Question of the Week
Q: With the ACT Spring 2023 Junior Administration beginning on March 7, what steps should testing staff be completing this week?
A: KDE and OAA wish to share the following reminders and support resources.
Parental Consent and Non-Test Activity – Testing staff is responsible for being aware of and complying with the parental consent policy that is designed to allow students under the age of 18 at the time of testing, who obtain consent, the opportunity to opt into ACT’s Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) and/or select score recipients during the non-test activity that takes place within MyACT. Per the parental consent policy, testing staff are responsible for verifying what students do and do not have consent, monitoring in-school non-test sessions to ensure examinees without consent do not opt into EOS and/or select score recipients, and noting what examinees do not have consent within PearsonAccessNext by answering a State Use Question. Testing staff can utilize the Administration Supplement to gather additional information about answering the State Use Question, which is done only when an examinee does not obtain consent. If students have completed the MyACT Activities from a previous administration, please note that parental consent must be obtained for each state-funded administration. Permissions can be obtained by email, electronic signatures, google forms and verbally by phone. If a student does not have permission for the spring state-funded administration and has already opted into the EOS system/sent scores to colleges, students would be required to remove this information in MyACT.
Students are tasked with completing the non-test activity in MyACT. ACT recommends that this activity take place prior to the test date. Additional information and resources related to conducting the non-test activity in MyACT can be found within step 4 of the ACT-hosted website.
Staff Training Session – All testing staff involved with the administration of the ACT must understand and comply with administration policy and procedures. Test Coordinators should hold a training session before test day to prepare staff (both new and experienced) for test day activities. This training session is required. The session should be used to discuss policy, address procedural and logistical issues, and ensure everyone understands what is to take place on test day. Please note: this is separate from the briefing session conducted on the test day. Testing staff can find a training session outline beginning on page 22 of the Online Administration Manual, and additional information about preparing your facilities and staff can be found within step 4 of the ACT-hosted website.
The College Admission Exam Guidance document is also a valuable resource for testing staff as provides KDE policy, ACT policy and frequently asked questions. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Shara Savage.
ACT Spring 2023 Junior Administration: Office Hour March 3
OAA and ACT will host an office hour session Friday, March 3, at 10 a.m. ET, focusing on Test Window 1. Although the focus will be on Test Window 1, all questions related to the ACT state administration are welcome. The session will be hosted via a Microsoft Teams meeting. KDE and ACT encourage testing staff to attend. Please provide testing staff with this link to the Friday, March 3 meeting. For questions or assistance, please contact Shara Savage.
March ACCESS Q&A Webinars
Please join WIDA and DRC to learn about the following topics:
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Post Testing: Data Validation Tuesday, March 7 at 1 p.m.-2 p.m. CT
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Post Testing: Interpreting Score Reports Tuesday, March 14 at 1 p.m.-2 p.m. CT
Learn more and add these upcoming webinars to your calendar on the Webinars page.
Can’t make it? The recordings for WIDA Q&A Webinars are posted to the WIDA Secure Portal on the Webinars page within a week of the presentation.
Informing WIDA Professional Learning Offerings
Share ideas and inform future WIDA professional learning and resources! WIDA’s Educator Learning, Research and Practice team is currently developing or revising:
- Pre-K to kindergarten transitions and Pre-K to grade 2 Essential Actions virtual workshops
- Engaging Multilingual Newcomers self-paced workshop
- Marco DALE (Marco de los estándares del desarrollo auténtico del lenguaje español de WIDA) face-to-face workshop
Share valuable insight and help inform key planning decisions and workshop development by responding to one or all of the surveys by March 5. All results will be anonymous. Each survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Thoughts and time are sincerely appreciated.
WIDA Fellows Nominations
Calling all exemplary educators! Nominations are open for the fifth class of WIDA Fellows. In establishing these fellowships, WIDA acknowledges the invaluable role teachers have in the collaboration with professional development and research partners advancing the field of education. All nominees must be exceptional teachers of bilingual and/or multilingual learners.
Learn more about the program, nomination process, and the form on the WIDA Fellows webpage. All nominations are due by March 31. No self-nominations, please.
2023 Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) Credits for February DAC Training – Reminder and Deadline
District Assessment Coordinators (DACs), Building Assessment Coordinators (BACs), and school and district employees who have viewed the 2023 February DAC training videos can apply for three hours of EILA Credits. To receive the EILA credits, participants must complete a survey after watching all videos. The survey can be accessed on Google Forms. Please allow at least two weeks after you have completed the survey to receive the EILA certificate via email. EILA credit for the February DAC Trainings does not include the Q&A sessions. Please complete the survey prior to Friday, March 31. For questions or assistance on receiving the EILA Credit, please contact Lisa Jett.
Assessment Scores in Infinite Campus
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) strives to publish student results data in Infinite Campus (IC) as it becomes available. KDE will publish the January 2023 KYOTE scores to districts beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
Please email KDE data services inbox with any questions on this matter.
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