regular mail, in person, or via phone) and schedule AZELLA Placement and Spring Reassessment testing. Include in the documentation what information was given to parents (e.g. mitigation/safety, options/flexibility such as individual administration, low-traffic hours, busing, etc). You should explain to parents why their student must take the AZELLA test and why the AZELLA must be administered in-person in a secure and safe test environment at an official district office or school building. We recommend that you reiterate to the parents that the only way the student will not be considered an English learner is if the student takes the test and obtains the score of Proficient.
There is no pass for districts and schools for not administering the AZELLA test to those students who require it. Districts and schools are accountable for administering the required state assessments and ensuring students are continued to be evaluated.
Online Learning Programs
Should students who are attending or participating in a Distance Learning Program within the district or charter district be associated with the Distance Learning Program or their home school in PAN?
It depends on how you want your end-data reported out. If the Distance Learning Program is included in your A-Z letter grades and your students are reported for Federal Accountability purposes under the "program", then you will want the student test registrations to remain with the Distance Learning Program in PAN. Students must be administered the test at a brick-and-mortar district/school building. Most students who are associated with an online learning program are administered the AZELLA at their home school by appointment or other scheduled testing times.
Students associated with the Distance Learning Program are spread across a few brick-and-mortar home schools which means that you will need to add the Distance Learning Program entity that is in PAN to the home school STC accounts and the Grades 3-12 Test Administrator accounts so they can access the online students' test sessions. ADE recommends that the Grades 3-12 online testing students be moved and added to test sessions that are indicated by home school and grade or Stage. This will make it easier for the STC's and TA's at the home schools to know which students they are testing.
Spring AZELLA Reassessment Test Administration Window
January 31 - March 18, 2022 (7 weeks) |
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Spring AZELLA Test Training
AZELLA District Test Coordinators and AZELLA staff must complete the required Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test Training modules from the AZELLA Test Management System (ATMS) prior to testing.
- Annual training tab
- Reassessment Test Training tab
DTC's are expected to create their own in-person training or a live virtual presentation for their AZELLA staff that addresses test security, testing schedules, test materials, as well as the district's policies and procedures for the AZELLA Reassessment Test Administration. This presentation and the sign-in sheets must be made available to ADE upon request. You must also ensure that all your School Test Coordinators and Test Administrators have completed their required ATMS training modules and read the Test Administration Directions (TAD) for their assigned grade levels.
Students Participating in the Spring 2022 AZELLA Testing
For school year 2021-2022, all grades K-12 students who have an EL need will need to be administered the Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test. These are students listed on the EL73 Report associated with EL Groups 1, 2, and 4.
Parent Withdrawn EL students must continue to participate in the annual AZELLA Reassessment until they demonstrate an Overall Proficiency Level of Proficient. Parents may decline EL Services for their student but may not opt out of AZELLA testing.
AZELLA District Test Coordinators are expected to create a list of participating students and provide the lists to School Test Coordinators and Test Administrators.
Communication between the AZELLA District Test Coordinators, other district staff, and School Test Coordinators is important to make sure only students who are required to be tested are tested. Completed Spring Reassessment Tests will not be invalided (except for test security issues), even if the student is not eligible.
To be proactive for the summer LEA Reason application (reason why students were not administered the Spring Reassessment Test), ADE suggests that the districts and schools create a mechanism to keep track of students who should have been tested but were not able to be tested and the reason why they were not tested. This will be extremely helpful for you during the summer months when the LEA Reason application must be completed.
Student Test Registrations in PearsonAccessnext (PAN)
Students must be registered, assigned the correct tests, and added to sessions (for online tests) in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) for the Reassessment administration. ADE supplied Pearson a student data file on January 7 and it was used to pre-register students for the test. This student data file did not include all the students who need to take part in these assessments. This means that there will be students that the AZELLA DTC and STC will need to be transferred in by way of Work Requests on manually added to PAN.
Students may be registered individually using the interface of PAN or districts and schools may use the Spring 2022 Reassessment Student Registration File Layout/Template provided by Pearson and found in PAN in the Support >> Documentation section. Pearson provides explicit directions for using this template in the test administration Pan Users Guide. When using the template, it must be saved and uploaded into PAN as a .csv file.
