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Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) emails will continue to be sent out regularly through the testing windows. 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 (Grades 3-8 ELA and Math)
- AzSCI (Grades 5, 8, and 11/Cohort 2024)
- ACT Aspire (Grade 9/Cohort 2026)
- ACT (Grade 11/Cohort 2024)
Please remember the following when emailing the inboxes:
- Include your district or charter's Entity ID in emails to us.
- State which assessment(s) your inquiry is about.
- Please email 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.
- Send questions about AASA to AASA@azed.gov, questions about AzSCI to AzSCI@azed.gov, and questions about ACT Aspire or ACT to Testing@azed.gov.
For issues that occur while students are testing, please include in the email subject line, "Urgent - Students Testing."
When contacting Pearson Customer Support for assistance, please retain your ticket number. If you contact ADE's Assessment team for assistance with the same question or issue, please share the Pearson ticket number with us so ADE and Pearson can further assist you. |
Statewide Achievement Test Windows
Testing windows for the Spring 2023 Achievement tests are included in the table below, as well as in the Assessments Overview 2022-2023 and the Detailed Testing Calendar. The Detailed Testing Calendar also provides estimated times for each test unit of AASA and AzSCI as well as time limits for ACT Aspire and ACT test sections. |
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ACT Test Windows
Districts and charters with Grade 11/Cohort 2024 students may utilize both published ACT test windows in order to assess all Cohort 2024 students. Schools are encouraged to administer ACT during the first test window and may also use the second test window, as needed, to complete any makeup testing. Schools administering ACT on paper may also use the online test dates for makeup testing. Any schools that choose to administer the ACT during only the second test window will not have an additional ACT test window to use for makeup testing.
Schedules of Tasks for Achievement District Test Coordinators
Please refer to the schedules of important tasks for each of the Statewide Achievement tests for upcoming tasks and deadlines. Each schedule is posted on the Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) page of our website and is linked below.
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Training Modules
All Achievement District Test Coordinators must complete training modules in the Achievement Training Management System (ATMS) as soon as possible. All modules have been published. Please disregard any "Placeholder" tiles in the system that indicate "Coming Soon" as we are not able to remove these tiles. The DTC trainings specific to AASA or AzSCI are published under the "AASA" or "AzSCI" tab, respectively. All other modules are published under the "Achievement Testing" tab. |
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Details of who should complete each training module are included in the table below. Achievement DTCs are required to complete all modules within ATMS and to use the information provided to train testing staff according to their user roles. ADE will be tracking that all Achievement DTCs have completed the required training modules.
Achievement DTCs are responsible for tracking staff completion of trainings within the district or charter. Testing staff may complete training within ATMS, or Achievement DTCs may choose to present training to staff in a group setting. Tracking reports are available within ATMS, or staff training completion may be tracked outside of ATMS. This flexibility is left to the district or charter. All testing staff must receive training prior to administering any tests. |
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PearsonAccessNext and TestNav
In Spring 2023, all of the Achievement assessments will utilize the PearsonAccessNext (PAN) and TestNav platforms. PAN is the site where the test administration details will be managed, and TestNav is the test delivery platform. There are three different PAN websites (linked below), 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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Special Paper Version Tests and Additional Accommodations:
AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire
Requests for Special Paper Version (SPV) tests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire, including braille, large print, or regular print tests, should be submitted to ADE for review by February 24, 2023 using the secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2023 . A copy of the student's IEP or 504 Plan must be uploaded with the request.
Examples of additional accommodations that should be submitted to ADE for review include assistive technology needed by a student during testing, the American Sign Language (ASL) form of the test, or any accommodations not listed in the Accommodations Manual. A copy of the student's IEP or 504 Plan must also be submitted with any request for additional accommodations.
Please contact us if a a student has an injury or illness after February 24, 2023 that necessitates a paper test or additional accommodation. Specific accommodations will be considered based on a doctor's written recommendation and the appropriateness for statewide testing.
