Question of the Week
Q: When will the 2025 KSA and QSCS Test Administrator Manual (TAM) and scripts be available?
A: The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) and Pearson have released the 2025 Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) and Quality of School Climate and Safety (QSCS) Test Administrator Manual (TAM). The TAM can be accessed on the KY Portal Resources webpage. The TAM is also linked on the KSA webpage.
Grade specific scripts for the KSA will be posted on the KY Portal as they become available. OAA will share updates on posted scripts in future Monday DAC emails.
For questions about the KSA TAM or scripts, please contact Melissa Chandler.
ACT Spring 2025 Junior State Administration – Additional Materials Order Window
The window for testing staff to order additional materials is open now until Friday, Feb. 28. Once materials are received, testing staff should inventory the materials to ensure everything needed to support administration has been provided. 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 and assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
ACT Spring 2025 Junior State Administration: Create Test Sessions – Test Window 1
The window during which testing staff can create online test sessions and add students to those sessions for the ACT online test window 1 opened today, Feb. 10. ACT recommends schools create sessions and add students to those sessions at least two days prior to the planned administration date. The published deadline to complete this activity is the final day for online testing of window 1.
Step 4 of the ACT hosted testing website contains helpful resources about creating online test sessions. This includes the ACT Administration Online Manual and section titled “Create Test Sessions” and a training tutorial that covers the steps to create and assign test sessions.
For questions and assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
ACT State Testing Office Hour – Feb. 20, 2025
OAA and ACT will host an office hour session on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 10:00 a.m. ET, which will focus on the Non-Test Activity task. The session will be hosted via a Microsoft Teams meeting. While the content will be focused on highlighting that task, OAA and ACT encourage testing staff to attend and ask any questions they may have at this time. Please be sure to provide testing staff with this Microsoft Teams Link for the session. Attendees will not have to register for office hours specifically but will want to mark time on calendars to avoid any scheduling conflicts.
For questions and assistance, please contact Christen Roseberry.
2025 Feb. District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) Training Q&A Session Update
Due to the weather forecast, the in-person part of the Feb. DAC Training Q&A Session on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Ashland, KY is canceled. The virtual session will proceed as scheduled.
The Feb. 11 Online Q&A Session will begin at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Please note: staff that have previously registered to attend in person will receive an email with the Microsoft Teams link to join virtually.
Testing staff can still register for the online session if not previously registered: Feb. 11 Virtual Registration: KDEC
Opportunity for Q&A Session
There is still in-person and virtual availability for the hybrid Q&A Session in Eddyville on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Please use the links below to register for the Eddyville Feb. DAC Training Q&A Session.
Feb. 19 In-Person Registration: West Kentucky Educational Cooperative (WKEC) in Eddyville (Capacity 90) or Feb. 19 Virtual Registration: WKEC
The Office of Assessment and Accountability (OAA) understands that this change may be inconvenient and appreciates your understanding and flexibility. For any questions, please contact Christen Roseberry.
Reminder: OAA Committee Work Opportunities
The Kentucky Department of Education is seeking Kentucky educators to assist with various assessment-related tasks in the upcoming months. The goal is to ensure that the assessments are of the highest quality, accurately measure the Kentucky Academic Standards, and are fair to all test takers. The creation of the Kentucky Summative Assessments (KSA) and the Alternate Kentucky Summative Assessments (AKSA) is a complex process that includes standard setting, item writing, bias review, and blueprint development.
K-12 educators who are interested in participating in the assessment development and other committee work for the assessment system are encouraged to complete the application. A pool of candidates is being gathered for these critical steps and other supporting activities. Applications are being accepted for each of these activities in science reading, mathematics, social studies, and writing. Much of this work will be done virtually, and participants will receive a stipend.
The Application for Assessment Committees is due by April 15, for work needed in 2025. If not chosen for participation this spring, summer, or fall, applicant names will be kept on file for future assessment work.
For questions, please email dacinfo@education.ky.gov.
KDE Seeking Feedback on the Assessment Blueprints for Reading and Writing
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) is seeking feedback on the assessment blueprints for reading and writing.
KRS 158.6453 calls for KDE to implement a process for reviewing all academic standards and aligned assessments beginning in the 2017-2018 school year. The schedule calls for one or two content areas to be reviewed each year and every six years after that on a rotating basis.
Feedback on the draft reading and writing standards will be collected by the American Institutes for Research through March 5.
Through Wednesday, March 12, stakeholders may review the corresponding assessment blueprints for reading and writing and share feedback and suggestions regarding the alignment of assessments to the draft reading and writing standards.
To provide feedback on the reading and writing assessment blueprints document, please use the public feedback comment form. Feedback and comments will be thoughtfully considered, and any needed revisions will be made to align the blueprints to the newly revised standards.
Due to the amount of text within the survey, it is recommended that surveys be completed on a full-size computer or laptop screen.
Questions about this process can be directed to dacinfo@education.ky.gov.
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