Question of the Week
Q: With the Governor's recommendation for all Kentucky schools to delay in-person classes until Sept. 28 and each school board making the decision on the return to school in the community, what are the options to provide a fall ACT administration for students who missed their opportunity to test in March?
A: Depending on the individual school or district situation, there are three opportunities for students who missed their opportunity to take the ACT in March to test.
Sept. 22 -- Initial Standard Test Date (Paper)
Sept. 22-25 and 28-Oct. 2 – Initial Accommodations Test Window (Paper)
Oct. 6 – Makeup Standard Test Date (Paper)
Oct. 6-9 and 12 -- Makeup Accommodations Test Window (Paper)
Oct. 20 -- Emergency Standard Test Date (Paper)
Oct. 20-23 and 26 -- Emergency Accommodations Test Window (Paper)
Note: If students are unable to attend in-person sessions during fall testing, eligible students will have the opportunity to take the state-provided ACT assessment during the spring 2021 administration.
If districts or schools were unable to administer the statewide ACT on March 10, please choose two of the above testing windows. If schools or districts were able to administer the statewide ACT, March 10 was the school's initial ACT testing window and may choose one of the above testing windows. If a school or district chooses a testing window and is unable to bring students into the building due to COVID-19 restrictions, there is a small window for adjustments to the testing window to be made.
The decision to bring students into the building for administration of the ACT should be made in conjunction with the high school administration, central office staff and local health department. These decisions should be made in accordance with local health department and state government guidelines at the time of testing. Safety expectations provided in the document, COVID-19 Considerations for Reopening Schools should be followed during administration. The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) has worked with the Department of Public Health to create additional guidance on small group administration. KDE anticipates a release of small group guidance this week with discussion in the Superintendent Webcast tomorrow, Tuesday, Aug. 18.
If a school has already completed the Manage Participation task in PearsonAccessnext (PAN) and selected the Sept. 22 testing window and cannot test during the window, please update the selected test date to Oct. 6. This will prevent testing materials for the Sept. date from being shipped to the school. If unable to test on Oct. 6 and were planning on testing on Oct. 20, still select the Oct. 6 test date. When ordering test materials, Building Assessment Coordinators (BACs) or a designee can select the appropriate makeup testing windows.
As a reminder, the deadline to submit participation in the 2020 Fall ACT State Administration is Aug. 21. For more information, please see the new training tutorial available at the Kentucky State Testing ACT webpage.
ACT TAA Deadline Extended
On Friday, Aug. 14, ACT migrated the Test Accessibility and Accommodations (TAA) login page to http://success.act.org. Unfortunately, this change was not timely communicated to all users; therefore, it caused confusion for those attempting to access the system on Friday. To ensure all users have ample opportunity to submit their accommodation requests, ACT is extending the deadline to request accommodations through Wednesday, Aug. 19.
Test Accommodations Coordinator Role in TAA
With the move to ACT Success Online Reporting, everyone with access to TAA will have the role of Test Accommodations Coordinator (TAC). Authorization for access to the TAA system will follow the Trusted Agent protocol. Trusted Agents manage user access for districts and schools in their jurisdiction. Only Trusted Agents are approved to invite users to act as a TAC in the system.
Updated Documentation
The Test Accessibility and Accommodations System (TAA) User Guide has been updated with new information about accessing the system, the Test Accommodations Coordinator (TAC) role, and creating a new account. It can be found on the ACT State testing webpage, as outlined below.
Verify ACT Student Enrollment Deadline
The deadline to complete the verification of student enrollment is Friday, Aug. 21. KDE has provided a Student Data Upload (SDU) file to ACT, and ACT has loaded the file into PearsonAccessnext (PAN). The student records have been created in PAN. Test Coordinators must verify student counts and make any updates. If needing to add students who missed their opportunity to test in the spring, Aug. 17 is the deadline to notify KDE; please email Shara Savage. Adding students to PAN is not an option for the fall administration. Directions for verifying enrollment counts begin on page 11 of The PAN User Guide. The students loaded in PAN are used to generate initial testing counts for standard test material orders. Schools receive pre-ID labels in the initial shipment for those students who are enrolled before the verify deadline. If a student is unenrolled in PAN, please keep a record. Once the Student Data Review and Rosters (SDRR) application opens, the District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) will need to request a non-participation.
Back-to-School Trainings Released
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) is releasing several training videos and PowerPoints in time for the opening of school. The Back-to-School trainings are available on the Meetings and Trainings page and on the individual assessment pages.
WIDA eSummit Announcement
World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) is excited to announce the WIDA eSummit, a free virtual learning opportunity for educators in WIDA Consortium states, territories, and federal agencies. The event will be held Oct. 12-30.
Each week of the eSummit will have a theme with multiple webinars relating to the weekly topic:
- The first week’s focus will be 2020 Standards with a session that introduces the WIDA ELD Standards, 2020 Edition as well as sessions about Proficiency Level Descriptors and updated Key Language Uses.
