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Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) emails will be sent regularly through the testing windows. DTCs are responsible for sharing statewide testing information with other staff and district/charter administration, as appropriate. Please be on the lookout for Achievement Assessment communications for all of the Achievement tests.
- AASA (Grades 3-8; ELA and Math)
- AzSCI (Grades 5, 8, and 11/Cohort 2025; Science)
- ACT Aspire (Grade 9/Cohort 2027)
- ACT (Grade 11/Cohort 2025)
Please remember the following when emailing the ADE Achievement Assessments team inboxes:
- Include your district or charter's Entity ID in emails.
- State which assessment(s) your inquiry is about.
- Please email only one of our inboxes (AASA, AzSCI, or Testing). Please do not copy the other inboxes on your email. This helps us to track emails that have been completed vs. those that still require follow-up.
- 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.
For issues that occur while students are testing, please include in the email subject line, "Urgent - Students Testing."
When contacting Pearson Customer Support for assistance, please retain your ticket number. If you contact ADE's Assessments team for assistance with the same question or issue, please share the Pearson ticket number with us so ADE and Pearson can further assist you. |
Statewide Achievement Test Windows
Testing window for the Spring 2024 Achievement tests are included in the table below, as well as in the Assessments Overview 2023-2024 and the Detailed Testing Calendar. The Detailed Testing Calendar also provides estimated times for each test unit of AASA and AzSCI as well as time limits for ACT Aspire and ACT test sections. |
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ACT Test Windows
Districts and charters with Grade 11/Cohort 2025 students may utilize both published ACT test windows in order to assess all Cohort 2025 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. Schools administering ACT on paper may also use the online test dates for 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.
Schedules of Tasks for Achievement District Test Coordinators
Please refer to the schedules of important tasks for each of the Statewide Achievement tests for upcoming tasks and deadlines. Each schedule is posted on the Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) page of our website and is linked below.
Training Modules
All Achievement DTCs must complete training modules in Pearson's Arizona Learning Management System (AzLMS) as soon as possible and no later than February 23, 2024. All other testing staff must receive training prior to administering any tests. Refer to the Achievement Assessments Training Requirements for guidance in determining which training modules must be completed by each user role.
ADE will track that all DTCs have completed training within AzLMS. It is the responsibility of the DTC to track training completion for other staff in the district or charter. DTCs have two roles in AzLMS - "Learner" and "Manager." DTCs will use their "Learner" role to complete training modules and their "Manager" role to track training completion for their staff. Only DTCs have the "Manager" role in AzLMS.
Other staff may complete training within AzLMS, or DTCs may choose to train staff in a group setting. Tracking reports are available for DTCs in AzLMS, or staff training completion may be tracked outside of AzLMS. This flexibility is left to the district or charter.
For additional information about using the AzLMS system, please see the LMS trainings located in AzLMS: "Using the LMS Learner Portal" and "Managing Learners in the LMS." A new Job Aid resource has recently been added to the "Managing Learners in the LMS" training to assist DTCs with marking learners complete from a group training.
Please also see the December 15th Friday Focus webinar titled, "Pearson's Arizona Learning Management System." Resources from the webinar, including the recording, PowerPoint presentation, and an FAQ are posted on our website (https://www.azed.gov/assessment) under "Friday Focus Webinars 2023-2024."
PearsonAccess Next and TestNav
In Spring 2024, all of the statewide achievement tests will continue to utilize the PearsonAccess Next (PAN) and TestNav platforms. PAN is the site where the test administration details will be managed, and TestNav is the online test delivery platform. There are three distinct PAN sites, linked below, with three separate logins, depending on the grade level of students in your LEA. All PAN sites are now open for Spring 2024 tasks.
PearsonAccess Next Websites:
TestNav Technical Requirements Websites:
All devices used for testing must have the latest version of the TestNav application installed.
NEW! Please also see the latest TestNav Technical Bulletin, posted on the Pearson TestNav Support Site, for the latest information about required updates to iPads after January 31st.
