Happy Autumn!

Now that the school year is well underway, we have some important updates to share with you.

Pearson's Navvy formative assessment tool is available to all LEAs throughout the state. Please visit the Pearson Navvy website to learn more about this formative assessment product offered by ADE. I also encourage you to fill out this form to be connected directly with the Navvy Implementation team, who can answer your questions and get you set up if you decide to use the tool. We cannot guarantee that Navvy will be available again next year, but we do plan to negotiate the contract again. 

The Friday Focus webinar series has begun. Upcoming topics include accountability, achievement test irregularities, and a look ahead to next school year. If you missed any of the previous webinars, the recordings and presentations are posted on the Friday Focus Webinar website. 

We had previously announced the Request for Proposals for several assessment contracts. There is not any new information to share at this time. We will send notifications to all District Test Coordinators when there is additional information.

The Arizona State Board of Education has released the A-F Letter Grades for the 2024-2025 school year. Schools can now view their official results in ADEConnect. Statewide results, including comparative data for all schools, are available in the spreadsheet posted on the State Board of Education's website. 

As a reminder, virtual proctoring will not be available this school year. We will share information for next school year after the conclusion of the spring administration windows.

Thank you for all you do to support our students.

Please watch for communications from the Achievement Assessments team to increase in frequency over the coming weeks and months as we prepare for the Spring 2026 test windows. Communications will be sent to Achievement District Test Coordinators (DTCs) regarding any testing updates as well as reminders of deadlines and tasks to be completed in preparation for testing. These communications will also be posted on the Achievement District Test Coordinators webpage for quick reference. Please share these communications with other staff in your district or charter, as applicable. 

Test windows for the Spring 2026 Achievement Assessments are included in the table below, as well as in the 2025-2026 Assessments Overview and the Detailed Testing Calendar. The Detailed Testing Calendar also provides estimated times for each test unit of the AASA and AzSCI as well as time limits for ACT Aspire and ACT test sections.

For AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and ACT resources, visit the Achievement District Test Coordinators webpage at https://www.azed.gov/assessment/achievement-dtcs.

For additional ACT Aspire resources, visit the Pearson-hosted support website at https://az-support.mypearsonsupport.com/aspire/.

For additional ACT resources, visit the ACT-hosted support website for Arizona at https://www.act.org/content/act/en/products-and-services/state-and-district-solutions/arizona.html.

Check each site frequently as updated resources for Spring 2026 testing will be posted throughout the fall and winter.

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

In Spring 2026, all of the Achievement Assessments will utilize the PearsonAccess Next (PAN) and TestNav platforms. PAN is Pearson's test management system, while TestNav is the online test delivery platform where students will take the online tests.

There are three separate PAN sites, with three separate logins, depending on the grade level of students in your district or charter.

Pearson provides Technical Bulletins with the latest news and information about TestNav. Please share the Technical Bulletins, Technical Requirements links below, and information about TestNav App Updates with your district or charter's technology team. 

TestNav apps are released annually in June. After the updated version is released, the app automatically updates the next time it is launched on Android, Chrome, and iOS operating systems and on Windows if downloaded from the Windows store. If the app was downloaded directly from download.testnav.com, you must manually re-download and install the updated TestNav app from download.testnav.com for Windows devices.

The Sample Tests and Student Readiness Tool for AASA and AzSCI are located at https://home.testnav.com/. Select "Arizona," then click on "Mic Check and Sample Tests." Login information is not needed to access these tools.

All students must be provided opportunities to practice with the Sample Tests and Student Readiness Tool so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different types of questions on the tests. For AASA, Sample Tests are available for each grade level for ELA Writing, ELA Reading, and Math. Sample Tests are also available for the Grade 3 ELA Oral Reading Fluency test unit. AzSCI Sample Tests are available for Grades 5, 8, and 11. Sample Test Scoring Guides are available for each Sample Test on the Educator Resources webpage.

ACT Aspire Exemplars and Tutorial are located at https://tn.actaspire.org/client/index.html. Scroll to the bottom of the screen and select, "Exemplars." Next, select the content area, followed by the Exemplar for "Early High School Grade 9 & 10." Online Exemplars are intended to provide students with experience navigating TestNav and interacting with the various test question formats. The online Exemplars are not meant to be scored, and a full answer key is not provided. 

Exemplar booklets are available for each content area. Each booklet describes reporting categories, standards, depth-of-knowledge levels, and correct responses. Exemplar booklets are available on the Pearson-hosted ACT Aspire support webpage.

