Monday DAC Email for Monday, June 22, 2020

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Monday DAC Email

 

June 22, 2020

Question of the Week

Q: What is the review process for students who will test in the fall state administration of the ACT?

A: Assistance from District Assessment Coordinators (DACs) is needed to identify students who are eligible for ACT state testing in the fall of 2020. The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) has opened the ACT 2020 Fall State Administration Student Review for 2019-2020 juniors who missed their opportunity to take the ACT during the spring administration of the ACT. The review period is earlier than initially announced on the June DAC Webcast, since ACT was able to provide the data file to KDE earlier than expected. This process allows districts to request changes in who is eligible for the fall state administration of the ACT. Just as a reminder, this is not an opportunity for students to retest.

ACT provided the data file of students with scores to KDE. OAA reviewed the students who had scores and compared it to the students enrolled within Infinite Campus in March. Lists were created for DACs to review of students who tested and students who did not test or were unable to complete testing. DACs have the opportunity to request to add or delete students who may be eligible for fall ACT testing.

The KDE Secure Web Application is now open to begin the review. The deadline for submission of the verified data is July 22. This review period will be the only opportunity to request changes to identify students who missed their opportunity to test during the 2020 spring state administration of the ACT. OAA understands that districts are facing many challenging and difficult decisions this summer; however, districts are encouraged to submit review changes prior to the deadline.

Data Sharing
Individual student data is provided for school and district use. The information is confidential and must be used in a manner consistent with the district’s confidentiality rules and the FERPA expectation that students’ privacy is protected. Districts and schools should submit the change requests by July 22.

Accessing the Data Spreadsheets
DACs must download district and school data from the KDE secure web applications site. Please choose Student Data Detail (Excel and PDF) to access the student-level data.

The spreadsheets will be under EXCEL DOCUMENT(S) and are named SD20_xxx_ACT Student Verification Listing_district name_20200619.XLSX where xxx=district number. There is one spreadsheet per district. Each spreadsheet contains three tabs. The first tab is the Tested tab, which includes every 2019-2020 junior tested within the district during the March 10, 2020 - March 24, 2020 testing window. The second tab is the Not Tested tab, which contains every 2019-2020 junior enrolled during the March 10, 2020 – March 24, 2020 testing window but did not take the test. The third tab is the Add tab for the district to add any student that should have been on the Not Tested tab but was omitted.

If the student received an approved non-participation, the reason (First year EL, Medical or Extraordinary Circumstance) will be listed in the Non-Participation field. If the student should not be eligible for taking the ACT, select No from the drop-down in the Eligible for Makeup (column J) field. If this column is selected, the DAC will need to comment on why the student is not eligible for makeup in the comment field (column K).

In the ADD tab, DACs will need to insert student information not listed on the Not Tested tab that should be eligible for makeup testing. For example, a grade 11 student enrolled in a Kentucky Public School during the 2019-2020 school year and transferred into their district/school from another district.

Under this example, the DAC would complete the following steps:

  • Select the school name from the pre-populated drop-down list.
  • Verify the populated school code field.
  • Enter the remaining information from the student as it is in Infinite Campus (IC).
  •  Save the document as named (please do not alter the name of the file)

All DACs are asked to re-upload the file with or without updates. With the upload of an unedited spreadsheet, DACs verify they have no changes. These will be the final lists of students eligible for fall ACT testing.

NOTE: Re-upload the EXCEL(.XLSX) file to the secure web application. DACs must not rename the file or modify the contents in any way. Altering the file in any way other than modifying rows of data will result in OAA rejecting the file. In addition, keep in mind that this spreadsheet contains Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and should not be emailed or loaded into any web-based system for editing.

Assistance Possible systemic issues should be emailed as soon as possible to kdeassessment@education.ky.gov.

For general information and assistance, please email Shara Savage or by phone at 502-564-4394.

If unable to access the KDE secure application site, check with the district WAAPOC or the KDE Help Desk. The KDE Help Desk can be reached at (502) 564-2002.

ACCESS for ELLs Standards Expert Review Recruitment

World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) and other test development partners at the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) are looking for educators to participate in this year's ACCESS for ELLs Standards Expert Review between July 28 and Sept. 23. This is a chance for educators to be a part of the test development process and review new ACCESS test items. Reviewers will provide feedback on test item authenticity and presentation, grade-cluster appropriateness, and suggest how to revise test content to best address the “2012 Amplification of the English Language Development Standards” appropriately.

  • Review format: virtual
  • Anticipated time commitment: 2-8 hours (can be over multiple days)
  • Level of experience needed: WIDA and CAL are looking for educators who worked with English Learners (ELs) in Grades 1-12 during the previous two years.

Please use the flyer for more information and to submit an application.

WIDA Non-Disclosure and User Agreement (NDUA)

The first time educators log in to the WIDA Secure Portal on or after July 1, they will be prompted to agree to the Non-Disclosure and User Agreement (NDUA). As a reminder, educators will not be able to view secure materials and resources without first agreeing to the NDUA.