Special Paper Version Tests and Additional Accommodations:
AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire
Requests for Special Paper Version (SPV) tests for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire, including braille, large print, or regular print tests, must be submitted to ADE for review by February 23, 2024 using the secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2024. A copy of the student's IEP or 504 Plan must be uploaded with the request.
Please contact us if a student has an injury or illness after February 23, 2024 that necessitates a paper test or additional accommodation. Specific accommodations will be considered based on a doctor's written recommendation and the appropriateness for statewide testing.
The Personal Needs Profile (PNP) file is available for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire to allow LEAs to upload to PAN any accessibility tools that must be turned on ahead of time and ready for any students who have these tools as accommodations.
Sample Tests
Please have students practice with the sample tests so they can become familiar with the test features, tools, and different question types in the online tests. Sample tests for each assessment can be accessed at https://home.testnav.com using the instructions below. Login information is not required.
- For AASA or AzSCI, select "Arizona," then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Mic Check & Sample Tests."
- For AASA, sample tests are available for each grade level in Math and ELA , including for the Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. American Sign Language (ASL) sample tests are also available for AASA.
- For AzSCI, sample tests are available for grades 5, 8, and 11.
- Sample Test Scoring Guides for AASA and AzSCI are available on the Educator Resources page of our website.
- For ACT Aspire, select the "ACT Aspire" icon on the left side of the screen, then scroll to the bottom of the page and select "Exemplars." For each subject area, an "Early High School" Exemplar is available. Exemplar booklets are available on the Educator Resources page of our website.
- For ACT, select the "ACT" icon on the left side of the screen, then scroll down to the bottom of the page and select "Practice Tests." Timed and untimed practice tests are available for each subject area to be tested.
Coming Soon - Student Readiness Tool
The new Student Readiness Tool (SRT) helps students get ready for online testing. The SRT is an interactive learning tool for all testing needs and will be available for students to review before taking an online test. The SRT will assist students with navigating TestNav.
Student Uploads and Student Eligibility Reports
ADE's upload of students has now been completed for ACT Aspire and ACT. ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) on February 5 and for AzSCI on February 19. Following each upload by the State, Achievement DTCs should be verifying that all students who are eligible for testing have been uploaded, and if not, Achievement DTCs need to ensure that all eligible students are added to the appropriate PAN site in preparation for Spring testing.
Please note the following about ADE's student uploads for the Achievement tests:
- Students who qualify for the Alternate Assessment, MSAA, are included in ADE's student uploads. This is because there is no indicator in AzEDS to indicate a student participates in MSAA. However, students who qualify for MSAA should not be administered AASA, AzSCI, ACT Aspire, or ACT. These student records do not need to be deleted from PAN because PAN is not used for Accountability purposes.
- High school testing is by cohort rather than by grade level or courses completed or enrolled in. Please check the STUD78 - Student Cohort Verification Report in the AzEDS Portal to confirm a student's cohort.
- Students who are concurrently enrolled in more than one school are not included in ADE's upload of students and will need to be added to PAN by the school/district responsible for testing the student. For these students, the two schools should be in contact and working collaboratively to identify where the concurrently enrolled student will test.
Reports are available in ADEConnect to identify the students who need to be in the file upload for each assessment and will create the correct upload file, if needed, for AASA, AzSCI, or ACT Aspire. To access this in ADEConnect, select Assessments > Achievement Reports, then select the Eligibility Report for the appropriate assessment.
If students need to be added to PAN for ACT, a support request will need to be submitted to ACT using ACT's Enroll or Unenroll Students form. More information about submitting an ACT support request is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration and in this ACT tutorial.
Work Requests in PearsonAccess Next
For AASA and AzSCI, an Enrollment Transfer Import process is available to assist when several students transfer into a district or between schools in a district. This process may be used to request to have students transferred from the releasing school(s) to the new school(s). See the PAN User's Guide for detailed steps.