ACT practice tests have been updated to reflect the new ACT enhancements. Full-length practice tests are available in timed and untimed versions, as well as sample questions and online quizzes. Access free practice tests and additional resources at ACT's Practice Test website. Use ACT's Quiz Me to engage students with real practice test questions in a game-like format.

Training modules will be available in Pearson's Arizona Learning Management System (AzLMS) in late November. Achievement District Test Coordinators (DTCs) will receive a notification when the training modules are released. DTCs who had an AzLMS account last year and are in the same district or charter this school year, or who have a current AzLMS account for AZELLA, will continue to use the same account. New DTCs will automatically be enrolled in AzLMS and will receive a welcome email with instructions on completing the account registration process.

Details of who should complete each specific training module can be found in the Achievement Assessment Training Requirements document. Achievement DTCs are required to complete all applicable training modules within the AzLMS. Testing staff are encouraged to complete their applicable training modules within the AzLMS; however, DTCs may provide a group training instead, if preferred. Achievement DTCs are responsible for tracking staff completion of trainings whether staff complete trainings within AzLMS or through a group training. DTCs must complete training by February 20, 2026, and all other testing staff must be trained prior to administering any tests. 

Pearson and ADE's Achievement Assessments team have scheduled two Office Hours sessions to support you. We will be available to answer technical questions about AzLMS access and usage. Registration is not required. Simply click on the link(s) provided below to join the session(s).

The Achievement Assessments team will offer optional Office Hours sessions this Winter/Spring to support Achievement District Test Coordinators. Each session will be held on Wednesdays from 1:00-1:30 pm. Registration is required and is now available in the ADE Professional Learning & Development (APLD) system using the registration links below. A Teams meeting invitation will be sent to all registered attendees prior to each Office Hours session.

The Achievement Assessments Accommodations Manual has been updated and posted on our Accessibility webpage. Please remind staff to review the Accommodations Manual as they work on IEPs and 504 Plans this school year. All instructional accommodations that will be routinely used should be included in the student's plan. Any accommodations selected for statewide testing must be used throughout the year for instruction in class and must also be documented in the IEP or 504 Plan. 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.

Arizona offers three test formats to meet the needs of students who cannot access the test content through computer-based testing: braille, large print, and regular print paper tests. Requests for Special Paper Version (SPV) tests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire must be submitted to ADE for review and approval using this secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2026. Additional information is available in the SPV Quick Guide. SPV test requests must be submitted to ADE by February 6, 2026.

Due to the passing of HB2540, a school district or charter school may administer a Special Paper Version test on request by a student's parent or guardian. The parent will submit the request directly to the school, district, or charter, then the school, district, or charter will submit the request to ADE at https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2026. Documentation of the parent's request must be uploaded in the request form. ADE does not accept or process requests directly from parents or guardians. The deadline for these requests is also February 6, 2026.

Requests for additional accommodations must be submitted to ADE for review and approval by February 6, 2026, using this secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/achievement_aa_fy26. Additional information is available in the Additional Accommodations Quick Guide.

Do not submit requests for Universal Test Administration Conditions, Universal Tools, or other accommodations identified as allowable in the Achievement Assessments Accommodations Manual. 

New this year, requests for hearing devices requiring a Bluetooth connection do not need to be submitted to ADE for approval. Refer to the Achievement Assessments Accommodations Manual for guidance when students require use of hearing devices or hearing assistive technology with a Bluetooth connection.

AASA is the statewide Achievement Assessment for Grades 3-8 in ELA and Math. Refer to the 2025-2026 Detailed Testing Calendar for estimated times for each test unit.

All Grade 3 students will participate in an ELA Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit, administered online in TestNav in small groups of no more than six students testing at one time. The Grade 3 ELA ORF test unit is an operational test unit and will be included in each Grade 3 student's ELA score and in the Move on When Reading (MOWR) indicator. (Exception: Students taking either the American Sign Language test form or the Braille test form will not take the ORF test unit.) Grade 3 ELA Oral Reading Fluency resources are published on the AASA webpage.

PearsonAccess Next (PAN), https://az.pearsonaccessnext.com/, will open for Spring 2026 AASA test administration tasks to begin on December 17, 2025. On that date, Achievement DTCs will receive access and can begin the tasks of verifying their contact and shipping information and adding other users in the district or charter to PAN. Users who need PAN access for both the AASA and AzSCI test administrations will need to be added separately for the two assessments. If any changes are needed to the district's contact information and shipping address, please send an email to AASA@azed.gov no later than February 20, 2026, to ensure that AASA materials are shipped and delivered appropriately. 

