Refer to the schedules linked below for each assessment's upcoming tasks and deadlines. Each schedule is published on the Achievement District Test Coordinator (DTC) page of our website. 

The Achievement Assessments team has scheduled the following optional Office Hours sessions. Each session will be held on Wednesdays, 1:00-1:30pm. Registration is 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.

All Achievement District Test Coordinators (DTCs) must complete training modules in Pearson's Arizona Learning Management System (AzLMS) as soon as possible and no later than February 21, 2025. 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 strongly recommends that users download the accompanying PowerPoint and transcript files associated with each applicable training module to refer to throughout the test administration.

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. Other staff may complete training within AzLMS, or DTCs may choose to train staff in a group setting. Tracking reports are available in AzLMS, or staff training completion may be tracked outside of AzLMS. This flexibility is left to the district or charter, but tracking must be in a format that can be provided to ADE upon request, if needed.

For additional information about using the AzLMS system, refer to the "Using the LMS Learner Portal" and "Managing Learners in the LMS" modules located in the AZLMS.

In Spring 2025, all of the Achievement Assessments will utilize the PearsonAccess Next (PAN) platform and the TestNav application. PAN is the site where the test administration details will be managed, and the TestNav application is the test delivery platform. There are three different PAN websites (linked below), with three separate logins, depending on the grade level of students in your district or charter. All three PAN sites are now open for Spring 2025 test administration tasks. 

Refer to the links below for TestNav technical requirements.

All devices used for testing must have the latest version of the TestNav application installed. TestNav can be downloaded at http://download.testnav.com/.

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 21, 2025 using the secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/spv2025. A copy of the student's IEP or 504 Plan must be uploaded with the request.

For students who take the braille form of AASA, a new option is available to provide the AASA Reading test units in uncontracted braille format. The AASA Writing and Math test units will continue to be provided in contracted braille format. Refer to this FAQ document for additional information, and contact us at AASA@azed.gov with any questions.

Requests for additional accommodations for AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire should be submitted to ADE for review by February 21, 2025, using this secure online form: https://www.azed.gov/assessment/achievement_aa_fy25. Requests for additional accommodations should not include Universal Test Administration Conditions or Universal Tools, which are available for all students. Refer to the Achievement Assessments Accommodations Manual for additional information about AASA and AzSCI Universal Test Administration Conditions and Universal Tools. Refer to the ACT Aspire Accessibility Supports Guide for additional information about ACT Aspire accommodations.

Contact us if a student has an injury or illness after February 21, 2025, 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. 

Students should be provided ample opportunities to 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.

ADE has completed the state student uploads in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) for AASA, ACT Aspire, and ACT. ADE's student upload for AzSCI will be visible in PAN on February 17. Following each state upload, 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:

Reports are available in ADEConnect to identify the students who need to be administered an Achievement Assessment. To access these reports in ADEConnect, select Assessments > Achievement Reports, then select the Eligibility Report for the appropriate assessment.

AASA, AzSCI, and ACT Aspire all use the Work Request process in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) when students need to be transferred from one school to another. Refer to the AASA and AzSCI PearsonAccess Next User's Guide and/or the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual for additional details about the Work Request process for these assessments.

Achievement DTCs should 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.

The Work Request process is not utilized for student transfers for the ACT test. For ACT, use the Enroll or Unenroll Students template, located in ACT's PearsonAccess Next under Support > Documentation. A support request will need to be submitted to ACT within PearsonAccess Next with the completed spreadsheet. ACT will then check to see if a student has already completed testing before processing the support request. Requests are typically processed within 24-48 hours. More information about submitting an ACT support request is available on the ACT website under Step 2: Configuration and in this ACT tutorial.

The AASA Test Coordinator's Manual (TCM) and the AASA Test Administration Directions (TAD) for both computer-based testing schools and paper-based testing schools are published on the Achievement DTC webpage and on the AASA webpage, under "Spring 2025 Manuals and Checklists."

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 materials will be delivered in the first delivery window option (March 17-20).

Beginning with the Spring 2025 AASA test administration, the Grade 3 ELA Oral Reading Fluency test unit will be 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. Computer-based testing schools must complete the Oral Reading Fluency test administration by April 11, 2025. Paper-based testing schools must complete the Oral Reading Fluency test administration by April 9, 2025.

