January 12, 2017 | WDE Assessment Updates | Volume 5, Issue 45
 The testing window is January 16th - February 9th.
For grades 3 -10, the WY-TOPP interim assessments are optional, online adaptive assessments. For grades 1-2, the WY-TOPP winter interim is an optional, fixed-form assessment. For all grades, the interim assessment results are available immediately after students complete the assessment.
Link to the WY-TOPP Test Administration Manual for Interim and Modular Assessments.
Please note, your most severely cognitively disabled students should not take the WY-TOPP assessment. Starting in grade 3, your most severely cognitively disabled students will participate in the WY-ALT assessment.
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As you prepare to administer the WY-TOPP interim assessment and/or the WY-TOPP summative assessment, please remember to add/edit student information. Information for students in grades K-2 must be uploaded prior to testing day. Log in to TIDE to update or add student information. Here is the link to the Wyoming Assessment Portal. See pages 24 and 41-44 in the TIDE manual for guidance on uploading student information. Please call the help desk at 888-897-8024 if you have issues with your student upload. |
All educators must have access to TIDE in order to log in to the TA certification program. District Test Coordinators (DTC) have been given access to add USERS. DTCs can add Building Coordinators (BC) and Test Administrators (TA). BCs can also add TAs. Once you have been added as a USER, you will receive an email from AIR to reset your password. If you know you have been added, but you do not receive this email, please go to the TIDE login page and select "Forgot Your Password" or "Request a new one for this school year", and you should receive a new email.
All test administrators and proctors who plan to administer the WY-TOPP assessment during the 2017-2018 school year must complete the online Test Administrator Certification course. The course is approximately 30 minutes long and the Wyoming Department of Education will ask Building Coordinators to keep documentation of completion for their staff. Please follow this link to the AIR Wyoming Assessment Portal and you will find the Test Administration Certification button in the top row and second column.
- When a student comes to the end of the first segment on an ELA test with a writing prompt, then the student is presented with the review screen that includes all previous items with the title “You have reached the end of this segment.”
- When the student clicks next to go on, a confirmation comes up “You are leaving the current segment. Are you sure that you want to do this?”
- If the student clicks “yes”, then s/he will not be able to return to the previous segment.
- At this point, the TA must approve the student to move onto the next segment, the writing prompt. If the TA approves the student, then the student will be able to continue onto the writing prompt.
- If the TA does not approve the student, then the student’s test will be paused at that point – segment 1 completed and segment 2 not started – and the student will be logged out of the test.
- The student can resume testing at any time by logging in the same way, later that day or another day.
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Students who have TTS written into their IEP and/or 504 plan AND use it effectively and regularly during normal classroom instruction may have the items, passages, or both read to them for the ELA WY-TOPP testing (like with math and science). We encourage districts to keep in mind that text-to-speech should only be used with students who need such supports in order to access the assessment. To ensure test validity and reliability, text-to-speech for passages should only be used in instances in which the student has no access to written material. The WY-TOPP assessment measures English Language Arts comprehension which is a contextual shift from the PAWS strictly-reading assessment. To more thoroughly mimic how ELA is taught in the classroom, students with the accommodation documented in their IEPs and 504 Plans may receive the accommodation of having the items read to them, the passages read to them, or both as necessary, mimicking the instructional approaches taken in the classroom.
 The WY-TOPP modular assessments are optional online formative assessments for grades 1-10 and can be administered on-demand throughout the school year. Results from the modular assessments will be available immediately after students complete the assessment. Participating in modular assessments can help instructors inform instruction and help students and teachers gain familiarity with the online test platform and tools. All of the WY-TOPP assessments will be administered through the same platform. Grades 1 & 2 modular assessment blueprints have been added to the WDE and Wyoming Assessment Portal Site. Please click the links below to view the updated modular assessment blueprints.
ELA Modular Assessment Blueprint
Math Modular Assessment Blueprint
Teachers can use the Modular Previewing System to preview items prior to assigning a modular assessment to a student or a group of students.
Link to the WY-TOPP Test Administration Manual for Interim and Modular Assessments.
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The testing window is February 26th - March 28th.
In addition to attending a WY-ALT refresher training or a WY-ALT full day training, all test administrators and second scorers must review WY-ALT manuals prior to administering and scoring the exam. Here is a link to WY-ALT manuals and user guides from the Wyoming Assessment Portal.
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 The testing window is January 23rd - February 27th.
All students identified as an English Language Learner must be assessed annually in the language domains of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. EL students who also have an IEP or 504 plan may use documented accommodations on the ACCESS 2.0 assessment. IEP and 504 teams do not determine if a student will participate in the exam. These teams determine how a student will participate in the ACCESS 2.0 assessment.
Test materials will arrive starting Monday, January 8th. There will be overage provided for both the district and the school. Should the shipment, including the overage, still fall short of the need, the window for supplemental orders will also be open at that time.
You can set up test sessions in the WIDA
AMS. The window for test session setup is from 12-4-17 to 2-27-18. Please
note, that campuses may add newly enrolled EL students to test sessions who
were not classified as ELs on the 684 file that was submitted in October.
Please click on the link to view the WIDA AMS User Guide.
