Question of the Week
Q: When is the deadline to make KSA Text to Speech (TTS) and IEP calculator selections in IC?
A: March 17 is the deadline to verify students in Infinite Campus (IC) who will need access to TTS or an IEP calculator (to use for Mathematics Part A) for the 2023 Kentucky Summative Assessments (KSA) administration. The goal is to save schools and districts one additional step in the process of creating rosters and test sessions when the PAN platform opens on March 27. Students with a 504 are not reported to the U.S. Department of Education so the system used to extract students within IC is not permitted to pull students who are flagged with a 504. Any student that may qualify for TTS or a calculator through a 504 Plan may still use these accommodations on the state assessment, however they would need to be added into PAN manually.
Students with unlocked plans in IC, or plans identified after March 17, will not appear in the upload and will need to be added manually. As a point of emphasis, it is very important that all plans are locked by the end of day, March 17 for a successful pull to occur. For any students who will need to be added manually please see the specific directions found in the Pearson Access Next Guidance Documents.
ACT Spring 2023 Junior Administration: Office Hour March 17
OAA and ACT will host an office hour session Friday, March 17, at 10 a.m. ET, focusing on Test Window 2. Although the focus will be on Test Window 2, 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 17 meeting. For questions or assistance, please contact Shara Savage.
ACT Spring 2023 Junior Administration: Makeup Testing Online Session Creation Window Opening Soon
Schools who will continue testing within the makeup window, or Test Window 2, should be aware that online test sessions for Window 2 can be created starting on Wednesday, March 15. Testing staff may find this training tutorial, which outlines the process for creating sessions and adding students to sessions, helpful when conducting this work. For questions or assistance, please contact Shara Savage.
Public Comment Opportunity for 703 KAR 5:270 Kentucky’s Accountability System
A public hearing on this proposed administrative regulation, 703 KAR 5:270. Kentucky's Accountability System, will be held on April 26 at 10:00 a.m. ET in the State Board Room, 5th Floor, Kentucky Department of Education (KDE), 300 Sower Boulevard, Frankfort, Kentucky.
Individuals interested in being heard at this meeting shall notify KDE in writing five working days prior to the hearing of their intent to attend. If no notification of intent to attend the hearing is received by that date, the hearing may be canceled. This hearing is open to the public.
Any person who wishes to be heard will be given an opportunity to comment on the proposed administrative regulation. A transcript of the public hearing will not be made unless a written request for a transcript is made. If you do not wish to be heard at the public hearing, you may submit written comments on the proposed administrative regulation. Written comments shall be accepted until April 30.
Send written notification of intent to be heard at the public hearing or written comments on the proposed administrative regulation to:
CONTACT PERSON: Todd G. Allen, General Counsel, Kentucky Department of Education, 300 Sower Boulevard, 5th Floor, Frankfort, KY 40601, phone 502-564-4474, fax 502-564-9321, email regcomments@education.ky.gov
Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Field Test Reminders
The Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Field Test have been open for three weeks now. Please see the following reminders:
- Encourage staff who has administered the field test to take the field test feedback survey. The feedback will help World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) make the new Alternate ACCESS the best it can be. (Note: WIDA is curious to know how staff felt about the spiral binding of the test booklet, the Individual Characteristics Questionnaire, and scoring the Speaking and Writing domains.)
- Return the field test materials when the district is completed. DRC and WIDA can start processing all the data that will help inform the next steps on the path to releasing the new test.
- After the field test, all sites will receive a pre-release PDF copy of the Alternate Can Do Descriptors. Copies will be sent to the District Assessment Coordinators (DACs) via email from DRC in early May.
Thank you to your staff for all you are doing to ensure that Kentucky have a successful field test.Click to edit this placeholder text.
ACCESS Q&A Webinar Reminder
Please join WIDA and DRC to learn about the following topic:
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Post-Testing: Interpreting Score Reports Tuesday, March 14 at 1p.m.-2 p.m. CT
Go the Webinars page to learn more and add this event to your calendar.
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.
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