October 23, 2015 | WDE Assessment Newsletter | Volume 3, Issue 35
Educational Testing Service (ETS) and the Wyoming Department of Education will be hosting Building Coordinator Training sessions at four locations to review the responsibilities of the Building Test Coordinator for the 2016 PAWS administration.
Attendance at this training is strongly encouraged. Please continue to watch the newsletter for registration and specific site information.
Building Coordinator Training will be in the following locations:
- January 25, Evanston
- January 26, Laramie
- January 27, Casper
- January 29, Sheridan
Mark your calendars! This year’s 684 snapshot date for accountability and exemption due date for participation in the PAWS assessment is March 18. The snapshot and exemption date for ACT and ACT Aspire is April 19.
 The WDE/ACT Performance Level Descriptor Development Workshop has been postponed due to new peer review requirements issued by the U.S. Department of Education. It is necessary to postpone this workshop to ensure that the ACT PLDs meet peer review guidelines. A new date will be announced in the near future. Please continue to watch the Assessment Newsletter for more information.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please contact the Assessment Team if you have any questions.
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 Click on photo to see video.
The WDE is offering a two-day professional development workshop in Cheyenne December 8-9. Participants will learn how to use the Wyoming Writing Rubric to systematically score writing samples in a group setting, encouraging quality writing instruction.
Selected Wyoming writing prompts must be administered to students beforehand, and their writing samples will be scored and normed. All identifiable student information must be removed before submission. Samples must be submitted before November 20, 2015.
Registration closes November 20, 2015.
 ACT Aspire will be providing Tech Readiness and Infrastructure Training Webinars. WDE strongly recommends that district technology coordinators attend in order to ensure every school can successfully implement the new test in the spring Please select your preferred session(s) from the links below to register. After registration, you will receive a confirmation email. Please note: Course materials are available for this session and can be downloaded prior to the session. The deadline for registering is Friday, October 16.
Wyoming Technical Readiness Training - Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes
Session Password: Aspire
Wyoming Infrastructure Trial Training - Duration: 1 hour
Session Password: Aspire
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Since Explore and Plan are now officially retired, they have been replaced by ACT Aspire, an online assessment in ELA, math, science, and writing. In order to ensure Wyoming high schools are ready to implement this new test, WDE has scheduled training in locations throughout the state. A successful online administration will require a thorough understanding of technology and implementation requirements. The training sessions will be a half day, and it is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED that every district assessment coordinator, district technology coordinator, and school assessment coordinator attend.
The final training date for ACT Aspire Training is on November 2, at 9 a.m. Space is limited.
Park County SD #1
Support Services Building
245 North Evarts Powell, Wyoming
NWEA and the Wyoming Department of Education Assessment Team are offering MAP Training in four locations around the state. These sessions are intended for teachers, instructional facilitators/coaches, curriculum directors, and principals. Attendees will learn how to use MAP data to plan instruction. Each session will be a day and a half in length.
There are still a few spaces available in these sessions:
- November 2 - 3 in Lovell, WY (13 spaces available)
- November 2 - 3 in Cheyenne, WY (6 spaces available)
- November 5 - 6 in Riverton, WY (2 spaces available)
For more information, please contact Shelly Andrews: shelly.andrews@wyo.gov or 307.777.3781
 WORD OF THE WEEK
Comparable
Two scores are comparable if they can be meaningfully compared. Raw Scores on different forms of a test are not comparable because the questions on one form can be more difficult than the questions on another form. Scaled scores on different forms of a test are comparable if the process of computing them includes equating. Percentile scores are comparable if they refer to the same group of test takers.
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