Please check each PAN site regularly for work requests that may be waiting for approval
by looking for the red bell at the top of the screen in PAN. |
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The Work Request process is not utilized for student transfers for the ACT test. For ACT, use the Enroll or Unenroll Students form as mentioned in the "Student Eligibility Reports" section above. A support request will need to be submitted to ACT within PearsonAccess Next. ACT will then check to see if a student has already completed testing before processing the support request. |
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Manuals
Districts and charters will receive hard copies of the AASA manuals, based on the participation counts entered in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) in January. Manuals will be delivered during the selected materials delivery window. If a materials delivery window was not selected in January, then the shipment will be defaulted to the first delivery window option (March 18-21, 2024).
Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency
All Grade 3 students will participate in an ELA Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. A decision has been made to gather more information on the ORF items and the impact to the Move on When Reading (MOWR) indicator this year. The Grade 3 ELA ORF items will not be included in a student's score for the Spring 2024 AASA test administration.
Both computer-based testing schools and paper-based testing schools will administer the ORF test unit online in TestNav. The online ORF test unit may be administered in small groups with a maximum of six students testing simultaneously in a classroom or computer lab environment. Additional resources, listed and linked below, are available on the AASA webpage under "Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency."
AASA Writing Resources
Computer-Based Testing
Testing Tickets
The following chart lists the number of testing tickets that will be required for each student taking the AASA. This setup is the same as it was in Spring 2023 with Grade 3 students requiring additional tickets due to the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. |
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Test Units and Sessions
ADE's upload of students for AASA will be visible in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) on February 5, 2024. When students are uploaded to PAN for AASA, the test sessions are created automatically, and students are placed into the appropriate sessions for the grade level indicated.
Students in Grades 4-8 will have three test units for ELA: Writing, ELA 1 (Reading), and ELA 2 (Reading); and two test units for Math: Math 1 and Math 2.
In PAN, there will be only two sessions for these students: one for ELA and one for Math. During testing, all ELA test units will be accessed under the one session for ELA (with one testing ticket) and all Math test units under the one session for Math (with one testing ticket). |
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Students in Grade 3 are set up a little differently in PAN due to the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit. Grade 3 students will have a separate session in PAN for each ELA test unit: Writing, ELA 1 (Reading), ELA 2 (Reading), and Oral Reading Fluency. Each will require a separate testing ticket.
For Grade 3, there will be two test units for Math: Math 1 and Math 2. As with Grades 4-8, these units will be in one math session, requiring one student testing ticket.
Reminder: Students must receive a valid score on each AASA ELA test unit (Writing, Reading 1, and Reading 2) in order to receive an ELA score. Students must receive a valid score on both AASA Math test units in order to receive a Math score.
Paper-Based Testing
Pre-ID Labels
Schools administering AASA paper-based tests will receive ELA and Math Pre-ID labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next by February 16, 2024. Pre-ID labels must be affixed to student test booklets prior to testing. Take care to apply ELA Pre-ID labels to ELA test booklets and Math Pre-ID labels to Math test booklets.
Any students enrolled after February 16 will not receive a Pre-ID label. If any student does not have a Pre-ID label or if any information on a student's Pre-ID label is incorrect, then the student demographic information on the back of the test booklet must be bubbled in.
Pre-ID labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets, but both shipments should be received within the same week in March.
Returning Paper Tests to Pearson
All AASA paper tests must be returned to Pearson as directed in the AASA Test Coordinator's Manual. Shipments must be picked up by UPS no later than April 11, 2024 in order to be scored.
Grade 3 scorable test booklets must be packaged and returned to Pearson in separate boxes from the Grades 4-8 scorable test booklets. Please see the AASA Test Coordinator's Manual for return packaging instructions.
Reporting
May 15, 2024: Grade 3 AASA ELA (including Move on When Reading) and Math score reports and student data files will be available in PAN.
May 24, 2024: Grades 4-8 AASA ELA and Math score reports and student data files will be available in PAN.
June 12, 2024: The optional AASA Parent Portal will be available.
June 13, 2024: AASA ELA and Math (Grades 3-8) paper copies of Individual Student Reports will be delivered to districts and charters.