ADE has provided districts and schools with another option. You can download the EL73 Report using the PAN button. After downloading the file, delete the rows for the students who are already registered in PAN, and then save the file as a .csv file that can be imported into PAN to register additional students.
Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test Administration
- AZELLA Stages I and II (Kindergarten - Grade 2) are paper-and-pencil tests with the Speaking Test individually administered using a speaker telephone. The Listening, Reading, and Writing units may be administered 1-on-1, small group, or large group. The Speaking Test must be administered individually.
- AZELLA Stages III, IV, V (Grades 3 - 12) are administered online through Pearson's TestNav 8 application. Only students will have a Username and Password for TestNav 8. Please refer to the Technology training module in the Training Management System under the "Annual" tab for additional information about online testing and the TestNav application.
AZELLA Sample Tests
It is strongly recommended that all students taking the online Spring Reassessment Test and Test Administrators prepare for the test by taking the Sample Tests which are available through the TestNav 8 application. These Sample Tests are designed to familiarize students, parents, and educators, and Test Administrators with the platform, item types, and format of the test. Links and directions to the TestNav 8 application and the Sample Tests are available on the ADE website at http://www.azed.gov/assessment/azella/.
You must download and save the TestNav 8 application on all the computers or electronic devices that will be used for testing. Once this is set-up, open the app, set it to Arizona, and select the Mic Check & Sample Tests link that is found next to the Sign In box. Then you will see the link for the AZELLA Sample Tests. A Username and Password are not needed for the Sample Tests.
Testing Materials and Additional Orders
Districts and charters who completed the Reassessment Participation Counts in December 2021 received an initial shipment of Stages I and II Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test materials during the week of January 18, 2022. This included district and school test materials, return shipping materials, the Test Coordinator Manual (separate shipment), and Pre-ID Labels for those Grades K-2 students who were on the EL73 Report as of January 6, 2022.
If the Reassessment Test paper materials received are not enough to test all students needing to be administered the test, the DTC may place an additional order for the district in PAN during the Additional Order window. District and Charters who serve Grades KG-2 EL students and did not receive an initial shipment of the Stages I and II Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test materials are expected to submit an order through PAN for the necessary testing materials. ADE will review and approve additional orders. Be prepared to justify every additional order. You need to KEEP all the Pearson boxes to reuse for return shipping.
ADE and Pearson will be ordering and shipping all SPV, Large Print, and Braille test materials to districts that have been approved for these materials.
Pre-ID Labels
The Stages I and II Reassessment Pre-ID Label files were generated by Pearson based on the EL73 Report from January 6, 2022 and shipped to districts during the week of January 18, 2022. The Pre-ID Labels were shipped separately from the boxes of paper testing materials. Not all Stages I and II students who must be tested received a Pre-ID Label. Additional Pre-ID Labels cannot be ordered. The student data grid on the back cover of the student test book must be bubbled in by an adult for those Grades K-2 students who did not receive a Pre-ID Label and for those labels that are incorrect and cannot be used.
Please refer to the DTC-STC training module and the Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test Coordinators Manual for explicit information about Pre-ID Labels.
Special Education EL Students
There are no provisions, in either state or federal law, that would allow the exemption of AZELLA testing for eligible students who are enrolled in the Special Education program and require an AZELLA test. An IEP Team, which must include an expert in second language acquisition, may NOT exempt a student from participating in AZELLA testing.
All dually enrolled EL/SPED students must be provided the opportunity to make an earnest attempt at all the AZELLA domains tested. Review the Universal Test Administration Conditions and the approved Arizona Accommodations Manual - AZELLA Accommodations for students with disabilities document.
For EL students who have an IEP or 504 Plan which require additional accommodations, including large print, Special Paper Version (SPV), and Braille other than those pre-approved by ADE, the AZELLA DTC will need to submit an online form listed below. Keep in mind that not all accommodations are appropriate for AZELLA testing, and that the Braille version is only available for Grades 3-12 AZELLA Reading and Writing Part 1 test units. Accommodations that are allowable for other statewide assessments might not be allowable for AZELLA because they would alter the construct that AZELLA intends to measure. ADE will respond to the DTC with approval and/or requests for additional information. Do not administer an AZELLA test to the student for whom the request has been submitted until ADE responds to the request. Please do not hesitate to contact ADE's AZELLA Team, and we will work with you to ensure that your dual-labeled student is offered the best administration possible.
