Achievement District Test Coordinator
Updates and Reminders - January 5, 2026 |
Achievement District Test Coordinators,
Happy New Year! As we approach the Spring 2026 statewide achievement testing windows, please note the following regarding communications sent to our team.
- Include your district entity number in emails to us. This helps to speed up the research process on our end as we work to get answers to your testing questions.
- Include the name of the assessment you have a question about - AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and/or ACT.
- 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. Please send your question to only one of these inboxes. Do not copy all of the inboxes on your email. If you are unsure which inbox to use, or if the question applies to multiple assessments, send your email to Testing@azed.gov.
All Achievement DTC emails for the 2025-2026 school year are published on the Achievement DTC page of our website, under the dropdown for "Achievement DTC Communications - 2025-2026 School Year," for easy access.
Friday Focus Webinar
ADE's Achievement Assessments Team will host a Friday Focus Webinar titled, Reducing Achievement Testing Irregularities, on Friday, January 9, 2026, 1:00-2:00pm. Register to attend the live webinar using the link below. The webinar will be recorded and posted on our Friday Focus Webinars webpage following the live event.
Office Hours
The Achievement Assessments team will be holding optional Office Hours sessions on the following dates and topics. To attend, register using the links below. A Teams meeting invitation will be sent to all registered participants prior to each Office Hours session.
Pearson will be hosting the following additional Office Hours sessions. Registration is not required to attend the following sessions. Use the Teams link provided below to join.
January 14, 2026, 9:00-10:00am - AzLMS
Student Uploads for Testing
As a reminder, ADE will complete the initial student upload to PearsonAccess Next for each of the statewide achievement assessments: AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, and ACT. After the initial student upload is visible in PearsonAccess Next for each assessment, then you will be responsible for adding any newly enrolled students or any students who were missed in the upload process. Refer to the District Test Coordinator Checklist or the Schedule of Events for each assessment for the applicable student upload dates.
AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire Special Paper Version
and Additional Accommodations Requests
The deadline to submit requests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire Special Paper Version tests and Additional Accommodations is February 6, 2026. Requests should not include Universal Test Administration Conditions or Universal Tools. Refer to the resources linked below for additional information and guidance.
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AASA Updates and Reminders
Verify participation counts for Grades 3-8 - open now through January 16
- Participation counts have been pre-populated in PAN based on student registrations in AzEDS. DTCs of both computer-based testing and paper-based testing schools must verify participation counts, which are used for determining how many copies of Test Administration Directions manuals are shipped to your district, as well as how many paper tests are shipped to paper-based testing schools. This task must be completed for each school.
Select preferred materials delivery week - open now through January 16
- Two delivery weeks are available. Select Week 1 (March 16-19, 2026) or Week 2 (March 23-26, 2026). If no delivery week is selected in PAN by January 16, then the district or charter will be defaulted to Delivery Week 1. This task must be completed at the district level in PAN (not at the school level).
Verify contact information and shipping address - deadline is February 20
- Any changes to the district or charter's contact information and shipping address for AASA must be emailed to ADE at AASA@azed.gov.
Set up user accounts in PearsonAccess Next - ongoing through the test window
- User accounts may be created manually or through an import file for School Test Coordinators, Technology Coordinators, and Test Administrators.
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AzSCI Updates and Reminders
The Spring 2026 AzSCI administration will go live in PearsonAccess Next on January 28, 2026. At that time, DTCs can verify their contact information and shipping address for AzSCI and can begin adding user accounts. Refer to the AzSCI DTC Important Tasks Checklist for upcoming tasks and deadlines.
The AzSCI Test Administration Directions manual has been published on the Achievement District Test Coordinator and AzSCI webpages. Hard copies of AzSCI manuals will not be shipped to districts automatically. A limited number of copies will be available to order in the AzSCI Additional Order Window. |
ACT Aspire Updates and Reminders
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ACT Updates and Reminders
Site readiness tasks, including mock administration, are now available. All sites administering the online ACT are strongly encouraged to complete a mock administration prior to testing.
Reminder: Arizona's Spring 2026 ACT statewide test administration will include Science and Writing, as well as English, Math, and Reading test sections. The ACT Composite score will be comprised of the English, Math, and Reading tests; the ACT ELA score will include the English, Reading, and Writing tests; and the ACT STEM score will include the Math and Science tests.
ACT accommodations and EL supports for Test Window 1 must be submitted to ACT in the Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system no later than February 11, 2026. Requests for Test Window 2 must be submitted no later than February 25, 2026. These are firm deadlines, so please submit your requests early. Refer to ACT's Accessibility Supports Guide for accommodations and supports that require ACT approval.
ACT is hosting Accommodations Office Hours sessions through March 17, 2026. Please visit the ACT Accommodations Office Hours registration page for dates, topics, and registration links.
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Bethany Spangenberg
Deputy Associate Superintendent of Assessment
Arizona Department of Education
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Joseph M. Guzman, Ph.D.
Associate Superintendent of Standards, Assessment, Accountability and Research
Arizona Department of Education |
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