Achievement District Test Coordinator Updates
January 19, 2023
Achievement District Test Coordinators (DTCs),

Please see this week's updates and reminders regarding 2022-2023 Achievement testing below.
ADE's Student Uploads to PearsonAccessNext

ADE will upload students for each of the statewide achievement assessments - AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and ACT - according to the District Test Coordinator Checklists or Schedule of Events for each assessment, posted on the Achievement District Test Coordinator page of our website. As we approach these student upload dates, please remember the following:
  • High school testing is by cohort rather than by grade level. All students in Cohort 2024 (typically Grade 11), except for those who qualify for the alternate assessment (MSAA), will participate in ACT and AzSCI testing, regardless of courses enrolled in or completed. Similarly, all students in Cohort 2026 (typically grade 9) will participate in ACT Aspire testing, regardless of courses enrolled in or completed, unless they qualify for MSAA.
  • Students who qualify for MSAA are included in ADE's student uploads for each of the statewide achievement tests. This is because there is no indicator in AzEDS to indicate a student participates in MSAA; however, students who qualify for MSAA should not be administered AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, or ACT. These student records do not need to be deleted from PearsonAccessNext because PearsonAccessNext is not used for Accountability purposes. These student records should be left in PearsonAccessNext as is.
Pearson Technology Office Hours

Pearson Technology Office Hours sessions are available in 15 min., 30 min., or 60 min. sessions for district or school technology personnel responsible for setting up testing devices for online testing. Please use the following link if you would like to set up a Pearson Technology Office Hours session: https://calendly.com/az-field-services-engineering.
Sample Tests

Please have students practice with the sample tests so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different item types on the online tests. Sample tests for each assessment can be accessed at https://home.testnav.com/ using the instructions below. Login information is not required.
  • For AASA or AzSCI, select "Arizona," then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Mic Check & Sample Tests."
    • For AASA, sample tests are available for each grade level in Math and ELA, including for the Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. New this year, American Sign Language (ASL) sample tests are also available for AASA.
    • For AzSCI, sample tests are available for grades 5, 8 and 11.
  • For ACT Aspire, select the "ACT Aspire" icon on the left side of the screen, then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Exemplars." For each subject area, an "Early High School" Exemplar is available.
  • For ACT, select the "ACT" icon on the left side of the screen, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and select "Practice Tests." Timed and untimed practice tests are available for each subject area to be tested.
AASA

The deadline to complete participation counts for your school(s) and select your district's materials delivery window in PearsonAccessNext is this Friday, January 20, 2023. Detailed steps for completing these tasks are included in the PearsonAccessNext User's Guide. Participation counts will be used to determine the number of paper test booklets sent to paper-based testing schools and the number of Test Coordinator's Manuals and Test Administration Directions sent to both paper-based testing and computer-based testing schools.

User accounts for AASA may now be created by District Test Coordinators. ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PearsonAccessNext on February 6, 2023.
AzSCI

PearsonAccessNext will open for the Spring 2023 AzSCI test administration on February 1, 2023. District Test Coordinators can begin creating user accounts for AzSCI at that time. ADE's upload of students will be visible in PearsonAccessNext on February 20, 2023.
ACT Aspire

PearsonAccessNext will open for the Spring 2023 ACT Aspire test administration on January 30, 2023. District Test Coordinators can begin creating user accounts for ACT Aspire at that time. ADE's upload of students will be visible in PearsonAccessNext on January 31, 2023.
ACT

ADE's upload of students for ACT will be visible in PearsonAccessNext on January 23, 2023. Following ADE's upload, if you need to upload additional students for ACT, an ACT support request using the Enroll or Unenroll Students form will be needed. More information about submitting a support request is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration and in this ACT tutorial. The deadline to verify student information and enroll/unenroll students for barcode labels (for paper-based testing) is February 3, 2023

ACT Accommodations

The deadline to request ACT-authorized accommodations and/or supports through ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system is February 3, 2023. As a reminder, ACT is holding regular Accommodations Office Hours sessions. Please plan to attend a session if you have questions about ACT-authorized accommodations. Dates, topics, and registration links (including for previous sessions now available on demand) are available here or from the ACT-hosted website, under "Office Hours."
For questions about AASA, please contact us at AASA@azed.gov.
For questions about AzSCI, please contact us at AzSCI@azed.gov.
For questions about ACT Aspire and ACT, please contact us at Testing@azed.gov.
Audra Ahumada
Deputy Associate Superintendent of Assessment
Arizona Department of Education

Dr. Joseph Guzman
Associate Superintendent of Assessment, Accountability, Standards, and Research
Arizona Department of Education