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An update from Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
May 27, 2026
Important Dates
May 18-June 5: Posttest Editing in Test WES
May 18: Begin retrieving early WIDA assessment results in Test WES
June 3: Deadline to submit documentation for full-time PSEO students for Posttest Editing
June 4: Deadline to submit MARSS data for Posttest Editing
Quick Links
The following resources are available for districts working on Posttest Editing:
- The Test WES Posttest Editing User Guide, posted on the Test WES page of the MDE website, provides detailed information on Posttest Editing for District Assessment Coordinators (DACs).
- The Posttest Editing Training is posted in the Learning Management System (LMS).
Important Reminders: Review Test WES for New Discrepancies and Verify WIDA Assessment Blank Records
As MARSS enrollment data is updated with new MARSS A/B file uploads and Ed-Fi syncs, it is possible new discrepancies will appear in Test WES during the Posttest Editing window. DACs should review the Test WES Dashboard throughout the Posttest Editing window to ensure they are resolving any new or additional discrepancies, warnings, or errors.
Note: There have been instances where districts added a blank record for a WIDA assessment but were unable to change the test code for each domain. Please ensure that any blank records created have the expected Domain Code dropdowns available to indicate the necessary code. Contact mde.testing@state.mn.us if you have a blank WIDA assessment record missing these dropdowns.
Confirming Inactive Records are Correct for WIDA Assessments
If a student record is missing one or more domain scores for a WIDA assessment, the report code will be Not Complete (NC). Districts often identify these records when the early student-level results file shows no composite score.
- If the student did not participate in a domain, you may update the test code to indicate the reason for non-participation.
- If the student did participate in the missing domain, the most common issue is that the Writing domain was not merged with the Listening, Reading, and Speaking domains due to mismatched student information across the two records. In some cases, Test WES may have matched—but not merged—the records. To ensure records are merged in the final results, verify that the demographic information is identical on both the active and inactive records. Additional guidance is available on pages 42-44 of the Test WES Posttest Editing User Guide.
Enrollment Errors
A common Posttest Editing error is “During the testing window, the student was not enrolled in this or any other district.” This error can sometimes be resolved by doing a “Find Enrollment Match” search, as it is often caused by enrollment errors. DACs should work with their district MARSS Coordinator to have updated enrollment data submitted by June 4. If the MARSS Coordinator is not able to see any errors, they should contact MDE MARSS at marss@state.mn.us.
Districts are required to attempt testing all students who are enrolled any time during the applicable testing window. However, only students who are enrolled on the first day of the testing window are required to have matching enrollment and assessment records due to participation requirements. This means a MARSS Enrollment Matching Issues discrepancy will appear if a student is enrolled on the first day of the testing window and an assessment record is not found. Refer to Chapter 9 of the Procedures Manual for additional information about student participation.
Notifying MDE
The following documentation must be reported to MDE by the end of the Posttest Editing window on Friday, June 5:
- Instances of plagiarism, if contacted by MDE.
- Out-of-grade-band assessment warnings for WIDA assessments, if contacted by MDE.
Full-time PSEO students where the college is paid directly by the district (Note: The deadline to submit documentation for full-time PSEO students is Wednesday, June 3). Refer to page 32 of the Test WES Posttest Editing User Guide for full details.
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The Secure Materials Status Report is now available for download in PearsonAccess Next under Published Reports. This report includes any secure test materials for MCA and MTAS/Alt MCA that have not been returned or scanned at the Pearson warehouse. If this report is not available for your district, that means Pearson received all your materials prior to the initial report being created in mid-May and there are no missing materials. The report will be updated nightly through mid-June as materials are scanned, and then weekly until Sept. 22. For more information, refer to Accessing the Secure Materials Status Report user guide.
Note: When Pearson receives the materials in the warehouse, it may take some time to scan the items. As of last week, Pearson has scanned all materials received at the warehouse. If any missing materials are still unaccounted for, Pearson will contact your district to request the return of the outstanding materials.
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The MCA and Alternate MCA Test Development team values collaborating with educators and community members interested in being part of annual committees that review test materials before they are added to the MCAs/Alt MCAs for field testing.
Committee member groups include:
- Science, math, and ELA classroom teachers with experience teaching the standards in grades 3-8 and high school
- Special education teachers—all licensures, but particularly teachers who work with students with significant cognitive disabilities to review the alternate assessment
- Multilingual learner educators
- Community members
Please consider sharing this registration link and summary with educators or community members to elevate more voices in this review process. By registering once in the database, individuals indicate interest in being invited to future committees. Invitations have been going out for summer committees based on expertise in grade level and content areas. Individuals can decline or accept invitations based on their availability.
Each MCA and Alternate MCA Review Committee meets virtually, typically 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m., for two to four days. Most committees occur from June to August, but there are also reading passage review committees that meet in February. Participants are paid a $160 honorarium per day for their participation, or the district or charter will be reimbursed for any substitute costs.
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As MDE or Pearson may need to contact districts this summer, please ensure that the DAC contact information is current in the Minnesota Department of Education-Organization Reference Glossary (MDE-ORG). If the primary DAC is not available this summer, please add an Alternate DAC who will be available.
All contact information in MDE-ORG is updated and maintained by the district’s Site Verification Coordinator (SVC). You can look up the SVC for your district in MDE-ORG. If the SVC has any questions about the process, they can contact mde.school-verify@state.mn.us for support.
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Academic Standards, Instruction and Assessment
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