The Personal Needs Profile (PNP) file is available for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire to allow LEAs to upload to PAN any accessibility tools that must be turned on ahead of time and ready for any students who have these tools as accommodations. |
Sample Tests
Please have students practice with the sample tests so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different item types in 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, and "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.
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Calculator Guidance
On the Achievement tests where calculators are permitted, the approved calculator is embedded within the online test. Students may use an acceptable handheld calculator in addition to or instead of the embedded online calculator. Acceptable handheld calculators should be provided for paper-based testing. Please see ADE's Calculator Guidance and the ACT Calculator Policy for additional information about allowable calculators. Please note there are no changes to the calculator policy this year.
Calculators embedded within the online tests:
- AASA Grades 3-6: No calculators are permitted.
- AASA Grades 7-8: The Desmos scientific calculator is embedded for Math Unit 1 only. No calculators are permitted for Math Unit 2.
- AzSCI Grade 5: The Desmos four-function calculator.
- AzSCI Grades 8 and 11: The Desmos scientific calculator.
- ACT Aspire Grade 9: A non-branded scientific calculator.
- ACT Grade 11: The Desmos graphing calculator.
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Student Uploads and Student Eligibility Reports
ADE's upload of students has now been completed for ACT and ACT Aspire. ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PAN on February 6 and for AzSCI on February 20. Following each upload by the State, Achievement DTCs should be verifying that all students who are eligible for testing have been uploaded, and if not, Achievement DTCs need to ensure that all eligible students are added to the appropriate PAN site in preparation for Spring testing.
Please note the following about ADE's student uploads for the Achievement tests:
- Students who qualify for the Alternate Assessment, MSAA, are included in ADE's upload of students. 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 PAN because PAN is not used for Accountability purposes.
- Students who are dually enrolled (in more than one school) are not included in ADE's upload of students and will need to be added to PAN by the school/district responsible for testing the student.
Reports are available in ADEConnect to identify the students who need to be in the file upload for each assessment and will create the correct upload file, if needed, for AASA, AzSCI, or ACT Aspire. To access this in ADEConnect, select Assessments > Achievement Reports, then select the Eligibility Report for the appropriate assessment.
If students need to be added to PAN for ACT, a support request will need to be submitted to ACT using ACT's Enroll or Unenroll Students form. More information about submitting an ACT support request is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration and in this ACT Tutorial.
Work Requests in PearsonAccessNext
New this year for AASA and AzSCI, an Enrollment Transfer Import process is available to assist when several students transfer into a district or between schools in a district. This process may be used to request to have the students transferred from the releasing school(s) to the new school(s). See the PAN User's Guide for detailed steps.
Please check each PAN site regularly for work requests that may be waiting for approval by looking for the red bell at the top of the screen. |
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Please use the following guidelines for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire work requests:
- If a student has not started testing, APPROVE the work request.
- If a student has completed one or more test units, but has not completed the entire test, APPROVE the work request
- If a student has completed all test units of the assessment, REJECT the work request, and indicate in the Comments field, "Student has already completed testing."
The Work Request process is not utilized for student transfers for the ACT test. For ACT, use the Enroll or Unenroll Students form as mentioned in the "Student Eligibility Reports" section above. A support request will need to be submitted to ACT within PearsonAccssNext. ACT will then check to see if a student has already completed testing before processing the support request. |
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Manuals
The AASA Test Coordinator's Manual (TCM) is published on the Achievement DTC webpage and on the AASA webpage, under "Spring 2023 Manuals and Checklists." AASA Test Administration Directions (TAD) for both computer-based testing schools and paper-based testing schools are coming soon!
Districts and charters will receive hard copies of the AASA manuals, based on the participation counts entered in PearsonAccessNext (PAN) in January. Manuals will be delivered during the selected materials delivery window. If a materials delivery window was not selected in January, then the materials delivery window will be defaulted to the first delivery window option (March 20-23).
Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency (ORF)
All Grade 3 students will participate in an ELA Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. A decision has been made to gather more information on the ORF items and the impact to the Move On When Reading (MOWR) indicator this year. The Grade 3 ELA ORF test items will not be included in a student's score for the Spring 2023 AASA test administration.
