April 14, 2017 | WDE Assessment Updates | Volume 5, Issue 14
WDE is pleased to announce a competition to name the new statewide assessment system that will replace PAWS and be administered next school year. All Wyoming students are invited to submit their name suggestions at the link below. Entries may be submitted by individual students or classes of students through May 12th. The competition is limited to one submission per email address.
The winning name will be announced by May 26th. The school district of the winning name will receive a box of books and goods, and the student or classroom will also receive a prize.
Contest Submission Link
 June 19th - UW at Casper College
The WDE is in the process of establishing a committee to meet, discuss, and gather feedback on the upcoming 9th and 10th grade state summative assessments which will be administered spring 2018. This committee will look at the standards, consider concept specifics for each grade, and identify areas that can be assessed, as well as how to differentiate between the two grades. This meeting will start the discussion, and the committee may need to have future meetings depending on the decisions made at this initial meeting.
We are looking for high school educators in the areas of math, science, and ELA. Committee members will receive a stipend for this work. Those interested can apply to serve on this committee by answering a brief survey.
Take the Survey.
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 With the opening of the ACT Aspire testing window, WDE and ACT Aspire are providing a “Boots On The Ground” service to Wyoming schools administering the test from April 17- April 21, 2017. We highly encourage you to use the ACT Aspire Wyoming-based support team during this week to help you with test administration or to troubleshoot any assessment-related issues your school may encounter.
As the ACT Aspire team travels around Wyoming supporting various schools, the support team may stop by your school to answer any questions and to ensure that the test administration is going well.
If you need on-site support from April 17 - April 21, please contact Crissy Evans at crissy.evans@pearson.com or 319-400-7797. You may also contact Ligeia Pennington at ligeia.pennington@pearson.com or 319-800-1673.
For general administration support, please continue to contact ACT Aspire Customer Service at 888.802.7502.
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 Please see the correspondence from ACT regarding makeup test materials.
To order makeup test materials, follow the instructions in the Ordering Additional Materials Guide. Please note the “Makeup Orders” section in this document which discusses some differences for makeup materials available in PearsonAccessnextTM.
You can also watch the following video about ordering these materials:
Ordering Additional ACT Materials
Note: You must place an order for one “makeup kit” for each examinee testing on the makeup test date. Pay attention to the instructions in the Ordering Additional Materials Guide and the relevant screens in PearsonAccessnext.
Note: Please remember to verify student information in PearsonAccessnext for those examinees scheduled for makeup testing. If this information needs updating, refer to the “How to Submit a Request to Enroll or Unenroll an Examinee” section of the Using PearsonAccessnext™ for the ACT® Test document.
Window to Order Makeup Materials April 19 – 21, 2017
Window to Order Additional Makeup Materials (if needed, after the initial makeup ordering window closes) April 24 – 26, 2017
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If you were involved with administering or coordinating ACCESS testing, and haven't had the chance already, please take the time to answer WIDA's survey about your testing experiences with ACCESS 2.0. Please forward it to others in your district as needed. The ACCESS 2.0 LEA Survey contains questions specific to the roles of Test Coordinator, Test Administrator, and Technology Coordinator and targets the topics of customer service, training, and technology. Aggregate results from the survey will be reported at the WIDA Annual Board Meeting, and individual results will be available by state. WIDA will use the results to help make decisions regarding future enhancements and development. Thank you!
NEW Wyoming Assessment System
AIR Supported Operating Systems*
*More information will be available in May.
The deadline to submit exemption requests for ACT and Aspire is April 19, 2017.
WDE is accepting exemption requests in the following three categories:
- Students who are expelled (or suspended pending expulsion) but still receiving services from the district
- Students who are served in out of state placements
- Students who are ELLs who have been in US schools for less than a year (students must participate in the ACCESS in order to receive the exemption, and they are still required to participate in math (and science, if applicable)
The updated WDE673 form can be found here. To ensure confidentiality of these sensitive materials, the only method for submission of the WDE673 form and associated documentation is via the Wyoming Transcript Center. Faxes and mail are not acceptable methods of submission. Step-by-step instructions for the upload process can be found here.
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March 13 - April 14: ACT Approved accommodations late consideration window
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April 3 - 18: ACT (paper/pencil) window to conduct pretest sessions and proctor training
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April 3 - May 8: ACT (online) window to conduct pretest sessions
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April 10 - May 3: ACT Aspire Administration Window Open
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April 14: ACT Accommodations late consideration deadline
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April 14 - May 3: ACT (online) Window to precache test content before test day
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April 19: (paper/pencil)ACT Administration
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April 19 - 21: ACT Window for test coordinator to submit makeup orders
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April 19 - May 2: ACT Window to conduct pretest sessions for makeup test date
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April 19 - May 3: (online) ACT Administration Window Open
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April 19 - May 3: WorkKeys testing Window Open
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April 20: ACT Test coordinators return initial test date material
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April 24 - 26: ACT Window to add additional students to PAnext
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April 28: Deadline for ACT to receive answer documents form initial test date
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May 3: ACT (online) Deadline for schools to create and assign test sessions for online testing
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May 4: WorkKeys (paper/pencil) Test coordinators return paper test materials
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May 12: Deadline for ACT Aspire to receive paper materials
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