Question of the Week
Q: When will Spring Rosters open in the Student Data Review and Roster (SDRR) application?
A: Spring Rosters are tentatively scheduled to open in the Student Data Review and Rosters (SDRR) application for schools and districts to begin work with spring testing on Wednesday, April 24 at 9 a.m. ET. It will close for new change requests on June 12 at 5 p.m. ET. Rosters available during the spring will be ACCESS, Alternate ACCESS, Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA), Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessment (AKSA) and Postsecondary Readiness.
Updating the Spring Rosters in SDRR assists with accurately reporting school data in the fall. Tasks to be completed include reviewing student demographic data, adding students, deleting students, marking nonparticipations, changing accountability if needed and marking accommodations for IEP and EL students.
More information can be found in the SDRR February DAC Training PowerPoint.
ACT Spring 2024 Junior Administration - Test Window 2: Return Materials
Schools who administered ACT exams within the make-up test window, or test window 2, will have a material pickup attempted today, Monday, April 8. If schools were unable to compile material for return to ACT on today’s initial material pickup attempt, FedEx will attempt two additional pickup attempts on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Testing staff are encouraged to review the resources and training tutorials posted within Step 6 of the ACT-hosted website to ensure the appropriate material is returned to ACT for processing. This includes the training tutorial on How to Return Online Test Materials.
Finally, testing staff should be aware that the receipt deadline for make-up test materials to have been delivered to ACT is Friday, April 12. For questions or assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
ACT Spring 2024 Junior Administration – State-Use Question Deadline
With the ACT spring administration now complete, KDE and ACT want to ensure testing staff are aware of and are in compliance with the KDE Parental Consent Policy. This policy requires school staff to answer a state use question in PearsonAccessnext (PAN) for examinees under the age of 18 who did not obtain parental consent to opt into the Educational Opportunity Service (EOS) system and/or select score recipients during the non-test activity.
Testing staff is encouraged to review the information outlined within the Administration Supplement to gather instructions for answering the state use question. This task must be completed by Friday, April 26.
For questions or assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
February DAC Training Effective Instructional Leadership Act (EILA) Credit Form Closing Soon
The February DAC Training EILA Credit Form will close on Friday, April 19, at the close of business. 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. For questions or concerns, please contact Lisa Jett.
BRIGANCE K Screen Refresh Webcast Office Hour
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA), together with Curriculum Associates (CA), will be hosting a one-hour office hour on April 15 starting at 1:00 p.m. ET. During this one-hour session, OAA and CA will be available to answer any questions concerning the K Screen Implementation Guide and the screening process. Please use this Microsoft Teams Link to join the office hour. For questions or concerns, please contact Lisa Jett.
Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessment (AKSA) Window 2 Opens Monday, April 15 – Reminder
The AKSA testing window 2 Attainment Tasks (AT) administration will begin on Monday, April 15. Content standards for reading, mathematics, science, social studies and writing will be assessed. Field Tests will take place in all tested grade levels for reading, mathematics, social studies and writing. No tasks may be administered before Monday, April 15.
Instruction may continue into the testing window if the content provided is not derived from the actual Attainment Tasks being administered. Once the task administration begins, all instruction for the standard being assessed should cease until after the task administration has been completed. The testing window will end on May 24. DACs may collect school-level materials and destroy them after May 31.
Any makeup tests for Window 1, not yet administered, may continue into Window 2. To request a makeup of Window 1 during Window 2, please complete the AKSA Window 1 Makeup During Window 2 Form.
For questions about administering the second AKSA window or a makeup for the first window, please contact Krista Mullins
Student Registration Database (SRD) Opens Monday for AKSA, April 15 – Reminder
Score entry for the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessment (AKSA) in the SRD for test Window 2 will officially open on April 15. Teachers who had access to enter scores during Window 1 will continue to have access for score entry during Window 2. DACs or anyone with district-level rights will have the same level of access that was provided during the first window. If a student has moved into your district, please email Krista Mullins with the SSID number, new district name, and new school’s name for the student to be transferred in SRD. Similar to Window 1, administrators entering scores will be prompted to choose a field test form number prior to entering scores in SRD. The last day for any type of score entry into the SRD will be Friday, May 31.
Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) PearsonAccessnext (PAN) Tasks and Reminders
PAN for the KSA opened on March 25. Refer to the reminders below for tasks to be completed in PAN before KSA district test windows open.
- Order Braille or Large Print accommodated materials. These orders can only be placed by DACs. Consult the Create an Order for Materials for help placing the order.
- Monitor work requests. Refer to page 28 of the Test Administration Manual (TAM) for directions on entering and approving Work Requests.
- Create and add students to test sessions.
- Print student and proctor testing tickets.
For assistance creating test sessions, refer to the Create Test Sessions Guide located on the Resources tab of the KY Portal. The KSA Important Dates and KSA Roadmap to Success provide important reminders and timelines for completing all KSA tasks.
WIDA Screener Training Course
In response to educator feedback, WIDA is adjusting the annual course year for the WIDA Screener training courses to begin on July 1, 2024, and end on June 30, 2025. This change applies to the following courses:
- WIDA Screener for Kindergarten: Administration and Scoring
- WIDA Screener Online: Administration
- WIDA Screener Paper: Administration
- Speaking for Grades 1-5: Scoring ACCESS Paper and WIDA Screener
- Speaking for Grades 6-12: Scoring ACCESS Paper and WIDA Screener
- Writing for Grades 1-5: Scoring WIDA Screener
- Writing for Grades 6-12: Scoring WIDA Screener
This change means test administrators will have the most up to date information about WIDA Screener before the start of the school year, when screening the students. Test administrators don’t need to do anything differently to access these training courses in the WIDA Secure Portal – just visit the course details page on or after July 1 for the training course administering and click Enroll Now.
What about ACCESS for ELLs? Training courses for Kindergarten ACCESS, ACCESS Online, ACCESS Paper, and WIDA Alternate ACCESS will continue the Sept. 1, 2024-Aug. 31, 2025, course this year.
WIDA English Language Development (ELD) Standards Framework, 2020 Digital Explorer
Take advantage of WIDA’s digital tools to help save time while planning classroom instruction. Use the WIDA ELD Standards Framework, 2020 Digital Explorer to quickly and easily reference grade-level cluster Language Expectations and Proficiency Level Descriptors (PLDs).
- Browse, select and/or print only the components of the Standards Framework that is needed.
- View Language Expectations and PLDs together or integrate sets of Language Expectations (e.g., Standard 1 and Standards 2-5) with each other.
- Easily identify what has changed from one grade-level cluster to the next and from one proficiency level to the next.
Want to learn more? Check out this article in the New Jersey Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/ New Jersey Bilingual Education (NJTESOL/NJBE) Annual Voices Journal by WIDA researcher Lynn Shafer Willner to get time-saving tips for using the WIDA Standards Digital Explorer.
Glossary of Terms for Supporting Multilingual Learners with Disabilities
Assessing English Learners with Disabilities: A Glossary of Terms! This brand-new glossary demystifies the terms, acronyms and jargon that are used by those who support multilingual learners with disabilities. The Advancing team created the glossary so that district and school staff who support multilingual learners with disabilities can have a shared understanding of the terms used about these important students.
Browse the online glossary while in meetings, drafting Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or designing a fun game of jeopardy for the colleagues! Download and print the PDF version of the glossary.
Reminder: WIDA Alternate ACCESS Scores
Because of standard setting, 2023-2024 WIDA Alternate ACCESS score reports will be released in fall 2024. Peruse Conversations with Candoo: WIDA Alternate ACCESS standard setting to learn about the standard setting event and how standard setting affects scores and reports.
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