Computer-based testing schools will administer the ORF test unit online in TestNav. The online ORF test unit may be administered in small groups with a maximum of six students testing simultaneously in a classroom or computer lab environment. Additional resources, listed and linked below, are available on the AASA webpage under "Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency."
New for Spring 2023: Paper-based testing (PBT) schools will administer the ORF test unit using a landline, speaker telephone with a keypad. There will not be an option for PBT schools to switch to online testing for ORF. The telephone ORF test must be administered one-to-one with each student. Each student will need a unique lithocode for the ORF test, which will be located on their AASA ELA Pre-ID Label and will also be accessible in PAN.
AASA Writing Resources
AASA Writing Resources are published on the AASA page and the Educator Resources page of our website. Please see the new AASA Writing Resources - Descriptions document for more details about the Writing Rubrics, Writing Guides, Writing Rubric Guides (new this year), and the Annotated Writing Sample Guides (new this year).
Computer-Based Testing
Testing Tickets
The following chart lists the number of testing tickets that will be required for students taking the AASA. This setup is the same as it was in Spring 2022 with Grade 3 students requiring additional tickets due to the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. |
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Test Units and Sessions
ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PearsonAccessNext (PAN) on February 6, 2023. When students are uploaded to PAN for AASA, the test sessions are created automatically, and students are placed into the appropriate sessions for the grade level indicated.
Students in Grades 4-8 will have three test units for ELA: Writing, ELA 1 (Reading), and ELA 2 (Reading); and two test units for Math: Math 1 and Math 2.
In PAN, there will be only two sessions for these students: one for ELA and one for Math. During testing, all ELA test units will be accessed under the one session for ELA (with one testing ticket) and all Math test units under the one session for Math (with one testing ticket). |
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Students in Grade 3 are set up a little differently in PAN due to the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. Grade 3 students will have a separate session in PAN for each ELA test unit: Writing, ELA 1 (Reading), ELA 2 (Reading), and Oral Reading Fluency. Each will require a separate testing ticket.
For Grade 3, there will be two test units for Math: Math 1 and Math 2. As with Grades 4-8, these units will be in one math session, requiring one student testing ticket. |
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Reminder: All AASA ELA test units (Writing, Reading 1, and Reading 2) must be completed to receive an ELA score. Both AASA Math test units must be completed to receive a Math score.
Paper-Based Testing
Pre-ID Labels
Schools administering AASA paper-based tests will receive Pre-ID labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccessNext by February 17, 2023. Pre-ID labels must be affixed to student test booklets prior to testing.
Any students enrolled after February 17 will not receive a Pre-ID label. If any student does not have a Pre-ID label or if any information on a student's Pre-ID label is incorrect, then the student demographic information on the back of the test booklet must be bubbled in.
Pre-ID labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets, but both shipments should be received within the same week in March.
Returning Paper Tests to Pearson
All AASA paper tests must be returned to Pearson as directed in the AASA Test Coordinator's Manual. Shipments must be picked up by UPS no later than April 13, 2023 in order to be scored.
New this year: Grade 3 scorable test booklets must be packaged and returned to Pearson separate from the Grades 4-8 scorable test booklets (in separate boxes). Please see the AASA Test Coordinator's Manual for return packaging instructions.
Reporting
May 15, 2023: Grade 3 AASA ELA (including Move on When Reading) and Math score reports and student data files will be available in PAN.
May 25, 2023: Grades 4-8 AASA ELA and Math score reports and student data files will be available in PAN.
June 14, 2023: AASA ELA and Math (Grades 3-8) On Demand Reports will be available to view in PAN, and the Parent Portal will be available.
June 15, 2023: AASA ELA and Math (Grades 3-8) paper copies of Individual Student Reports will be delivered to districts and charters.
June 16, 2023: AASA ELA and Math Longitudinal and Historical electronic reports will be available to view in PAN. More information about these reports will be coming soon.