Both computer-based testing schools and paper-based testing schools will administer the Oral Reading Fluency test unit online in TestNav. A maximum of six students may be present in the secure testing classroom or computer lab environment, simultaneously testing. Additional resources, listed and linked below, are available on the AASA webpage under "Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency."

It is strongly recommended that all Grade 3 students interact with the AASA Grade 3 ELA Oral Reading Fluency sample test multiple times to be comfortable with the testing style; how to operate the platform, including starting their own recording and not stopping it too soon; and to be comfortable with wearing the headset to make a clear and concise recording of their reading samples. 

When taking the Oral Reading Fluency test unit, each student will read three separate passages, with a time limit of one minute per passage. New in Spring 2025, students will read a short practice passage after they complete the microphone check and before they begin recording the operational Oral Reading Fluency passages. Test Administrators may assist students and answer questions while students are recording the practice passage. A new practice passage has also been added to the Grade 3 Oral Reading Fluency sample test.

AASA Writing Resources are published on the AASA and the Educator Resources webpages. Refer to the AASA Writing Resources - Descriptions document for details about the Writing Rubrics, Writing Guides, Writing Rubric Guides, and the Annotated Writing Sample Guides.

The following chart lists the number of testing tickets that will be required for students taking the AASA. This setup is the same as it was in Spring 2024 with Grade 3 students requiring additional testing tickets due to the Oral Reading Fluency (ORF) test unit.

ADE has uploaded students for AASA in PearsonAccess Next (PAN). Online test sessions were created automatically in the upload process, and students were placed into the appropriate sessions for the grade level indicated. ADE will move students approved for a Special Paper Version (SPV) or American Sign Language (ASL) test into the approved SPV or ASL test sessions.

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 Grades 4-8 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).

Students in Grade 3 are set up a little differently in PAN due to the Oral Reading Fluency 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: All AASA ELA test units (Writing, Reading 1, Reading 2, and Oral Reading Fluency, if applicable) must have a valid score to receive an ELA score. Both AASA Math test units must have a valid score to receive a Math score. To receive a valid score, students must respond to at least one item in each test unit.

Schools administering AASA paper-based tests will receive ELA and Math Pre-ID Labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next (PAN) by February 21, 2025. Pre-ID Labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets, but both shipments will be delivered within the same week in March.

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. Additional Pre-ID Labels are not available. Students who do not receive a Pre-ID Label or whose Pre-ID Label contains any incorrect information must have their student demographic information bubbled in on the back of their test booklets prior to testing and must be updated in PAN.

AASA Testing Groups and Reporting Groups are optional functions in PearsonAccess Next (PAN). The deadline to create Testing Groups and Reporting Groups is April 25, the last day of the AASA testing window.

Testing Groups can be used to group students by classroom, teacher, or testing days. Testing Groups are useful for quickly locating a group of students in test sessions in PAN. Students may be in only one Testing Group at a time. 

Reporting Groups can be used to group students by classroom, teacher, or testing days for reporting purposes. Students may be in more than one Reporting Group. The AASA student data file and the new Summary Cluster Performance Report can display up to five Reporting Groups for a student.

See the PearsonAccess Next User's Guide for instructions on creating Testing Groups and Reporting Groups. An updated AASA Reporting Guide is coming soon!

The Summer 2025 AASA Grade 3 ELA-Reading test window will be June 9, 2025 - July 18, 2025. This test window provides an additional reading demonstration tool and is available for Grade 3 students who fail to meet the Spring 2025 Move on When Reading (MOWR) indicator and who do not qualify for one of the good cause exemptions related to students with IEPs, a diagnosis of dyslexia, or being an English learner (EL).

The Grade 3 summer test will be in the computer-based test format and will include the Reading units of the AASA ELA test only, including Reading Unit 1, Reading Unit 2, and Oral Reading Fluency. The Reading units will include Listening items. The summer test will not include writing prompts.

For questions about the Summer 2025 AASA Grade 3 ELA-Reading test administration, ADE's assessments team will be holding an Office Hours session on May 7, 1:00-1:30pm. Registration is available in APLD.

The AzSCI Test Coordinator's Manual (TCM) and the AzSCI Test Administration Directions (TAD) are published on the Achievement DTC webpage and on the AzSCI webpage, under "Manuals and Checklists."

Hard copies of the AzSCI 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 24. The manuals may also be downloaded and used electronically from ADE's website and from PearsonAccess Next.

District Test Coordinators must verify their contact information and shipping address in PearsonAccess Next no later than February 21, 2025. Any changes to contact information or shipping address must be made by notifying ADE at AzSCI@azed.gov.

