Securely Shredding and Deleting MSAA Test Materials
Test Coordinators are responsible for ensuring that printed test materials have been securely shredded after the close of the testing window. Downloaded folders and test materials (DTAs, PDFs of the test, written student responses, etc.) must be deleted from the desktop. Test Administration Manuals (TAMs) are not secure test materials and do not have to be shredded. These materials may be discarded. Do not send any materials to ADE.
MSAA Professional Development Hours Certificate
Professional Development (PD) hours certificates were e-mailed to Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators in April. Please distribute the PD certificates to those individuals who completed the MSAA Test Administrator (TA) and/or Test Coordinator (TC) training modules. There are separate certificates for Test Coordinators and Test Administrators. Please contact us if you need a list of your test administrator training status at AlternateAssessment Inbox - AlternateAssessment@azed.gov
MSAA Reports
The MSAA reporting portal will be open from July 17 - September 8, 2023. Reports will be available for ELA and Mathematics. Reports are available at the District of Attendance (DOA) so tuitioned-out and privately placed students will not be included in your reports. Please work with the DOA to get the results. More information on downloading reports and receiving hard copies of the student reports will be sent to the district/charter test coordinator prior to July 17, 2023.
Because the MSAA Science test is a new assessment, we will be conducting a standard setting to set cut scores and the Arizona State Board of Education must approve the cut scores before we can generate the reports. This is causing the delay with the Science reporting window this year. More information on MSAA Science reporting will be available this summer.
Alt ELPA Updates
As a new assessment, we will also be conducting a standard setting to set cut scores for Alt ELPA. This process will delay the Alt ELPA reporting window this year. The Alt ELPA reporting window is tentatively scheduled for September 2023. More information will be sent to Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators this summer.
1% Threshold
Under federal regulation, the state is required to "provide appropriate oversight to each LEA that the State anticipates will assess more than 1% of its assessed students...using alternate assessments aligned with alternate academic achievement standards." An LEA may test students who qualify for alternate assessment, even if that participation means that the LEA will exceed 1%.
Alternate Assessment Test Coordinators will be notified of your LEA's percentages and provided next steps.
Resources
Please continue to use the MSAA States Website to access resources for families, educators, and students. Resources range from writing rubrics, sample items, Core Content Connectors, the Learning Progression Frameworks, and more. The website contains information for all states that participate in the consortium. Please do not use the website to contact the Alternate Assessment Unit as the communication is not directly sent to the Alternate Assessment Team.
TIES Center also has some great resources on instruction, information for parents, and communication and behavior supports.
School and Parent resources for understanding Alternate Assessment for students with significant cognitive disabilities will be available on the Assessment Parent Resource Page under MSAA Parent Resources soon. 