Parent Portal
The AASA Parent Portal was made available to schools as an optional resource following Spring 2022 testing. This optional resource will be available again in Spring 2023. Using the AASA Parent Portal, families can securely access and view their student's online Individual Student Report using a claim code provided to them by their school/district.
Have you, your district/charter, or any of your schools utilized the AASA Parent Portal? If so, we would love to hear from you! More than 3500 Parent Portal accounts were created, with families accessing a student report, across the state following Spring 2022 testing. Please share any tips and feedback from your experience using the AASA Parent Portal at AASA@azed.gov. We will compile any feedback received to share with other District Test Coordinators! |
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Manuals
The AzSCI Test Coordinator's Manual (TCM) is published on the Achievement DTC webpage and on the AzSCI webpage, under "Spring 2023 Manuals and Checklists." The AzSCI Test Administration Directions (TAD) manual is coming soon!
For AzSCI, hard copies of the manuals will not be shipped automatically to districts and charters. A limited number of copies are available for order during the AzSCI additional order window, which opens on February 27. The manuals may also be downloaded and used electronically from ADE's website and from PearsonAccessNext.
Test Units, Sessions, and Testing Tickets
Students in Grades 5, 8, and 11 (Cohort 2024) will have three test units for AzSCI this year. The approximate time for each test unit is 60-90 minutes. Please note the overall length of the AzSCI test is the same length as last year; however, based on challenges and feedback received, the AzSCI test has been split into three test units instead of two.
ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PearsonAccessNext (PAN) on February 20, 2023. When students are uploaded to PearsonAccessNext for AzSCI, the test sessions are created automatically, and students are placed into those sessions based on their grade level. There will be one test session that includes all three test units. Students will use one testing ticket to access the three units.
Reminder: All AzSCI test units must be completed to receive an AzSCI score.
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Reporting
May 26, 2023: AzSCI electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PearsonAccessNext.
June 9, 2023: AzSCI summary performance data will be available in PAN in a .txt tab delimited file.
June 16, 2023: Paper copies of Individual Student Reports will be delivered to districts and charters. |
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Manuals
The ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual and Room Supervisor Manuals are published on the ACT-hosted Aspire webpage under Step 5: Administration. Hard copies of the manuals will not be shipped to districts and charters. These manuals should be used when training staff for ACT Aspire test administration.
Paper-Based Testing and Special Paper Version Tests
Districts and charters administering ACT Aspire paper-based tests, including any Special Paper Version (braille, large print, or regular print) tests should verify their shipping address in PearsonAccessNext now. If any changes are needed to the shipping address, please notify ADE at Testing@azed.gov no later than February 24, 2023 to ensure paper testing materials are delivered appropriately.
Barcode Labels
Schools administering ACT Aspire paper-based tests will receive barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccessNext by February 24, 2023. Barcode labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets and answer documents, but both shipments should be received within the same week in March. If barcode labels are not received for any students, the demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents.
Special Paper Version Tests
Any approved Special Paper Version tests for ACT Aspire must be administered within the shorter paper-based testing window, including for schools that are otherwise administering online tests. Student responses from braille and large print tests must be transferred to a regular answer document for scoring. The deadline for ACT Aspire to receive all paper testing materials for scoring is April 19, 2023.
ACT Aspire "Chat with an Expert"
For questions about ACT Aspire, please join one of the upcoming ACT Aspire "Chat with an Expert" sessions. These sessions are being held exclusively for Arizona and will be hosted by our ACT Aspire program coordinator.
- February 15, 2023, 9:00am - 10:00am
- March 22, 2023, 9:00am - 10:00am
Test Sessions and Testing Tickets
ADE's upload of students for ACT Aspire has now been completed and is visible in PearsonAccessNext. Test sessions for ACT Aspire were not automatically created when students were uploaded to PAN. This step will need to be completed by schools/districts. Please see the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual for details.
Students will have a separate testing ticket for each test unit for ACT Aspire.
