Question of the Week
Q: Will there be trainings provided for the administration of the upcoming Kentucky Academic Standards Fall 2020 Social Studies Online Field Test for schools and districts?
A: The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), in partnership with testing vendor Pearson, plans to provide three virtual opportunities to prepare for the social studies field test. The first training is planned for Aug. 3 at 1 p.m. ET, and two optional question-and-answer sessions are scheduled for Sept. 1 at 10:30 a.m. ET and Sept. 8 at 4 p.m. ET. Please hold the dates for the trainings; links for the training will be coming soon.
Kentucky has adopted new academic standards for reading, writing, mathematics, and social studies. As a result, new test items that are aligned to the Kentucky Academic Standards (KAS) were developed. Prior to the administration of an accountable state operational assessment, items are validated through a field test process. The social studies field test is tentatively scheduled for the week of Sept.14-18, if schools are in session, and will be offered to participating districts at grades 6, 9 and 12.
For those unable to attend the live session, the link to the recorded session will be shared.
OAA/ACT Virtual Fall Administration Training Registration Deadline
District Assessment Coordinators (DACs) should share the following information with high school principals and ACT school test coordinators. ACT school test coordinators or district and school administrators who are assisting with the ACT test administration should plan to attend.
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) and ACT will be offering a one-hour virtual training session covering the Fall State Administration of the ACT. The session runs from 1-2 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 30. This training will provide guidance for district/school staff who will be administering the ACT.
Please register @ KDE/ACT Training Registration by Tuesday, July 28. An email will be sent to registered participants with the link to join the meeting. The participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions at the end of the live session.
For any questions or assistance, please contact Shara Savage.
Access to ACT Data and Reports in a New Online Reporting System
Through extensive research with educators, ACT has developed an online reporting solution that will one to quickly access report data for the ACT® test at the student, school, and district level. Through this free service, schools will be able to search, view and analyze student records from the ACT testing programs. It provides a convenient alternative to the paper reports accustomed to receiving because all information is stored online for easy access.
With online reporting, one can:
• Gather specific data for either an individual or all students within a school or district
• Review data using standard analytics such as summary statistics, frequencies, crosstabs, and scatterplots
• Create graphical views of summary-level information
• Save custom reports
• Print deliverables such as labels and full student reports
For help getting started, various online reporting training resources are available in one convenient location on the ACT Success Webpage!
Establishing access to online reporting at ACT Success is critical because ACT National score reports will be provided exclusively in an online format beginning in August 2020. Paper reports will no longer be sent to schools and districts. For contract deliverables, they will continue to be available within PearsonAccessnext, and paper score reports will still be sent for State testing examinees.
This information is valuable to utilize these new online reporting enhancements. Having trouble establishing an account, or need additional help outside of the tools provided, contact ACT by phone at (319) 337-1228.
Mark your Calendar: ACCESS Speaking Domain with Scoring (Online) Webinar
Join World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Assessment Team members Stephen O’Connell and Jennifer Feldmann for a free webinar on the ACCESS for ELLs® Online Speaking Test on Tuesday, July 21 at 2:30-3:30 p.m. CT. Login details can be found on the WIDA Q&A Webinar Schedule.
This webinar is intended for anyone interested in learning more about the meaning of the Speaking domain score, the test structure and task design, tier placement, and how student speaking responses are scored. Join live to listen in and ask questions or view the recording at a convenient time. WIDA’s Q&A webinars are recorded and posted to the Secure Portal Download Library approximately one week after the presentation.
WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshops: Direct Email Communication to In-Progress Users
WIDA will be sending the friendly reminder (below) to users in the districts who have started a self-paced eWorkshop, but not completed it. The email below will go out only to those users who have an e-Learning account on Tuesday, July 14.
Email subject: There’s Still Time to Complete your WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshops!
Hello,
It looks like you started a WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshop and haven’t had a chance to complete it yet. Don’t worry, you have until August 31, 2020 to finish what you started. Just follow these steps:
- Log in to your WIDA Secure Portal account and click on the WIDA eLearning Center tile.
- Click into the eWorkshop you started. Look to see if you have any green checkmarks on the Modules page (located on the left menu bar). This may help you determine where you left off.
- Work through the eWorkshop modules, which may include videos, handouts, and activities.
- When you’re finished, print a certificate to document your eWorkshop completion.
Questions? Visit Kentucky’s member/state page on the WIDA website for specific instructions, contact the WIDA Client Services Center or (866)276-7735.
Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) Planned Outage
A planned system outage affecting WIDA Assessment Management (AMS) will take place Saturday, July 25 at 11 p.m. CT to Sunday, July 26 at 11 a.m. CT. WIDA and DRC apologize for any inconvenience caused by this routine maintenance.
The Muhlenberg County School District is located in the Western Coal Field region of Kentucky, approximately 40 miles to the south of Owensboro and 100 miles to the north of Nashville. The district serves a little over 4,300 students in grades K-12, and includes a pre-school program in the county. The district is comprised of five elementary schools, two middle schools, an alternative school, and one high school. The school system offers a wide range of programs and activities to meet the needs of all students academically, socially and personally.
The school district is striving to be an innovative leader in education with a strong local and state reputation for quality educational programs. All personnel are committed to moving Muhlenberg County Schools to the next level of excellence by providing quality programs and opportunities for all students. This can be accomplished with a strong commitment from administrators, teachers and staff, as well as parents and the community. District leadership is committed to organizational and financial planning that will assist in meeting these challenges.
“As I begin my 28th year in education, we find ourselves in unusual times. Our district, like all Kentucky public school districts, is moving rapidly toward re-entry plans to begin school in what will be remembered as one of the most interesting start-ups ever. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we our looking at how we provide quality instruction to our students while maintaining the highest focus on the safety of our students, staff and community. This is no small endeavor, and when I wear my DAC hat my focus is on developing student assessment data delivery systems that our teachers can access remotely to guide their individual and small group instruction. In addition to determining where our students are academically, I am also helping to lead a team to broaden our remote learning capabilities through online instruction and professional development in technology. We have made a large purchase of Chromebooks to move to a fully implemented one-to-one program for all students in grades 6-12 to help prepare for remote learning. One especially innovative step we are taking is adding Wi-Fi hotspots to our school parking lots to allow students who do not have Wi-Fi access at home to be able to go to school to connect and upload and download assignments in the future. It is a rapidly changing school environment as we all know. I feel blessed to work with such a supportive and innovative team as well as with dedicated classroom teachers and support personnel as we move forward in what will be the "new normal."
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).
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