WIDA AMS and WIDA Screener Online Updates for 2020-2021

The 2020-2021 administration of WIDA Screener Online will open on Friday, June 26. All Speaking and Writing responses from the 2019-2020 administration year must be scored by Thursday, June 25, before the 19-20 administration changes to read only.

On June 26, users will see an updated WIDA AMS login page and primary navigation features, a new interface for Central Office Services, and enhancements to Site Selection. A recording of a Q&A Webinar on these changes can be found in the Secure Portal Download Library.

For questions related to WIDA AMS or technology requirements, please contact DRC Customer Service at wida@datarecognitioncorp.com or (855) 787-9615.

2020-2021 School Reconfiguration Changes (Deadline Approaching)

The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) asks that DACs submit information on A1 schools with service area changes for the 2020-2021 school year by June 30. Changes to school service area (reconfiguration) requests need to be made if any of the following situations apply:

  • the grade range in an A1 school changes;
  • a new A1 school is opened;
  •  an A1 school is closed;
  •  an A1 school boundary changes;
  • a shift in student population of more than 40% occurs. The reconfiguration spreadsheet, instructions, and Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the Forms page located on the Assessment and Accountability section of the KDE website.

The reconfiguration spreadsheetinstructions, and Frequently Asked Questions can be found on the Forms page located on the Assessment and Accountability section of the KDE website.

In addition, changes must be submitted through the District and School Collection Repository (DASCR) application. Please see the DASCR User Guide if unfamiliar with this web application. The district Web Apps Admin Point of Contact (WAAPOC) handles access. WAAPOCs may contact the KETS Service Desk with questions/issues with DASCR at (866) 538-7435.

Jan Stone Bullitt County Public Schools

DAC Spotlight

Jan Stone
Bullitt County Public Schools

Bullitt County Public Schools, located south of Louisville, is the one of largest school districts in the state. With 25 school facilities, educational services are provided to over 13,000 students. Along with the thirteen elementary schools, six middle schools and three high schools, additional educational services are provided at the Bullitt Alternative Center, Bullitt County Area Technology Center and the Riverview Opportunity Center. In addition, the district provides educational services for students at the Spring Meadows Children’s Home.

Along with being a large district comes large quantities of data, both academic and non-academic. Until recently, those data sources were dispersed, housed in multiple departments with multiple people. The lack of an all-inclusive data set, readily accessible, posed a barrier to district decision making from instructional to budgetary. About four years ago, the district began to search for a data solution, a system that could input, centralize and surface any kind of data, not just at the district level but also for the schools and classrooms themselves. After spending considerable time evaluating different options, the district selected Hoonuit as their data solution partner to guide their decision making and improve the school experience.

Hoonuit (pronounced “Who knew it”) provides Bullitt County Public Schools with a comprehensive platform to centralize all data sources to gain a true picture of the district and students, as well as the community. It offers a configurable solution and allows the district and schools to create accountability for their decision-making teams, from HR to budget planning, gathering student learnings and tracking students at risk of not graduating. For the district, the key to selecting Hoonuit was that it provided a platform that has multiple uses to drive decision making. Those decisions improve the school experience not just for students, but also for the staff and the community at large. Hoonuit is helping Bullitt County Public Schools turn data into insights, and those insights into action.

Disclaimer: Any views or opinions presented in the article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE).

Assessment Calendar

In This Issue

ACCESS Standards
Recruitment

School Reconfiguration

WIDA AMS and WIDA Screener Online Updates

WIDA Non-Disclosure and User Agreement (NDUA)

DAC Spotlight

Important Dates

June 26:
WIDA AMS and WIDA Screener Online to Open

June 27:
DRC Planned Outage

June 30: Deadline to Submit Changes for School Reconfigurations

July 1:
Deadline for Teachers to Apply for Assessment Development Opportunities

July 9:
DAC Monthly Webcast

July 9:
Administration Code and Inclusion of Special Populations Training (virtual meeting)

July 17:
Deadline to Submit DAC or BAC of the Year Nominations to KAAC J

July 22:
Verification of ACT Students Eligible for Fall 2020 Testing Deadline

August 13:
ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports

Previous Topics

DRC Planned Outage

EOP and TRACK Assessments Make-up Testing

June DAC Webcast Recording

K Screen OMS Staff File Due

School Reconfiguration

Applications

SDRR
Secure Web App
SRD

PearsonAccessnext
ACT
K-PREP

@KDE

ACCESS for ELLs
ACT
Alternate K-PREP
K-PREP
Kindergarten Screener
DAC Emails
School Report Card
Open House

Helpful Links

ACT
Admin Code Training Registration
KAAC
NAEP
Pearson

CONTACT INFORMATION

Office of Assessment and Accountability

Division of Assessment and Accountability Support

(502) 564-4394

KDE DAC Information