Question of the Week
Q: What are the current technical requirements for the ACT assessment taken online during the ACT Spring 2024 Junior Administration?
A: The current technical requirements for the ACT can be found in the Technical Guide for the ACT Taken Online. This includes technical requirements for TestNav, which is the test delivery engine used by students to take the ACT assessment. The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) and ACT strongly encourage testing staff administering the ACT ensure testing devices adhere to these technical requirements, to include the software requirements for TestNav as defined in the technical guide for versions of Chrome OS (114 - 121), macOS (12, 13, 14), Windows (10 and 11 x64 - 21H2, 22H2), and iPadOS (15.2 - 16.x, 17.13x).
Additional Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) Scripts Now Available
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) and Pearson have released additional 2024 KSA and Quality of School Climate and Safety (QSCS) scripts for this spring’s summative assessment. Scripts for grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 11 are currently available on the Resources tab of the KY Portal. The Grade 8 script will be released soon.
2024 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 2024 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 completing 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 29. For questions or assistance on receiving the EILA Credit, please contact Lisa Jett.
ACT Spring 2024 Junior Administration: Test Window 1 - Additional Materials Order Window Closing Soon
The window for testing staff to order additional materials, such as non-college reportable paper materials or additional resources to return materials that result from an online administration, closes on Friday, March 1. With the initial materials now delivered, testing staff should inventory their material to ensure they have what is needed to support the administration and return of materials. If additional material is needed, testing staff can view the Ordering Additional ACT Materials training tutorial or refer to the PearsonAccessnext (PAN) User Guide’s section titled “Requirements for Additional Materials Orders” to obtain information about placing an additional order in PAN.
For questions or assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
ACT Spring 2024 Junior Administration - Accommodations Qualified Exceptions to the Deadline Approaching
The Qualified Exceptions to the Deadline (QED) window closes March 8. The QED is for newly diagnosed or newly enrolled students. Please be sure to review the QED form to determine if the school/district has examinee(s) who are eligible to request accommodations and/or supports during this window. The QED window is not an opportunity to submit or resubmit initial requests for accommodations and/or supports.
Also, please be aware that this year ACT added a second QED window, which is March. 12-15 (see the Schedule of Events, Prepare for Test Window 2). This allows qualified exceptions to the deadline for accommodations/supports for examinees who will be doing makeup testing in Test Window 2.
For questions and assistance, please contact ACT at 800.553.6244, ext. 1788 or email ACTStateAccoms@act.org. Additionally, you may contact Christen Roseberry with any questions, concerns, or for assistance.
WIDA March Assessment Webinars
Please join WIDA and DRC to learn about the following topics:
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Post Testing: Data Validation Tuesday, March 5 at 1-2 p.m. CT
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Post Testing: Interpreting Score Reports Tuesday, March 12 at 1-2 p.m. CT
Learn more and add these upcoming webinars to your calendar on the Webinars page (login required).
Change in format: WIDA and DRC are trying out a new format with this year’s Interpreting Score Reports webinar, with a greater focus on answering the participants’ questions about ACCESS scores and reports. Before attending, review the ACCESS for ELLs Interpretive Guide for Score Reports (2024 edition coming soon!) and the ACCESS for ELLs Scores and Reports webpage. Then, bring the questions for the experts to the webinar on March 12. ACCESS score reports will be available online April 26 in WIDA AMS. ACCESS printed score reports will be shipped to the districts on May 8.
As a reminder, Alternate ACCESS score reports will be released in fall 2024. Districts will receive WIDA Alternate ACCESS reports online on Sept. 11 in WIDA AMS. WIDA Alternate ACCESS printed reports will be shipped to the districts on Sept. 26. WIDA will conduct a webinar to support school and district staff with these reports later this year. Visit the WIDA Alternate ACCESS Updates webpage to learn more.
Can’t make it? The recordings for WIDA assessment webinars are posted to the WIDA Secure Portal on the Webinars page within a week of the presentation.
Please share this information with your Building Assessment Coordinators (BACs) and EL staff in the schools and district. All district and school staff that works with English Learners (ELs) need to attend the webinars or watch the recordings of these trainings prior to Data Validation and Score Reports sent to the district.
Nominate an Expert Educator for the WIDA Fellows Program
WIDA is pleased to announce that nominations for the next cohort of WIDA Fellows are now open through March 31. Twenty WIDA Fellows will be selected to participate in a growing professional learning community of instructional experts and educational leaders. To learn more about the program, benefits and nomination form, visit the WIDA Fellows webpage.
Please share this information and the link with all the district and school staff that work with EL.
Upcoming WIDA Workshops Input
WIDA professional learning is hard at work developing new learning opportunities. But we can't do it without the district and school staff that work with ELs! The insights are essential to inform the design of upcoming workshops. District and school staff participation in each survey should take about 5-10 minutes to complete and WIDA invites district and school staff to complete one or all of the surveys by March 1. District and School staff voice matters to WIDA! Thank you in advance for completing the surveys.
Please share this information and the link to the surveys with all the district and school staff that work with ELs.
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