The Examiner

An ADE Newsletter for Test Coordinators
November 2021 Edition 
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As we approach the Achievement testing windows and begin to complete tasks to prepare for testing, DTC emails will be sent to you more frequently, generally once per week. Please watch for these emails as we will be reminding you of important tasks and deadlines for all of the Achievement tests: AASA (Grades 3-8 ELA and Math), AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (Grades 3-8), AzSCI (Grades 5, 8, and 11/Cohort 2023), ACT Aspire (Grade 9/Cohort 2025), and ACT (Grade 11/Cohort 2023).
Statewide Achievement Test Windows

Testing windows for the Spring 2022 Achievement tests are included in the table below. This information is also included in the Assessments Overview - 2021 and Beyond and the Detailed Assessment Testing Calendar. The Detailed Testing Calendar also provides estimated times for each test section for AASA and AzSCI as well as time limits for ACT and ACT Aspire test sections.

DTC emails will be organized as follows to assist you with finding the information you need for your sites:
  • Information pertaining to all grade levels
  • Information pertaining to grades 3-8 only
  • Information pertaining to high school only
Achievement Test Windows
ACT Test Windows

Districts and charters with Grade 11/Cohort 2023 students will need to select one of the ACT test windows listed above in which to complete all ACT testing. This selection must be made in ACT's PearsonAccessNext (PAN) platform, November 1 - December 3, 2021. District Test Coordinators received access to begin this task on November 1. Additionally, within this window and in ACT's PAN platform, District Test Coordinators will need to indicate online or paper testing and the preferred materials shipment date for each school.

Note: 
  • Online vs. paper testing selection in PAN should match what was submitted to ADE through the ADEConnect Testing Mode Application, which closed October 15, 2021. 
  • There is only one ACT standard paper test date in each testing window, but there are six  standard online paper test dates in each window. If a school selects to administer the ACT on paper, the additional online test dates within the same window may be utilized for any makeup testing needed.
Schedules of Tasks for Achievement District Test Coordinators

Schedules of important tasks for each of the Achievement tests are now available. A link to each is included below and can also be accessed from the Achievement District Test Coordinators webpage.

Achievement District Test Coordinator Training

Achievement District Test Coordinators for district and charters with Grades 3-8 students:
  • DTC trainings for AASA, AzSCI, and Accommodations, as well as a Test Administrator training, will be available in Pearson's Training Management System this Winter. These trainings must be completed prior to administering any tests, including the AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test. More information, including how to access these trainings, will be coming soon!

Achievement District Test Coordinators for districts and charters with Grade 9/Cohort 2025 and Grade 11/Cohort 2023 students:
  • DTC trainings for AzSCI and Accommodations, as well as a Test Administrator training, will be available in Pearson's Training Management System this Winter. These trainings must be completed prior to administering any tests. More information, including how to access these trainings, will be coming soon! 
  • ACT will host three webinars specifically for Arizona test coordinators regarding ACT test administration and accommodations. Registration links can be found in the ACT Schedule of Events. 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: November 3, 2021, 9:00-10:00am
    • ACT Accommodations Webinar: November 10, 2021, 9:00-10:00am
    • ACT Test Administration Webinar #2: February 2, 2022, 9:00-10:00am
  • ACT Aspire on-demand training webinars will be coming soon. As they become available, they will be posted on the ACT Aspire page of the ACT-hosted website for Arizona.
PearsonAccessnext (PAN) and TestNav
In Spring 2022, all of the Achievement assessments will utilize the PAN and TestNav platforms. There will be three separate PAN websites, with three separate logins depending on the grade level of students in your LEA.

  • ACT - https://testadmin.act.org/customer/index.action
    • District Test Coordinators with students in Cohort 2023/Grade 11 should have received an automated email on November 1, 2021 with access and to set up their password.
  • AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (SAFT), AASA, AzSCI - https://az.pearsonaccessnext.com/customer/index.action
    • District Test Coordinators with students in Grades 3-8 will receive an automated email on November 17, 2021 with access and to set up their password for the AASA Writing SAFT. Access will then continue through the AASA and AzSCI test administrations.
  • ACT Aspire - https://aspire.act.org/customer/index.action
    • District Test Coordinators with students in Cohort 2025/Grade 9 will receive an automated email on January 24, 2022 with access and to set up their password.

Please see links below for TestNav technical requirements for each assessment.

Calculator Guidance

Updated Calculator Guidance for Arizona's statewide achievement tests has been posted on the Achievement District Test Coordinator webpage under as well as on the Educator Resources page of our website, in the resources section for each assessment.

  • The Desmos scientific calculator is embedded in the online tests for AASA Grades 7 and 8 Math Part 1 only and AzSCI Grades 8 and 11 tests.
  • No calculators are permitted for AASA Grades 3-6 Math tests or for AASA Grades 7 and 8 Part Part 2 tests.
  • The Desmos four-function calculator is embedded in the Grade 5 AzSCI online test.
  • The Desmos scientific calculator is embedded in the online ACT test.
  • A non-branded scientific calculator is embedded in the online ACT Aspire test. Please refer to the ACT Calculator Policy for additional calculator information for both ACT and ACT Aspire.