Students in Grades 5, 8, and 11 (Cohort 2026) will have three test units for AzSCI. There will be one test session in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) that includes all three test units. Students will use one testing ticket to access the 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 at least 15 minutes must be provided between test units. 

ADE's student upload will be visible in PearsonAccess Next (PAN) on February 17, 2025. 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: All AzSCI test units must have a valid score to receive an AzSCI score. To receive a valid score, students must respond to at least one item in each test unit.

The ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual and ACT Aspire Room Supervisor Manual - Paper are published on the Arizona ACT Aspire Support Page and on the Achievement DTC webpage. Hard copies of the ACT Aspire manuals will not be shipped to districts and charters. The manuals may be downloaded and printed locally, or they may be used electronically for test administration. These manuals should be used when training staff for ACT Aspire test administration. The ACT Aspire Room Supervisor Manual - Online is coming soon!

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 7, 2025 to ensure paper testing materials are delivered appropriately.

Schools administering ACT Aspire paper-based tests will receive preprinted barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next (PAN) by February 7, 2025. Barcode labels will be sent in a separate shipment from paper test booklets and answer documents, but both shipments will be delivered within the same week in March. If barcode labels are not received for any students, or if any barcode labels are incorrect, the student demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents and must also be updated in PAN.

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 16, 2025.

Test sessions for ACT Aspire were not automatically created when students were uploaded to PearsonAccess Next. This step will need to be completed by schools/districts. Please see the ACT Aspire Test Coordinator Manual for details. Students must be placed in a separate session and will have a separate testing ticket for each ACT Aspire test section. 

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. 

The ACT Test Coordinator Manual and ACT Test Administration Manuals are published on the ACT-hosted website for Arizona 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.

All Achievement DTCs with students in Grade 11/Cohort 2026 are expected to view the three ACT-hosted webinars, either by attending the live webinars or by 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 19, 2025, at 9:00am. Registration links to all three webinars are also available through the ACT Schedule of Events. 

ACT accommodations requests must be submitted in ACT's Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) system no later than February 7, 2025. This is a firm deadline. Please submit any remaining ACT accommodations requests for your students as soon as possible. Requests for reconsideration must be submitted by February 14, 2025. Requests for qualified exceptions to the deadline must be submitted by March 21, 2025.

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 18, 2025 to answer questions about ACT-approved accommodations. Register for upcoming sessions or view previous sessions on demand through ACT's Webcasts page.

ADE has uploaded Cohort 2026 students to ACT's PearsonAccess Next platform. Please review your student list and confirm that all students eligible for testing have been uploaded. If any students need to be added to PearsonAccess Next, 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.

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 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. 

Schools administering ACT paper-based tests will receive preprinted barcode labels for any students that have been uploaded to PearsonAccess Next (PAN) by February 14, 2025. If barcode labels are not received for any students, or if any information on the barcode labels is incorrect, the student's demographic information will need to be bubbled in on the student's answer documents and must also be updated in PAN. 

Depending on the test date selected in PearsonAccess Next, the initial shipment of ACT materials 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.

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).

For ACT standard time testing and ACT extended time testing 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.

ACT tests with approved accommodations for testing over multiple days must be completed within the same test window in which they are started.

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 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 ACT test. Refer to the MyACT resources on the ACT website under Step 4: Preparation.

The Arizona State Board of Education has approved a process whereby an ACT score replacement request may be granted for highly performing students who demonstrate competency prior to the statewide test window. When a Cohort 2026 student has an ACT test score obtained on a national test date within their Junior/11th grade school year that meets or exceeds Arizona's ACT cut scores for the content areas of ELA and Math, the national test date score report may be used to replace the statewide ACT assessment.

The ACT score replacement request is intended for students with high scores who are concerned that an additional test score would have an impact to their post-secondary opportunities and should be used sparingly. The score replacement allows the student to use the score obtained on a national or district ACT test date for accountability purposes, rather than Arizona's statewide assessment date, subject to ADE's review and approval, using the follow criteria: 

The deadline for schools, districts, or charters to submit ACT score replacement requests to ADE is March 21, 2025. Requests must be submitted by the school or district using the secure online form, and a copy of the student's ACT score report (either the student or the high school copy) must be uploaded with the request. A signed parent consent form must also be uploaded with the request. ADE's Assessment team will confirm the score report with ACT and 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.