Question of the Week
Q: When will End of Course (EOC) Window 1 Exam materials arrive in the district for the Nov. 30 test administration?
A: Testing materials will arrive at the district office by Friday, Nov. 20 for the EOC Exam Testing Window 1. The first EOC testing window is Nov. 30 – Dec. 11.
Please inventory materials within 48 hours of receipt to ensure all test booklets have been received. The shipment will only include an inventory sheet and test booklets. The Teacher Administration Manual, Electronic Answer Document, and the Irregularity report will be sent electronically. Please contact Shara Savage with any questions. Please note: the deadline to place EOC orders for 2020-2021 was Nov. 13. If a school/district needs to place an order, please select window two or three, as orders for window one are closed.
Nov. DAC Monthly Webcast
On Nov. 12, Jennifer Stafford, Director, in the Division of Assessment and Accountability Support (DAAS) hosted the monthly DAC Webcast from 11 a.m. – 12 noon ET.
Agenda topics included:
- Update on the KBE Meeting
- Update on State Assessments
- K Screen Reports Reminder
- Kentucky Alternate Assessment Reminders
- End of Course Updates
- ACT Reminders
The DAC Webcast PowerPoint and the Recording are available on the right-hand side of the KDE Meetings and Trainings webpage.
Please join us Dec.10 at 11 a.m. ET for the last DAC Webcast of 2020.
EOC Electronic Answer Document Training
As announced on the Nov. DAC Webcast, the End of Course (EOC) Electronic Answer Document Training is now available. The link to the PowerPoint and Video is now available. Please ensure this information is shared with all testing staff. The EOC Training Materials [Back-to-School (BTS) Video, BTS PowerPoint, EOC Electronic Answer Document Training Video, EOC Electronic Answer Document Training PowerPoint, and EOC Guidance Document] have been updated and posted to the KDE website. Please contact Shara Savage with any questions.
OAA/ACT Office Hours
OAA and ACT are partnering to offer DACs and testing staff open office hours. DACs, BACs, and TCs will be able to ask questions or receive assistance during this time. The first office hour will be on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 1 p.m. ET. A regular Microsoft Teams Meeting will be the platform for the meeting. To join the meeting please save this Teams Meeting invitation. Please contact Shara Savage with any questions.
OAA/ACT Training - Reminder
In preparation for spring 2021 administration, ACT and KDE offered a webinar on Thursday, Nov. 5. The PowerPoint document that guided the training, as well as a recording of the training session, are now available and posted to the Preparation stage of the ACT hosted state testing website.
Additionally, the KDE/ACT Guidance Document has been published on the KDE webpage.
The guidance document provides answers to many of the questions from the training. Some of the information in the guidance document is general in nature. As information becomes available, the Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) will communicate during the ACT/OAA Office hours and DAC communications. Please contact Shara Savage with any questions.
ACT - Select Test Date - Deadline Nov 30
As a reminder, the deadline to complete the Select the Test Date is Nov. 30. DACs or BACs need to complete the Select a Test Date Task in PearsonAccessnext (PAN). This is a required task and should only take a few minutes to complete.
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Select test dates and shipping dates in PAN.
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Verify the shipping address in PAN.
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Submit an Address Change Request Form if the address needs to be updated. This form can be located in the PAN user guide.
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Send an email to Shara Savage if an address change is needed, as well.
OAA encourages schools/districts to make selections from the dropdown menus for both paper and online testing dates. With the COVID-19 virus still raging in our state, the selection of paper and online provides more testing flexibility during the spring 2021 administration of the ACT. Online Testing offers six testing days in each administration window. The online administration option allows schools/districts more flexibility in bringing in small groups for testing.
Important Note: the deadline to complete these tasks is Monday, Nov. 30. If a school/district does not select a test date, the school/district will be marked as not participating and will not receive future email communications or materials from ACT.