Testing Accommodations

The Achievement testing Accommodations Manual has been updated and posted on our Accessibility webpage. Please remind your staff to review the Accommodations Manual as they work on IEPs and 504 plans this school year. They should include all instructional accommodations that will be routinely used this year in the student's plan.

An accommodation selected for statewide testing must also be used throughout the year for instruction in class and documented in the 504 plan or IEP. Most accommodations used in the classroom can also be used for testing, so it is important to become familiar with the testing accommodations by using the sample tests.

Special Paper Version (SPV) Tests - AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire

New for the 2021-2022 school year, because the system is new to many users, ADE will create the SPV test session in PAN for any student(s) with an approved SPV test for the AASA Writing SAFT, AASA, and AzSCI. ADE will move the student(s) into the SPV test session prior to testing and will also place an order for any approved SPV tests at the beginning of the Additional Order window for each of these assessments.

Please see the new 2021-2022 Special Paper Version Test Request Process for additional information.

Arizona offers three test formats to meet the needs of students who cannot access the test content through computer-based testing.

  • Braille - A Braille 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. The large print test booklets are approximately 18 inches tall, and the font size is 18-20 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 (i.e., no more than XX hours per day, must have a significant break after XX minutes, no computer usage at all, etc.)
SPV test requests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire are now being accepted and should be submitted as soon as the student's 504 plan or IEP has been completed for school year 2021-2022. Please submit requests early for students you know will need an SPV test, especially students in Grades 3-8 who will need an SPV test for the AASA Writing SAFT, which will be administered January 24-February 18, 2022.

The following secure form should be used to submit requests no later than February 25, 2022: 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

A new secure form has been created for requesting additional accommodations for AASA, AzSCI, and/or ACT Aspire for a student with a current IEP or 504 plan: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/achievement_aa_fy22.

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.

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. More information about PNPs is in the Friday Focus Webinar on Accessibility and will be highlighted in training modules.

ACT Accommodations

ACT accommodations requests must be submitted directly to ACT through ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system no later than January 7, 2022. Please note this is a hard deadline for submitting ACT requests, so please submit all requests early.

More information about ACT's accommodations request process can be found on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona (Step 3: Accommodation), by attending ACT's Accommodations webinar for Arizona test coordinators on November 10, 2022, and through ACT's Accommodations Office Hours. More information about ACT Office Hours, both Accommodations Office Hours and general Office Hours sessions, can be found under "Helpful Links" on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona.

ACT Aspire Accommodations

Please see the ACT Aspire Accommodations Supports Guide for information about accessibility supports, tools, and options for ACT Aspire testing.
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AASA Resources

Many documents have been rebranded for AASA and are now posted on our website, including Blueprints, Item Specifications, Writing Rubrics, Writing Guides, and Sample Test Scoring Guides. These documents are located on the AASA page of our website.

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 Writing Stand-Alone Field Test

All students in Grades 3-8 will participate in the AASA Writing Stand-Alone Field Test (SAFT). This is in addition to and separate from the operational AASA test in April 2022, which will also include a Writing section. The window for the Writing SAFT is January 24 - February 18, 2022. The estimated time for students to complete the Writing SAFT test session is 60-90 minutes, which is the same as for the Writing section of the operational AASA test. Each student will receive one writing prompt.

Note: The reason for the Writing SAFT is that at the end of ADE's contract with Cambium, Assessments, Inc. (AzM2/AzMERIT), Arizona did not own the Writing items. We are focused on developing Arizona-specific items for our item bank; therefore, we need to administer the Writing SAFT.

Any school that was approved for paper-based testing for AASA, through the Testing Mode Selection Application in October 2021, will also administer the AASA Writing SAFT on paper. All computer-based testing schools will also administer the AASA Writing SAFT online in TestNav.

As with all field tests, districts and charters, schools, and students will not receive score results from the AASA Writing SAFT.

AASA Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency

All third grade students will have a new test section for Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), which will be administered in small groups of no more than 6 students in a testing room at a time. This test section will take approximately 15 minutes for each small group of students. 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 section 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.

Additional resources, listed and linked below, are available on the Achievement DTC webpage and on the AASA webpage.


Upcoming Webinars

The Assessment and K-12 Academic Standards ELA teams are coming together to present informational webinars:
  • ELA and Assessment Webinar - ORF
  • ELA and Assessment Webinar - Writing Stand-Alone Field Test
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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.

Based on field testing data/information for AzSCI, ADE has collaborated with the K-12 Standards unit to make some updates to the AzSCI Blueprints and Item Specifications document. This document is being finalized and will be reposted soon. Once the document has been updated, Achievement DTCs will be notified via email.

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. 

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. 
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New Websites for ACT and ACT Aspire

ADE has created a new ACT / ACT Aspire webpage so you can easily find information and resources regarding the new statewide high school assessments. Please check this page frequently as more information will be added as it becomes available.

In addition to the new ADE webpage, ACT is also hosting a website for Arizona. The ACT-hosted website includes detailed testing information, resources, tutorials, webinar links, manuals, and more for the test administration of both ACT and ACT Aspire in Arizona.

Note: There is a separate tab at the top of the ACT-hosted website for Arizona for ACT and for ACT Aspire. If you have Grade 9 and/or Grade 11 students, please bookmark this website as all ACT and ACT Aspire test administration will be posted here. New resources are being posted by ACT as they become available.
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