Achievement District Test Coordinator Updates
August 30, 2021 |
Achievement District Test Coordinators,
Welcome back to the start of another school year! As the Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC), you will be the point of contact with ADE's Achievement testing team throughout the year. Please watch for periodic emails with important testing information, reminders, and deadlines. Please read these emails carefully, as well as our quarterly newsletter, The Examiner, so you do not miss important testing information.
Below, we have detailed some of the upcoming dates and information you should be aware of for Arizona's statewide Achievement tests for the 2021-2022 school year. You can find additional information and resources on the Achievement District Test Coordinator page and the Educator Resources page of our website. Both webpages will be updated as additional information becomes available for Spring 2021 Achievement testing. |
Achievement Tests - 2021-2022 School Year
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Testing Mode Requests
No action needs to be taken if your school site(s) will remain
computer-based for Spring 2021
All Achievement testing is, by default, administered to students by computer/online. The application to request paper administration for school site(s) will be open to District Test Coordinators in ADEConnect September 20 - October 15, 2021.
To request paper administration, log into ADEConnect. Select Assessments. Click on the dropdown for Achievement Reports and select Achievement Testing Mode to begin. You must have the ADEConnect role of Achievement District Test Coordinator to submit a request for paper administration. You will need to enter a reason for the testing mode change for each test for the site(s) that request paper administration. The Assessment section will review each request individually and update the status in the application.
If a site selects a paper administration for the AASA operational assessment in April 2022, the site will also administer paper tests for the AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test in January-February 2022. This will not be a separate selection within the Testing Mode Request application.
Please note: For AzSCI to be administered as a paper test, every student response must be key entered into the TestNav online testing platform once the students have completed testing by a Test Administrator who has been trained and who has completed a test security agreement. All student responses for AzSCI must be entered in TestNav before the end of the AzSCI test window. |
Special Paper Version Test Requests
Open Now through February 25, 2021
Special Paper Version (SPV) test requests for AASA (including the Writing Stand-Alone Field Test), AzSCI, and ACT Aspire may now be submitted to ADE for review and approval using this secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2022. Data submitted in this form is accessible only to select ADE Assessment staff. District Test Coordinators may submit requests or can authorize School Test Coordinators or other staff members to submit requests. An automated email will be sent to the District Test Coordinator and the person filling out the form to let DTCs know that the information was received and will be reviewed.
An SPV test request for a student will only need to be submitted to ADE one time for the 2021-2022 school year. Requests will be accepted through February 25, 2021; however, we encourage you to submit requests early to allow time for submitting additional documentation if required. Contact AASA@azed.gov if a student has an injury or illness after February 25, 2021 that necessitates a paper test.
Arizona offers three test formats to meet the needs of students who cannot access the test content through computer-based testing.
- Braille - A Braille test kit will include directions for administering the Braille assessment and for recording the students' responses in TestNav.
- Large Print test booklets - The 504 plan or IEP must clearly state the font size used for instruction and the type of materials teachers enlarge for the student. Unless a student regularly has reading and math materials enlarged for both diameter and font size, you may consider testing the Zoom feature in the sample tests using TestNav since the test booklets are approximately 18 inches tall, and the font size is 18 pt.
- Paper test - A student who cannot access the computer for classroom work due to injury, illness, or low vision issues may need a paper test in lieu of taking the test with peers on the computer. The 504 plan or IEP must clearly indicate how the teachers accommodate the student's issue in class and the restrictions the student has when using technology (examples: no more than xx minutes of screen time per day, or must have a significant break after xx minutes, no computer usage at all, etc.).
Please note: SPV test requests and other accommodations for ACT (grade 11) are to be submitted directly to ACT using ACT's processes and are not to be submitted to ADE for approval. More information regarding accommodations requests for ACT will be coming soon! |
Webinars and DTC Training
- New this year - Achievement testing District Test Coordinator trainings for AASA and AzSCI will be available in Pearson's Training Management System this winter.
- More information will be provided in the coming months regarding training for the ACT Aspire test administration.
- ACT will be holding two Arizona-specific webinars this fall and a third webinar in early spring - dates, times, and registration links will be coming soon.
- Friday Focus Webinars - ADE's Assessment section held the first webinar in this series on August 20th. The recording is posted on our website at https://www.azed.gov/assessment, under the "Friday Focus Webinars 2021-2022" dropdown.
- To register for upcoming webinars in the Friday Focus Webinars series, please see the Friday Focus flyer. Each webinar will be recorded and posted on our website afterwards.
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AzM2 End of Contract
Spring 2021 was the final administration of AzM2. Student data files and score reports from Spring 2015-2021 must be downloaded locally from ORS. We had previously asked DTCs to download and save all ORS data by June 30, 2021, then Cambium, our vendor for AzM2, extended our access to ORS for a few additional months.
ORS is currently down for maintenance through September 8th, and our access will be ending soon after ORS reopens. When ORS reopens September 9th, any data not already downloaded locally should be downloaded and saved immediately. To do this, go to the Test Coordinators page of the AzM2 portal and select "Online Reporting System." Select the administration year and Export to Inbox. |
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