Please contact Shara Savage with any questions. As referenced above, for additional questions feel free to join the OAA/ACT Office Hours this Thursday, Nov.19 at 12 p.m. EST.
WIDA Screener for Kindergarten Webpage
Learn about World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Screener for Kindergarten in the months before the test launches on Mar. 30, 2021. The new WIDA Screener for Kindergarten webpage is home to the information districts need to know about the test now: key features, test administration times and scoring. School and district staff also can find a video excerpt of a sample test administration and the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten eSummit session recording (login required).
WIDA Facilitator Toolkit Updates for 2020-2021
WIDA has updated the content included in the Facilitator Toolkit for districts to use in local training for ACCESS for ELLs and WIDA Screener. These PowerPoint slides include the most requested assessment training slides and can be easily integrated into existing presentations to support local training. The following sets of slides are available to download in the WIDA Secure Portal, by navigating to the Facilitator Toolkit Training Materials tile:
- ACCESS Online Test Administrator Training
- ACCESS Paper Test Administrator Training
- ACCESS Test Coordinator Training
- Alternate ACCESS Training
- Kindergarten ACCESS Training
- Screener Online Training
- Screener Paper Training
WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshops -Reminder
Six Self-Paced eWorkshops provide free, flexible professional learning that fits unique needs and schedule. While learning new strategies and interacting with resources, districts can put these into use immediately when working with multilingual children and youth. These eWorkshops can be used for individual learning or explored together with colleagues as part of a Professional Learning Community. eWorkshop titles include:
- WIDA Writing Rubric
- Doing and Talking STEM
- Classroom Teachers: Engaging Multilingual Newcomers
- Leading for Equity: Classroom Walkthrough
- Social Studies: Engaging Multilingual Learners through Inquiry
- Developing Language for Learning in Mathematics
Two additional eWorkshops will be available in Winter 2021:
- School Improvement Planning for Equitable Education of Multilingual Learners
- Engaging with the WIDA Standards: A Collaborative Approach
Securing administrator support for participation is an important first step and WIDA would like to help! The Inform Your Administrator template provides a checklist of important information to consider when communicating with administrators.
Sign in to the WIDA Secure Portal account, click on the WIDA eLearning Center tile and choose the Self-Paced eWorkshops that fit the districts professional development goals. Learn more on the WIDA Self-Paced eWorkshops webpage and get started today!
New Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs Q&A Webinar - Reminder
Please join WIDA to learn about the following topics:
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Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs for New Test Administrators Tuesday, Nov. 17, 1 p.m.-2 p.m. CT
More information and login details can be found on the WIDA Q&A Webinar Schedule.
Can’t make it? WIDA Q&A Webinars are recorded and posted to the Secure Portal Download Library within a week of the presentation.
Garrard County School District is located in central Kentucky and is made up of Garrard County High School (9-12), Garrard Middle School (6-8), Camp Dick Robinson Elementary (P-5), Lancaster Elementary (P-5), Paint Lick Elementary (P-5), and the Garrard County Area Technology Center. The district serves approximately 2,500 students.
During these challenging times, the district has pulled together to provide high quality instructional programs as well as layers of support for all of families. Garrard County Middle School and High School are both on an A/B schedule that allows students to attend class in person two days per week, online two days per week and for focused support sessions on Wednesdays. The three elementary schools offer in-person learning and interactive distance learning every day. The district and school team members have pulled together to ensure breakfast and lunch are accessible to all, transportation is provided, tutoring is available, hot spots are in place, and a system of support for physical and mental health exists for all students.
Communication has remained strong between schools and families and school personnel reach out to provide needed support each day. Chromebooks have been issued to all students in grades 5-12 and to many students in K-4. All teachers have established Google Classrooms and conduct daily Google Meet sessions with classes, small groups and /or individual students.
Garrard County School District is dedicated to ensuring the success of all students and are confident that all will emerge from this school year with new skills and strategies, and with an even stronger connection with families and community partners.
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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