For Spring 2026 AASA, Achievement DTCs will verify participation counts in PAN, update the participation counts if needed, and select the preferred materials due-in-district window for the delivery of test materials. The window to complete this task is January 5-16, 2026. The participation counts in PAN will be used to determine the number of Test Coordinator's Manuals and Test Administration Directions shipped for both computer-based and paper-based testing schools. It will also determine the number of paper-based test booklets shipped for paper-based testing schools.

There are two delivery window options available for the initial shipment of AASA materials. Achievement DTCs will need to select the preferred window listed below for their district or charter in PAN January 5-16, 2026. Any districts or charters that do not make a selection in PAN during this window will be defaulted to delivery window 1.

ADE will upload students in Grades 3-8 to PearsonAccess Next for AASA testing. The last day to revise student enrollments in AzEDS prior to ADE's AASA student upload is January 20, 2026. ADE will extract student information from AzEDS and upload the data to PAN. This upload will be visible in PAN on February 2, 2026. Any AASA-eligible students who enroll after January 20, or who were missed in ADE's upload, will need to be added to PAN by the district or school.

AzSCI is a computer-based assessment and is comprised of three test units. Each test unit is estimated to take 60-90 minutes. If more than one test unit is administered on the same day, there must be a significant break of at least 15 minutes between each test unit.

PearsonAccess Next (PAN), https://az.pearsonaccessnext.com/, will open for Spring 2026 AzSCI test administration tasks to begin on January 28, 2026. On that date, Achievement DTCs will receive access and can begin the tasks of verifying their contact and shipping information and adding other users in the district or charter to PAN. Users who need PAN access for both the AASA and AzSCI test administrations will need to be added separately for the two assessments.

ADE will upload students in Grade 5, 8, and Cohort 2027 (typically Grade 11) to PearsonAccess Next for AzSCI testing. The last day to revise student enrollments in AzEDS prior to ADE's student upload is February 10, 2026. ADE will extract student information from AzEDS and upload the data to PAN. The upload will be visible in PAN on February 17, 2026. Any AzSCI-eligible students who enroll after February 17, or who were missed in ADE's upload, will need to be added to PAN by the district or school.

ACT Aspire is the statewide achievement test for students in Grade 9/Cohort 2029. Test sections (English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing) are timed tests which may be administered in any order. Refer to the 2025-2026 Detailed Testing Calendar for test section time limits.

PearsonAccess Next, https://aspire.pearsonaccessnext.com/, will open for Spring 2026 ACT Aspire test administration tasks to begin on January 14, 2026. On that date, Achievement DTCs will receive access and can begin the tasks of verifying their contact and shipping information and adding other users in the district or charter to PAN.

ADE will upload Cohort 2029 students to PearsonAccess Next for ACT Aspire testing. The last day to revise student enrollments in AzEDS prior to ADE's student upload is January 21, 2026. ADE will extract student information from AzEDS and upload the data to PAN. The upload will be visible in PAN on January 27, 2026. Any Cohort 2029 students who enroll after January 21, or who were missed in ADE's upload, will need to be added to PAN by the district or school.

Pearson has scheduled two ACT Aspire Chat with an Expert sessions to answer Test Coordinator questions related to ACT Aspire. Please save the following dates if you would like to attend one or both sessions. Registration is not required. Simply click on the link(s) provided below to join the session(s). 

ACT will host the 2025 Arizona ACT Conference December 9, 2025, 8:00am-3:00pm, at ASU Memorial Union in Tempe, Arizona. Please visit the conference registration and agenda webpages for detailed information.

Attendees will engage in interactive sessions covering a wide range of topics, including:

All Test Coordinators are strongly encouraged to review the updates provided on ACT's What's New webpage to become familiar with changes for the Spring 2026 test administration.

The Spring 2026 ACT statewide assessment will include the Science and Writing sub-tests in addition to the English, Math, and Reading sub-tests. Students will receive an ACT Composite score, which will be comprised of the English, Math, and Reading tests; an ACT STEM score, which is an average of the Math and Science tests; and an ACT ELA score, which is an average of the English, Reading, and Writing tests.

ACT test sections are timed tests and must be administered in order: English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing. Refer to the resources published on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona and to the Detailed Testing Calendar for additional details.