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EL Test Coordinators and
Technology Coordinators should collaborate to perform all necessary tasks to
support ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 administration in districts and schools. Here is a link to a quick reference guide that can be used by District Technology Coordinators in
preparation for the upcoming ACCESS testing window. This document will
guide you through your TSMs and configurations setup for the
online testing system before the first day of testing. |
LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER!
Participants will receive PTSB credit for attending.
January 17-18 in Casper
This two-day learning opportunity, presented by Suzanne Johar from WIDA, will enhance participants' lesson planning processes. Specifically, participants will focus on creating contexts for meaningful language use within settings that integrate content and academic language learning. Throughout this process, participants will explore elements of the WIDA Standards Framework in depth as they design instruction that promotes students' content learning and language development. Registration will open soon.
Please contact Antoinette Hallam at 777-5217, if you have questions about the workshop.
If you would like to participate, please contact Alex Bauer at 1-608- 265-0601 or email alex.bauer@wisc.edu as soon as possible.
As we prepare for the third operational year of the ACCESS 2.0 assessment, the department would like to share with you the details of an upcoming writing field test for the computer-based ACCESS for ELLs 2.0. This will be the only field test for this year, and it is on a volunteer basis and may be administered before or after a student completes the operational test. This field test gives students and administrators practice and preparation for testing.
- Testing time will be approximately 20-30 minutes and participating campuses will receive a small stipend for school supplies.
- Students in grades 1-3 may test November 14, 2017 through February 16, 2018. (All students in grades 1-3 will hand write their responses)
- The window for grades 4-12 is December 4, 2017 through March 2, 2018. (All students in grades 4-12 will keyboard their responses)
WIDA states are held to the following U.S. Department of Education Peer Review Guidance.
- Must provide evidence of appropriate field testing
- Field test student sample must be representative of the “population” of final test takers (of adequate size and diversity).
Thank you for your continued dedication and effort supporting the development of ACCESS for ELLs 2.0. Please contact Antoinette Hallam at 777-5217 with questions regarding Wyoming state policy for the ACCESS 2.0 assessment.
The 2017-2018 ACT administration will include Writing. Pursuant to Wyoming Law W.S.21-2-202(xxx) "The college entrance examination shall at a minimum test in the areas of English, reading, writing, and mathematics for all students in grade eleven (11) or twelve (12)."
 ACT will host two Q&A webinars for Building Test Coordinators and District Test Coordinators. Topics that will be discussed during the webinar include:
- Staff and facility requirements
- Preparation activities, such as handling test materials and completing the examinee non-test information
- Managing information in PearsonAccessnextTM
- Test day policies and procedures
- Returning test materials
- Topics specific to your testing program
You must register 48 hours before the session start time.
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Monday, January 29, 3:30-4:30
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Wednesday, February 28, 3:30-4:30 |
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November 6-February 2: ACT Request ACT-approved accommodations window
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December 4-February 2: ACT Install ProctorCache software and setup proctor cache
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January 8-12: ACCESS 2.0 Paper materials will be delivered to district offices
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January 8: WY-ALT Test Administrator Training in Sheridan 9:00 - 4:00
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January 9: WY-ALT Test Administrator Training in Riverton 9:00 - 4:00
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January 10: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training in Riverton 9:00 - 12:00 p.m.
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January 10: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training in Riverton 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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January 12: WY-ALT Test Administrator Training in Green River 9:00 - 4:00
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January 16-February 9: WY-TOPP Winter Interim window (Grades 1-10)
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January 16-February 2: ACT Verify student information in PAnext
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January 17-18: WIDA Lesson Planning Workshop in Casper
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January 22: WY-ALT Initial ordering window closes
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January 29: ACT Standard Administration Q&A webinar @ 3:30 p.m.
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January 22-23: Casper - Phase I & II Literacy and Formative Assessment Workshop
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January 23-February 27: ACCESS 2.0 testing window
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January 24: WY-ALT Test Administrator Training in Cheyenne 9:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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January 25: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training in Cheyenne 9:00 - 12:00 p.m.
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January 25: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training in Cheyenne 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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January 29-30: Casper - Phase III The Art and Science of Teaching, Unit 2
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January 30: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training Webinar 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
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February 1: WY-ALT TA Refresher Training Webinar 9:00 - 12:00 p.m.
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February 1-2: Green River - Phase III The Art and Science of Teaching, Unit 2
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February 2: ACT Deadline for accommodations approval
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February 26-March 28: WY-ALT testing window (Grades 3-11)
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February 28: ACT Standard Administration Q&A webinar @ 3:30 p.m.
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March 3-9: WorkKeys Window to order paper materials
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March 3-9: WorkKeys Schools will receive online testing realm email and information
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March 5-30: WY-TOPP paper test initial order window
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March 20: Option 1 - ACT paper test day
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April 2-6: WorkKeys Schools will receive paper test materials
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April 3: Option 2 - ACT paper test day
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April 3-5 and 10-12: Option 3 - ACT online testing window
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April 16-25: WY-TOPP paper test late order window
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April 16-May 11: WY-TOPP Interim Spring window (Grades K-2)
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April 16-May 11: WY-TOPP Summative testing window (Grades 3-10)
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April 17-May 1: WorkKeys testing window (Grades 11-12)
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