Assessment Newsletter (Volume 5, Issue 11)

Wyoming Department of Education sent this bulletin at 03/24/2017 12:08 PM MDT

Update from the Wyoming Department of Education  |  view online |  website

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March 24, 2017  |  WDE Assessment Updates  |  Volume 5, Issue 11

PAWS: Material Return

 

Today, March 24, is the last day of the PAWS testing window. Please return your PAWS scorable and non-scorable items as soon as possible. Your materials must be shipped by March 29. 

ACT Aspire: Training Materials

Please see the Wyoming Avocet Website to print administration manuals and access resources for the ACT Aspire administration. 

ACT Aspire: Important Dates

March 31: Deadline to conduct online readiness testing
April 3 - 7: (paper/pencil) Campuses receive paper accommodated materials
April 7: Last day to create Online test sessions and set up Proctor Cache
April 10 - May 3: Administration Window Open

View the ACT Aspire administration Checklist for Success! 

ACT: Important Dates

March 13 - April 14: Approved accommodations late consideration window
April 3 -7: Campuses receive initial shipments of secure and non-secure material
April 3 - 18: (paper/pencil) window to conduct pretest sessions and proctor training
April 3 - May 8: (online) window to conduct pretest sessions
April 12: (online) Deadline for Tech Coordinator to perform final system check
April 14: Accommodations late consideration deadline
April 14 - May 3: (online) Window to precache test content before test day
April 19: (paper/pencil) Administration Day
April 19 - May 3: (online) Administration Window Open 

ACT: Announcements

  1. Materials will be delivered on March 27th or April 3rd depending on your choice in PAnext
  2. Prearranged material pick-ups are scheduled on April 20th and May 4th depending on your scheduled test date.
  3. Students should complete the pre-test section prior to the scheduled test date. 
  4. Student data was pulled from PAnext on March 16.
  5. Call Jeremiah Barnhart 1-319-337-1386 if you have issues with the ProctorCache software.
  6. If you want to change a student from paper testing to online testing, please call Jeremiah Barnhart 1-319-337-1386. 
  7. 2017-2018 Test Dates
    -Paper Testing Date April 3
    -Online Test Dates April 3 - April 12 (Tues, Wed, Thur. only)

WorkKeys: Important Dates


April 3 - 7: (paper/pencil) Campuses receive paper materials
April 12: Deadline to place a late order of testing materials
April 10 - May 3: Testing Window

 

WELCOME: Will Woods is the new EL & Foreign Language Consultant

The Standards and Assessment Division welcomes its newest member to the team, Will Woods. Will is the EL and Foreign Language Consultant and comes to us from Colorado where he taught for seven years. Most of this time was focused on work with ELs, including work in biliteracy programs and as an ELD instructional coach, but he also had a stint teaching Spanish at the elementary level. Originally from Dallas, Texas, Will graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BS in Bilingual Education and a BA in Linguistics, and recently finished his masters in ESL.

 Will Woods

New Assessment System 2017-2022

There are a lot of questions around the new assessment system including what it will look like and when it will be administered.  We are in contract negotiations with American Institutes for Research (AIR) for the Gr. 1-10 assessments and with ACT for the College and Career Readiness Assessments.  Once those contracts are in place, we will communicate further information to the school districts.  This will occur before the end of the school year so you can have time to plan for the next school year.  You can find some preliminary information on our State Assessment System webpage.


Further information including timeline of availability (interim), testing dates, and technology specifications will be sent to the districts once we have our contracts in place.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES

  • March 13 - April 14: ACT Approved accommodations late consideration window
  • March 31: ACT Aspire deadline to conduct online readiness testing
  • April 3 - 7: ACT Aspire (paper/pencil) Campuses receive paper accommodated materials
  • April 3 -7: ACT Campuses receive initial shipments of secure and non-secure material
  • April 3 - 7: WorkKeys (paper/pencil) Campuses receive paper materials
  • April 3 - 18: ACT (paper/pencil) window to conduct pretest sessions and proctor training
  • April 3 - May 8: ACT (online) window to conduct pretest sessions
  • April 7: ACT Aspire last day to create Online test sessions and set up Proctor Cache
  • April 10 - May 3: ACT Aspire Administration Window Open
  • April 12: ACT (online) Deadline for Tech Coordinator to perform final system check
  • April 12: WorkKeys Deadline to place a late order of testing materials
  • April 14: ACT Accommodations late consideration deadline
  • April 14 - May 3: ACT (online) Window to precache test content before test day
  • April 19: (paper/pencil)ACT Administration 
  • April 19 - May 3: (online) ACT Administration Window Open