June 14, 2024: AASA ELA and Math Performance Level Dashboards and Historical Student Data electronic reports will be available to view in PAN.
June 28, 2024: Deadline to notify ADE of any missing AASA reports for late reporting. |
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Manuals
For AzSCI, hard copies of the manuals will not be shipped automatically to districts and charters. A limited number of copies are available for order during the AzSCI additional order window, which opens on February 26. The manuals may also be downloaded and used electronically from ADE's website and from PearsonAccess Next.
Test Units, Sessions, and Testing Tickets
Students in Grades 5, 8, and 11 (Cohort 2025) will have three test units for AzSCI. There will be one test session that includes all three test units. Students will use one testing ticket to access all three units.
The approximate time for each test unit is 60-90 minutes. If more than one test unit is administered on the same day, a significant break of 15-45 minutes must be provided between test units.
ADE's upload of students will be visible in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) on February 19, 2024. When students are uploaded to PAN for AzSCI, the test sessions are created automatically, and students are placed into those sessions based on their grade level.
Reminder: Students must receive a valid score on all AzSCI test units in order to receive an AzSCI score.
Reporting
May 24, 2024: AzSCI electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PAN.
May 31, 2024: AzSCI summary performance data will be available in PAN in a .txt tab delimited file.
June 13, 2024: Paper copies of Individual Student Reports will be delivered to districts and charters. |
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Manuals
The ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual and Room Supervisor Manuals are published on the ACT-hosted Aspire webpage under Step 5: Administration and on the ACT / ACT Aspire page of the ADE website.
Hard copies of the ACT Aspire manuals will not be shipped to districts and charters. These manuals can be accessed electronically and should be used when training staff for ACT Aspire test administration. There is no change to the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual and Room Supervisor Manuals from Spring 2023.
Now that support for ACT Aspire has shifted to Pearson from ACT, any paper test materials will be shipped to districts/charters and returned to Pearson via UPS, not FedEx. Pearson and ADE are creating an errata to clarify this shipping information, which differs from the information included in the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual. Please be on the lookout for this errata, which is coming soon.
ACT Aspire Policy Reminders
Spanish Text + Audio is not allowed. It is shown as an available accommodation in PearsonAccess Next, but it is not to be applied per ADE policy. Doing so would result in a student's test being invalidated.
Do Not Report - Illness is shown as an available option in PearsonAccess Next, but it is not to be applied per ADE policy.
Will Not Test - Parent Opt Out is shown as an available option in PearsonAccess Next, but it is not to be applied per ADE policy.
Paper-Based Testing and Special Paper Version Tests
Districts and charters administering ACT Aspire paper-based tests, including any Special Paper Version (braille, large print, or regular print) tests should verify their shipping address in PearsonAccess Next now. If any changes are needed to the shipping address, please notify ADE at Testing@azed.gov no later than February 12, 2024 to ensure paper testing materials are delivered appropriately.
Barcode Labels
Schools administering ACT Aspire paper-based tests will receive barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next by February 19, 2024. Barcode labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets and answer documents, but both shipments should be received within the same week in March. If barcode labels are not received for any students, the demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents.
Special Paper Version Tests
Any approved Special Paper Version tests for ACT Aspire must be administered within the shorter paper-based testing window, including for schools that are otherwise administering online tests. Student responses from braille and large print tests must be transferred to a regular answer document for scoring. The deadline for ACT Aspire to receive all paper testing materials for scoring is April 17, 2024.
Test Sessions and Testing Tickets
ADE's upload of students for ACT Aspire has now been completed and is visible in PearsonAccess Next (PAN). Test sessions for ACT Aspire were not automatically created when students were uploaded to PAN. This step will need to be completed by schools/districts. Please see the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual for details.
Students will have a separate testing ticket for each test unit for ACT Aspire.
Timed Test Sections
ACT Aspire is a timed test. The test sections may be administered on the same day, or they may be administered on different days. This flexibility is left up to schools/districts. If administering on the same day, a break may be scheduled between the test sections. In addition, the test sections for ACT Aspire may be administered in any order. The test sections include English, Math, Reading, Science, and Writing.
