November 25, 2015 | WDE Assessment Newsletter | Volume 3, Issue 40
Below please find the spring 2016 assessment calendar along with the preliminary, corresponding dates for the spring of 2017. Mindful of concerns from the field that too many variables regarding statewide assessment have changed since 2010, you'll see that we have kept the assessment windows at approximately the same time as in the past few years. We hope that these preliminary windows will help you plan your calendars into the 2016-17 school year.
This winter, the Legislature will consider recommendations for a new statewide assessment system to be implemented in the spring of 2018. We anticipate a later set of assessment windows with the new assessment system.
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The Spring 2016 Wyoming Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (Wy-ALT) Initial Pre-ID window will open December 2 and close on December 11 in TIDE. TIDE is available by visiting the Building Coordinators page on the Wyoming Alternate Assessment Portal. An email will be arriving from AIR with further details.
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Registration for the Wy-ALT Test Administrator training sessions is currently available.
- Wy-Alt Test Administrator trainings are scheduled in full-day and half-day sessions. The full-day sessions for new Wy-ALT test administrators are: January 11 (Buffalo), January 12 (Casper), January 14 (Rock Springs), and January 21 (Cheyenne). The half-day refresher training, for those who completed the trainings last year, are scheduled: January 13 (Casper - morning), and January 13 (Casper - afternoon).
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 The following trainings are now rescheduled.
Differentiating Instruction Using the Lexile and Quantile Frameworks Monday, November 30, 2015 3:00 pm (Duration:1 hr)
Register After your request has been approved, you'll receive instructions for joining the meeting.
Maximize the Match: Understanding Text Complexity and Reader Ability Wednesday, December 2, 2015 3:00 pm (Duration: 1 hr)
Register After your request has been approved, you'll receive instructions for joining the meeting.
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 Invites for the ACT Aspire portal ARE BEING sent out this week. District Test Coordinators (DTC) and Building Coordinators (BC) are receiving the initial invites from the Aspire portal. After the invite is accepted, DTCs and BCs will be able to invite others to access the portal, as needed. If you believe you should have received an invite, and have not by November 30, please contact your building or district administrator. Do not upload any students into the portal. WDE will be uploading the student file (684) in December.
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 This survey should be completed by your District Technology Coordinator. The information provided will be used to determine your district’s technology readiness for the ACT Aspire administration in spring 2016. Please complete and submit the survey by December 18.
ACT Aspire will contact the District Technology Coordinator within two weeks (using the information submitted in the survey) concerning any technology-related testing concerns.
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 Educational Testing Service (ETS) will be hosting a training webinar for all PAWS Building Coordinators to review the Test Operations Management System (TOMS), the demographic collection database to be used for the 2016 PAWS Administration.
Please make sure all key staff who use the TOMS system attend the training. The webinar will be posted to the ETS – TOMS site as well as the WDE homepage to view if staff are unable to attend the live training.
In this training, ETS will review and walk through the current TOMS system. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. View "System Requirements" here.
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 WDE has created training sessions for everyone administering or second scoring the Wy-ALT assessment during the 2015-1016 testing window.
If you have not previously attended a Wy-ALT training session, and will be administering and/or second scoring the assessment this year, you will need to attend a full-day training session.
There are three full-day (new to Wy-Alt) training sessions scheduled:
- January 11 - Buffalo
- January 12 - Casper
- January 15 - Rock Springs
- January 21 - Cheyenne
If you attended last year's full-day training, you will not be required to attend the full day session (you may however on a voluntary basis). Instead, you will be required to attend a half-day refresher course. There will be 2 live sessions:
- January 13 - Casper (morning)
- January 13 - Casper (afternoon)
WDE is also scheduling refresher webinars in lieu of the live sessions.
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WIDA is currently recruiting for the ACCESS 2.0 Writing Field Test. The window for the field test is set for January 4, 2016 - February 12, 2016. Tier B/C students in grades 1-12 who have completed their operational ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 through the computer-based delivery method are eligible to participate. Students in grades 1-3 who were administered the computer-based assessment are also eligible to participate and will hand-write their responses. If you would like to participate or have questions, please contact Alex Bauer at WIDA (alex.bauer@wisc.edu). |
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WORD OF THE WEEK
Calibration
In item response theory, calibration refers to the process of estimating the numbers (called parameters) that describe the statistical characteristics of each test question. In the scoring of a constructed-response test, calibration refers to the process of checking to make sure that each scorer is applying the scoring standards correctly.
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November 30: Training makeup: Differentiating Instruction Using Lexile and Quantile Measures
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December 1: ACT WorkKeys Test Administration Training
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December 2: Training Makeup: Maximize the Match: Understanding Text Complexity and Reader Ability
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December 4: Last day to order materials for ACCESS for ELLs Administration
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December 8 - 9: PD: Scoring & Norming to Improve Writing Instruction - Cheyenne, WY
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December 18: ACT Aspire Tech Readiness Survey Due
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January 11: Wy-ALT Training - Buffalo
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January 12: Wy-ALT Training - Casper
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January 13: Wy-ALT Training (half-day sessions) - Casper
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January 15: Wy-ALT Training - Rock Springs
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January 15: ACT: Deadline for Test Coordinators to Submit ACT-Approved Accommodations
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January 19: ACCESS for ELLS Testing Window Opens
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January 21: Wy-ALT Training - Cheyenne
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January 25: PAWS Building Coordinator Training - Evanston
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January 25: ACT: Window Opens for ACT to Receive Accommodations Late Consideration Form
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January 26: PAWS Building Coordinator Training - Laramie
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January 26: ACT Window Opens for Test Coordinators to Verify Enrollment Online
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January 27: PAWS Building Coordinator Training - Casper
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January 29: PAWS Building Coordinator Training - Sheridan
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February 29: Wy-ALT Testing Window Opens
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March 4: PAWS Testing Window Opens
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April 11 - 14: ACT: Test Coordinator Receives Secure Shipment of Testing Materials
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April 19: ACT Test Adminstration
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