The ACT Enhancements will be in effect for the Spring 2026 statewide ACT test administration. The ACT enhancements include fewer test items overall and more time per test item. Additional information is available on ACT's Test Enhancements webpage and in the Comparison of the Legacy and Enhanced ACT Test resource. In addition, ACT partnered with ADE to host a Friday Focus Webinar on October 10. If you were not able to attend the live webinar, we encourage you to view the recording, which is posted on our Friday Focus Webinars webpage.

New in Spring 2026, schools will have the flexibility to administer Science and Writing after an extended break or on a different day than English, Math, and Reading are administered. Schools may continue to administer all test units on the same testing day, if preferred. The decision to provide schedule flexibility applies to ALL standard time and single-day accommodations testing rooms and administrations for that testing event/window at the school. Refer to ACT's Schedule Flexibility Policy for additional guidance which must be strictly followed. 

Districts and charters with Grade 11/Cohort 2027 students may utilize both published Arizona ACT test windows in order to assess all Cohort 2027 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. 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.

ACT's PearsonAccess Next (PAN) site will open for Spring 2026 test administration tasks on November 3, 2025. Achievement District Test Coordinators with Grade 11/Cohort 2027 students will receive access on that date and can then begin completing the following tasks in PAN for each school: select test dates, select materials receipt window, and verify shipping address. These tasks must be completed for each school by December 5, 2025. More information is available in Step 1: Orientation on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona. 

When selecting test dates in PAN, online or paper testing will also be selected for each school. This selection in PAN must match the ADEConnect Testing Mode Application, which closed on October 3, 2025 for paper-based testing requests. Do not select ACT paper testing in PAN if you did not submit and receive approval for a paper testing request in ADEConnect. The information in the ADEConnect Testing Mode Application is the official testing mode for the school and determines whether students are uploaded as online testers or as paper testers. 

The preferred materials receipt window must also be selected in PAN. The first two materials receipt options (March 2-5 and March 9-12) are applicable to Test Window 1 only, while the last two materials receipt options (March 16-19 and March 23-26) are applicable to Test Window 2 only. Please select a materials receipt window that corresponds to your test window selection.

Beginning November 3, 2025, Achievement District Test Coordinators can create user accounts for others in the district or charter. Achievement District Test Coordinators are encouraged to add a School Test Coordinator for each site. ACT will send communications to School Test Coordinators that have been added in PearsonAccess Next, as well as to Achievement District Test Coordinators. 

ACT has scheduled three webinars specifically for Arizona test coordinators. Both District and School Test Coordinators should plan to attend each webinar or view the recording afterwards. Each webinar recording will be posted on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona.

Accommodations - was held on October 22, 2025 (Register Here to View Recording)

Test Administration #1 - November 5, 2025, 9:00am MST (Register Here)

Test Administration #2 - February 18, 2026, 9:00am MST (Register Here)

The  ACT Accessibility Supports Guide and additional resources needed by Test Coordinators to request and/or arrange test accommodations, English learner supports, and designated supports are available on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona, under Step 3: Accommodation. For further assistance, ACT has scheduled a series of Accommodations Office Hours sessions beginning November 12. Please visit the Accommodations Office Hours registration page for additional information.

ACT has updated their policy regarding English learner supports. Translated test directions and bilingual dictionaries are now designated (local) supports and do not require a request be submitted to ACT for approval. The only English learner support that requires a request be submitted to ACT for approval is the use of one-and-one-half time. Review ACT's Supports for English Learners webpage for additional information.

ACT accommodations requests must be submitted directly to ACT through ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system. The TAA system is now open for ACT accommodations requests for Spring 2026. Please note the following deadlines. We strongly encourage schools and districts to submit accommodations requests early to allow time for resubmissions if necessary.

ACT has provided the Parent Consent to Release Information form, which should be utilized to obtain parent consent for submitting ACT accommodations requests. 

ADE will upload Cohort 2027 students to PearsonAccess Next (PAN) for ACT testing. The last day to revise enrollments in AzEDS prior to ADE's extraction of student data is January 21, 2026. ADE's student upload will be visible in PAN on January 26, 2026. Any Cohort 2027 students who enroll after January 21, or who were missed in ADE's upload, will need to be added to PAN by the district or school.

All sites administering the online ACT test are encouraged to complete a mock administration. If performed under conditions similar to test day, a mock administration provides an indication of how your technical infrastructure and testing devices will interact with the testing software during a live administration. This task can be completed beginning December 1, 2025 and should be completed no later than March 4, 2026, to prepare for online testing. More information is available in Step 2: Configuration on the ACT website.