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Reporting
ACT Aspire electronic score reports and student data files will be available in PearsonAccess Next on May 24, 2024. Paper copies of student score reports will be delivered to districts and charters June 6, 2024. |
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Manuals
The ACT Test Coordinator Manual and Test Administration Manuals are published on the ACT-hosted webpage under Step 5: Administration. Hard copies of the manuals will be shipped to districts and charters according to the materials delivery window selected in PearsonAccess Next. These manuals should be used when training staff for ACT test administration.
ACT Webinars for Test Coordinators
All Achievement DTCs with students in Grade 11/Cohort 2025 are expected to view the three ACT-hosted webinars, either by attending the live webinars or viewing the recordings. Two webinars were held in the fall, Test Administration #1 and Accommodations, and are now available on demand. The third webinar, Test Administration #2, will be held on February 21, 2024, at 9:00am. Links to all three webinars are available through the ACT Schedule of Events.
ACT Accommodations
ACT accommodations requests must be submitted in ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system no later than February 2, 2024. Requests for reconsideration must be submitted by February 16, 2024. Requests for qualified exceptions to the deadline must be submitted by March 22, 2024.
Please contact us at Testing@azed.gov if a student enrolls after the submission deadlines and requires accommodations for ACT. If the student has transferred from another Arizona district or from another state, ADE and ACT can research to determine if accommodations were approved for the student at their previous school.
ACT has scheduled several Office Hours sessions through March 27, 2024 to answer questions about ACT-approved accommodations. Register for upcoming sessions or view previous sessions on demand through ACT's Webcasts page.
Computer-Based Testing
Mock Administration
All schools administering the online ACT test are strongly encouraged to complete a mock administration to ensure that devices are ready for testing. More information is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration.
Test Sessions
Test sessions for ACT were not automatically created when students were uploaded to PearsonAccess Next. This step will need to be completed by schools/districts according to the timeline provided in the ACT Schedule of Events and the resources included on the ACT website under Step 4: Preparation.
Student Authorization Tickets will need to be printed before test day and provided to the Room Supervisor the day of testing. Seal codes are used to begin each ACT test session.
Paper-Based Testing
Barcode Labels
Schools administering ACT paper-based tests will receive barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next by February 9, 2024. If barcode labels are not received for any students, the demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents.
Receiving Test Materials
Depending on the test date selected in PearsonAccess Next, the initial shipment may include only non-secure materials, or it may include all testing materials, both non-secure and secure. If only non-secure materials are delivered in the initial shipment, the secure materials will arrive the week before the start of testing.
Timed Test Sections
ACT is a timed test. Test sections must be administered in the following order: English (1), Math (2), Reading (3), Science (4), and Writing (5). |
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For ACT standard time and ACT extended time on one test day, a 15-minute break is provided between Test 2 and Test 3. An extended break of up to 45 minutes may be given between Test 4 and the Writing test. Lunch may be provided during this extended break.
MyACT
MyACT is the platform for examinees to submit non-test information to ACT. This non-test information allows a student to send their scores, free of charge, to four colleges or scholarship agencies of their choice, and also allows students to receive their ACT scores up to two weeks faster than waiting for paper reports from their school. ACT recommends hosting an in-school session for students to create a MyACT account and to complete the non-test information online. This may be completed prior to test day and no later than two days after completion of their test. Please see the MyACT resources on the ACT resources on the ACT website under Step 4: Preparation.
Reporting
All ACT reporting is located in ACT's Online Reporting System at success.act.org. Reports are not located in PearsonAccess Next.
Schools will receive hard copies of student score reports 5-8 weeks following testing. Paper copies of score reports will no longer be mailed directly to students; however, students can access their scores electronically through their MyACT accounts. Scores will flow into the reporting portal at success.act.org as they become available.
The complete ACT Reporting Schedule is coming soon. When it is available, it will be posted on ACT's website under Step 7: Interpretation. |
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