Testing Irregularities and Test Security and Ethics Violations
Any student test irregularities, test administration errors, and test security breaches must be reported to the AZELLA State Test Coordinator immediately by the AZELLA DTC. Student testing irregularities should be submitted through PAN. Test Administration and Test Security irregularities must be submitted using the appropriate ADE online form. These forms are posted on the Assessment AZELLA District Test Coordinator webpage in the AZELLA Test Security and Irregularities Forms section on https://www.azed.gov/assessment/azella-dtcs.
Returning Spring Testing Materials to Pearson
The Spring Reassessment materials must be returned to the Pearson warehouses as Scorable and Nonscorable at the close of the Reassessment Test Window. Pearson has provided prepaid UPS shipping labels for Scorable and Nonscorable testing materials. It is critical to ensure that the Scorable and Nonscorable materials have the correct shipping labels adhered to the boxes because they go to different places in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Explicit directions for packing the boxes for return shipping is included in the Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test Coordinator Manual (TCM). Materials must be picked up and shipped out no later than March 25, 2022.
- Districts will be responsible for paying overnight shipping for AZELLA testing materials that are not shipped out by March 25, 2022.
AZELLA Reports
Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment Test Reports
The Spring 2022 AZELLA Reassessment reports will be available electronically (PDF) through PAN on May 5, 2022. Paper reports will be received on May 13, 2022. The On-Demand Score Reports are only available for the Placement Test, not for the Spring AZELLA Reassessment Test. |
AZELLAology
Join the AZELLA team for AZELLAology, an hour long, informal, live customer service question-and-answer video call in Microsoft Teams.
The dates, times, topics, and invitation links will be posted on the AZELLA DTC web page under the AZELLAology section.
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OELAS Information
Here is a quick look at important FY 2023 due dates and deadlines:
March 1, 2022 - FY 2023 Title III applications open
May 1, 2022 - Submission date for all FY 2023 Title III applications
May 2, 2022 - Submission date for all FY 2023 SEI Budget-Comprehensive applications
July, 1, 2022 - Targeted SEA Director Approval date for all FY 2023 applications |
If you have any questions about AZELLA, please contact us at AZELLA@azed.gov. |
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NAEP and NSLP
Thank you to those of you in the 2022 sample that are working towards a successful NAEP 2022. As of this writing, the NAEP field staff is solidifying plans with individual schools in the sample for the assessment.
One of the biggest data collection concerns for the upcoming year is the data that has traditionally been used to identify socioeconomic status. Currently we are using the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) to determine who is eligible for free lunch. While you may be thinking everyone is getting free lunch this year, there is a big difference between eating lunch for free and being eligible for free lunch. NAEP is required, by law, to collect data on socioeconomic status. NAEP has always used NSLP data to track economically disadvantaged students. The NSLP program was devised to feed as many students as it can, and was never really concerned with the data it collects being used for other purposes.
Herein lies the issue. For NAEP, schools are using the summer feeding program to feed all students due to the pandemic. While your students are eating for free, they may or may not be free-lunch eligible. NAEP school coordinators should only input the data for free lunch eligibility based on the data your district has collected for your students. The MyNAEP for schools site has the letter for this year that informs district personnel that NAEP school coordinators can and should collect this data. It is highly sensitive data and should be treated as such. The Department of Agriculture has authorized NAEP, and its personnel, to collect this highly sensitive information.
ADE has also issued guidance to collect this data, despite the use of the summer feeding program to feed students. There are several ways that your district can and does collect this data. Schools in the sample should check with their district data providers and find out who is eligible for free lunch, and not assume that everyone is free lunch this academic year. |
If you have any questions, please contact
Mr. Gary McIlvaine, AZ Director of NAEP
and International Assessments
602-364-1538
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Dates: September 26-28, 2022
Location: Renaissance Phoenix Glendale Hotel & Spa, 9495 W. Coyotes Blvd., Glendale, Arizona 85305
More information coming soon! |
The Examiner is published electronically every August, November, February, and May for distribution to Test Coordinators in Arizona schools. Test Coordinators are responsible for disseminating information in The Examiner as appropriate.
Arizona Department of Education - Assessment Section
602.542.5031 |
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