- The theme of the second week is Teaching Multilingual Learners and will include a panel discussion with the WIDA Fellows exploring responses to COVID-19 as well as sessions focused on the intentional planning and implementation of instructional practices that support language development and content learning.
- The final week will feature WIDA Assessments and will include webinars about the WIDA assessment system, WIDA Screener for Kindergarten and WIDA MODEL.
Members of WIDA Consortium states, territories, and federal agencies will be able to access the live virtual sessions through the eLearning Center in the WIDA Secure Portal. Webinar recordings and downloadable resources will be available after the event. Additional information about the WIDA eSummit will be available on the WIDA website in September.
Announcing the Fall 2020 Teaching and Learning PL Series: Eliciting Evidence of Learning
A professional learning experience will be released each month to support educators with eliciting evidence for learning, whether in a face to face or remote learning environment. Each professional learning experience will be accompanied by an informational video and made available on KYstandards.org. The release of all materials will be communicated first through the Standards Newsletter.
The Teaching and Learning PL Series: Eliciting Evidence of Learning schedule is available for download.
Sept. 16: Comprehensive, Balanced System of Assessment
Participants will learn about the components of a comprehensive, balanced assessment system and how different assessments can work together to support student learning. The module will take a closer look at the types and purposes of different assessments, appropriate uses of assessment data and build an understanding of the assessment cycle.
Oct. 14: Understanding Formative Assessment
Participants will build a common understanding of formative assessment practice. The module will both define formative assessment and take a closer look at the assessment cycle in the formative assessment process. In addition, the module will focus on taking a closer look at developing student ownership through building a culture of formative assessment practices in the classroom.
Nov. 18: Clarifying and Sharing Learning Goals and Success Criteria
Participants will learn about how the standards and associated learning expectations inform high quality assessment. The module will focus on how to elicit meaningful evidence of student learning through clarification of learning progressions, learning goals and success criteria.
Dec. 9: Eliciting Evidence of Learning
In section 1 of this module, participants will learn about designing and eliciting evidence of student learning aligned to the standards. The module will take a closer look at strategies for eliciting evidence aligned to the depth of the standard and criteria for high-quality classroom assessments.
In section 2, participants will learn about valid assessment practices. The module also will consider how to ensure assessment practices are culturally relevant and free from unintended barriers.
Owensboro Public Schools, located in western Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio River, has a rich tradition with academic programs, championship sporting teams and community involvement. Founded in 1871, it is one of the oldest public-school districts in the Commonwealth. Still thriving after 149 years, the independent district serves more than 5,000 students Pre-K through grade 12. Its campuses include two preschools, five elementary schools, two middle schools and two high schools, plus an alternative high school program.
Several of the district’s schools have undergone significant renovations and face lifts during the past five years, with more renovations being planned. The most recent improvements have taken place at the district’s innovation campus, which will house both Owensboro Innovation Middle School (iMiddle) and the Owensboro Innovation Academy (OIA), beginning the 2020-2021 school year. As one of the first Districts of Innovation, OPS opened OIA in 2015, and graduated its first class in 2019. The success of the high school model spurred the district to open the middle school, serving grades six through eight, in the fall of 2019. As affiliates of the New Tech Network, students at the innovation schools learn primarily through project-based assignments and immerse themselves in hands-on projects.
The mission of Owensboro Public Schools is to “engage all students with innovative teaching and learning.” As such, innovation is not limited to our innovation schools, as all schools focus on the whole child and seek to promote the talents, physical and emotional well-being, and diversity of all students. Creative spirit was in full force during the COVID-19 pandemic, as OPS teachers and staff rose quickly to the challenge of providing virtual learning to all students.
The district has been a one-to-one district for many years in grades 5-12, but the uncertainty surrounding school re-opening helped to realize the need for more computer access. Students in grades 3 and 4 will also have one-to-one access at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, and they hope to provide ALL students with individual devices by the end of the calendar year. OPS also employ a Digital Learning Coach whose job responsibilities are focused on providing teachers with the skills they need to utilize technology to its fullest as an innovative educational tool.
Academically, the schools district makes every effort to differentiate instruction and programming options to meet the needs of all students, from the most gifted to those who are struggling. As a recipient of the Striving Readers Grant, OPS has concentrated for the past three years on developing the capacity of all teachers to be teachers of literacy. Teachers collaborate with the Owensboro Community and Technical College, Brescia University and Wesleyan College to offer students many dual credit and early college opportunities as well as career-pathway coursework. OPS boast one of the best fine arts curriculums in the state and make it available to every student in the district. Beginning in kindergarten, students receive instruction in music, dance and visual art. Middle and high schools have robust band and orchestra programs, as well as offerings in dance, theater and choral music. Almost 90% of OPS students participate in some form of arts instruction.
Owensboro Public Schools is proud of its tradition of excellence, diversity and innovation and plans to continue for at least another 149 years!
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).
|