An ACT score replacement request may be approved by ADE's Assessment Section when a student in Cohort 2027 has a previous ACT test score obtained on a national test date in the current school year. The ACT score replacement allows the student to use the score obtained outside the statewide administration and administered by a person other than the school district or charter, pursuant to HB2540, rather than Arizona's statewide assessment date, for accountability purposes.

The ACT score replacement is subject to ADE's review and approval, using the criteria outlined below. 

ACT score replacement requests are to be submitted from the school district or charter directly to ADE's Assessment Section for review using the secure request form and must be submitted before the date on which the school administers the state ACT assessment. Requests are not to be submitted to ADE by students or parents/guardians.

A copy of the student's ACT score report, as well as a completed parent consent form, must be uploaded with the request. ADE's Achievement Assessments team will review the request then will respond to the Achievement District Test Coordinator regarding the final decision. 

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 or ACT, please contact us at Testing@azed.gov.

If you have any questions about Alternate Assessments, please contact us at AlternateAssessment@azed.gov.

For districts who complete their K-3 Participation Counts in December, Pearson will ship the same quantity plus a 5% district overage of the paper test materials to the shipping address on file for the Spring Reassessment Test administration. These materials are scheduled to arrive at the shipping address that is in PAN between January 12-16. An employee of the district or charter who has signed the AZELLA Test Security Agreement must be available to sign receipt of the shipments. The paper test materials and the Pre-ID Labels will be shipped separately and will arrive during the same week. DTCs will have an opportunity to order additional materials after the materials received have been inventoried. If the Reassessment materials have NOT been delivered by Tuesday, January 20, DTCs should contact ADE via email at AZELLA@azed.gov. LEAs must wait until January 20 before contacting ADE.

Districts and charters must KEEP the boxes in which the testing materials arrive because the same boxes need to be used to return the materials at the end of the test window. 

All students with an EL need and a current AZELLA record are required to participate in the Spring Reassessment Test. This includes students enrolled in EL services (SEI, Bilingual waiver, 50-50 Dual Language Instruction, and Parent Withdrawn) as well as those who have not been enrolled in any EL services for the school year. These students appear on the EL73 - EL Student Need Report as EL Groups 1, 2, and 4. It is imperative that the EL73 Report is downloaded and reviewed frequently before and throughout the Reassessment Test Window.

All students, regardless of disability, who have a Home Language Survey that includes a language other than English and/or American Sign Language (ASL) require an English Language Proficiency (ELP) test. There are no provisions, in either state or federal law, which would allow the exemption of ELP testing for students who are enrolled in the Special Education program and require an ELP test.

The AZELLA DTC must contact the AZELLA Team at ADE about any student who requires an accommodated version of the Spring AZELLA Reassessment Test, additional accommodations, or who has a documented disability (for example: deafness or blindness) that precludes assessment in one or more domains of AZELLA prior to administering the AZELLA test by summitting the AZELLA Additional Accommodations Request Form 2025-2026.

DTCs must wait for ADE's response to the request and further directions from the AZELLA Team prior to administering the AZELLA. Each request form may take up to 4 weeks to process as communication between ADE and the district transpires. The deadline to submit AZELLA Additional Accommodations requests will be December 5, 2025. The only exception to this is transfer students.

Accommodated Forms for Grades KG-12

The AZELLA DTC must ensure that school enrollments and EL program services have been synchronized from the School Information System (SIS) to AzEDS by December 2, 2025, and correct any Placement Test records that are in the AZELLA Corrections application by December 2. This data needs to be compete because ADE will be extracting all Kindergarten though Grade 12 EL student data on December 3 to send to Pearson for pre-registering these students for the Spring 2026 Reassessment Test and printing K-3 Pre-ID Labels. 

DTCs should mark their calendar for December 3, 2025, and January 16, 2026 as a reminder to print the EL73 - EL Student Need Reports. These reports need to be compared to identify which students have not been registered for the Reassessment Test in the schools and need to be added to PAN or transferred (Work Request) in PAN from a different school. 

Students who were not pre-registered by Pearson must be added or a Work Request transfer must be submitted in PearsonAccess Next.

Not all K-3 students will receive a Pre-ID Label. Those who don't receive a label and for those whose labels are incorrect, districts are still required to test these students. The students must be added to PAN and the Student Data Demographic Grid on the back cover of the students' paper test books must be completed by the DTC and STCs prior to the students testing.  

When e-mailing AZELLA@azed.gov, please:

If you have any questions about AZELLA, please contact us at AZELLA@azed.gov.

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Gary McIlvaine, AZ Director of NAEP and International Assessments.

602-364-1583