Timed Test Sections
ACT Aspire is a timed test. The test sections may be administered on the same day, or they may be administered on different days. This flexibility is left up to schools/districts, If administering on the same day, a break may be scheduled between the test sections. In addition, the test sections for ACT Aspire may be administered in any order. The test sections include English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing. |
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Reporting
ACT Aspire electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PearsonAccessNext on May 25, 2023. Paper copies of student score reports will be delivered to districts and charters June 1, 2023. |
Manuals
The ACT Test Coordinator Manual and Test Administration Manuals are published on the ACT-hosted webpage under Step 5: Administration. Hard copies of the manuals will be shipped to districts and charters according to the materials delivery window selected in PearsonAccessNext. These manuals should be used when training staff for ACT test administration. |
ACT Webinars for Test Coordinators
All Achievement DTCs with students in Grade 11/Cohort 2024 are expected to view the three ACT-hosted webinars, either by attending the live webinars or viewing the recordings. Two webinars were held in the fall, Accommodations and Test Administration #1, and are now available on demand. The third webinar, Test Administration #2, will be held on February 22, 2023, 9:00am. Links to all three webinars are available through the ACT Schedule of Events.
ACT Accommodations
ACT accommodations requests must be submitted in ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system no later than February 3, 2023. Requests for reconsideration must be submitted by February 10, 2023. Requests for qualified exceptions to the deadline must be submitted by March 27, 2023.
Please contact us at Testing@azed.gov if a student enrolls after the submission deadlines and requires accommodations for ACT. If the student has transferred from another Arizona district or from another state, ADE and ACT can research to determine if accommodations were approved for the student at their previous school.
ACT has scheduled several Office Hours sessions through April 12, 2023 to answer questions about ACT-approved accommodations. Register for upcoming sessions or view previous sessions on demand through ACT's Webcasts page.
Computer-Based Testing
Mock Administration
All schools administering the online ACT test are strongly encouraged to complete a mock administration to ensure that devices are ready for testing. More information is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration.
Test Sessions
Test sessions for ACT were not automatically created when students were uploaded to PearsonAccessNext. This step will need to be completed by schools/districts according to the timeline provided in the ACT Schedule of Events and the resources included on the ACT website under Step 4: Preparation.
Student Authorization Tickets will need to be printed before test day and provided to the Room Supervisor the day of testing. Seal codes are used to begin each ACT test session. |
Paper-Based Testing
Pre-ID Labels
Schools administering ACT paper-based tests will receive barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccessNext by February 3, 2023. If barcode labels are not received for any students, the demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents.
Receiving Test Materials
Depending on the test date selected in PearsonAccessNext, the initial shipment may include only non-secure materials, or it may include all testing materials, both non-secure and secure. If only non-secure materials are delivered in the initial shipment, the secure materials will arrive the week before the start of testing.
Timed Test Sections
ACT is a timed test. Test sections must be administered in the following order: English (1), Math (2), Reading (3), Science (4), and Writing (5). |
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For ACT standard time and ACT extended time on one test day, a 15-minute break is provided between Test 2 and Test 3. An extended break of up to 45 minutes may be given between Test 4 and the Writing test. Lunch may be provided during this extended break.
MyACT
MyACT is the platform for examinees to submit non-test information to ACT. This non-test information allows a student to send their scores, free of charge, to four colleges or scholarship agencies of their choice, and also allows students to receive their ACT scores up to two weeks faster than waiting for paper reports from their school. ACT recommends hosting an in-school session for students to create a MyACT account and to complete the non-test information online. This may be completed prior to test day and no later than two days after completion of their test. Please see the MyACT resources on the ACT website under Step 4: Preparation.
Reporting
New this year: All ACT reporting will be in ACT's Online Reporting System at success.act.org. Reports will not be located in PearsonAccessNext.
Schools will receive hard copies of student score reports 5-8 weeks following testing. Paper copies of score reports will no longer be mailed directly to students; however, students can access their scores electronically through their MyACT accounts. Scores will flow into the reporting portal at success.act.org as they become available.
The complete ACT Reporting Schedule is coming soon! When it is available, it will be posted on ACT's website under Step 7: Interpretation. |
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