April 5, 2019 | WDE Assessment Updates | Volume 6, Issue 98
April 26-27, 2019 in Casper
The Wyoming ESL Conference will provide forums for disseminating and sharing of information among K-12 teachers, dual language immersion and ESL teachers, administrators, community program teachers, and graduate students involved in teaching English as a second language and dual language instruction. For more information, please contact conference chairs Dr. Jenna Shim (jshim@uwyo.edu) or Kim Jones (kim811@myncsd.org).
Session topics include:
- The methodology used for accountability to measure English learners who are making progress towards achieving English language proficiency.
- Expected English Learner progress will be defined for individual ELs.
- Targets set for individual schools will be defined.
- Definition of English Proficient will be described along with supporting evidence for this definition
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Districts are required to identify EL students who did not complete the ACCESS assessment by submitting a Student Not Tested Form for each student not tested. Under ESSA, districts are required to annually assess the English proficiency of students identified as ELs and track their progress in the state’s accountability system. Districts will receive a list of students to verify which students did not test during the 2018-2019 ACCESS testing window.
Contact Antoinette Hallam (307-777-5217 or antoinette.hallam@wyo.gov) if you have any questions.
WIDA and DRC is retiring the Testing Site Manager (TSM) and implementing Central Office Services-Service Device (COS-SD) for the ACCESS for ELLs Online and WIDA Screener Online administrations.
Please note:
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May 15, 2019 - All states will start the transition. COS-SD and its supporting documentation will be available in WIDA AMS for download.
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June 27, 2019 - TSM will no longer be available.
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August 15, 2019 - TSM will no longer be supported.
To help districts prepare for these changes, WIDA and DRC will be hosting a series of webinars geared to technology coordinators on the following dates:
- Monday, April 8 at 10:00 a.m. CT
- Wednesday, June 12 at 10:00 a.m. CT
- Thursday, August 1 at 10:00 a.m. CT
Login information is located on the WIDA Q&A Webinars 2018-2019 for Technology Coordinators Schedule. Please contact DRC Customer Support with any questions at WIDA@DataRecognitionCorp.com or 1-855-787-9615.
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A change has been made to how homeschool students must be identified in a school's School Information System (SIS) if a school allows homeschool students to test on site during the WY-TOPP window. All homeschool students must be entered into the host school's SIS for nightly upload as a primary enrolled student with the homeschool indicator even if they are not attending classes.
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Follow this link to the Quality Assurance Checklist. The Wyoming Department of Education will be using the Quality Assurance Checklist when conducting test site visits. The purpose of the visit will be to observe test security practices and answer any questions school staff may have about statewide assessment. Principals were contacted to schedule test site visits for the spring WY-TOPP administration. Contact Catherine Palmer at 307-777-5296 or catherine.palmer@wyo.gov, if you have any questions regarding the checklist. |
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It is very important to maintain test item security before, during, and after test administration. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) suggests that campuses communicate a strict policy for communication devices during testing. For campuses that do not have cell phone or communication device policy, Follow this link to an example of a communication device policy that can be read or distributed to faculty, staff, and students during state testing. |
As the WDE prepares for WY-TOPP, it has been determined that some students are mislabeled or missing from schools’ informational systems (SIS). This is a reminder that students who attend a school should have a primary enrollment at that school even if they are homeschooled or have been placed within an institution. Reminder: Accountability for the state is pulled using the information within the WDE684 file. The primary enrollment information is primarily used for uploading students within the assessment system. Please double check your systems to ensure your files are clean and complete to help in our efforts to produce valid and reliable data throughout the state.
All 11th and 12th grade students have the opportunity to take the ACT WorkKeys assessment
After successfully completing Applied Math, Graphic Literacy, and Workplace Documents portions of the WorkKeys assessment, students will earn the ACT NCRC certificate.
This spring, Wyoming schools will have an opportunity to administer the ACT WorkKeys Assessment in the following window:
Test Mode and Test Window
ACT WorkKeys - Online April 16-30, 2019
ACT WorkKeys - Paper April 16-30, 2019
Building coordinators should have received an email from ACT WorkKeys. The communication included information about the ordering paper window, online testing realm set up, training, etc.
Key information to keep in mind about ACT WorkKeys:
If you have not received any information regarding ACT WorkKeys please call Jeremiah Barnhart at 319-337-1386.
Training - Attend one of ACT WorkKeys’ webinars. ACT offers recorded and live webinars on topics such as Introductions to ACT WorkKeys Online Test Administration, ACT WorkKeys Test Administration Training for Paper Testing, Explore What’s Changed with ACT WorkKeys, etc.
To view or register for a training please follow the link here.
For more detailed information please refer to the Wyoming- ACT WorkKeys Schedule of Events and the Wyoming's ACT State testing Website.
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Preliminary WY-ALT scores will not be immediately available after test administration is completed during the 2019 test window. This summer, WDE will be hosting teacher committees for Standard Setting to establish cut scores and determine the minimum performance required for levels of achievement on the alternate assessment. Anticipated release of official WY-ALT scores is mid-August.
If you would like to participate in the Standard Setting process, please submit your information by 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2019, for consideration.
The WDE Test Security Agreement has been updated for grades K-2 to reflect the unique testing environment. Please update your test security agreements for the appropriate grade-level. There has been no change for the Test Security Agreement (Grades 3 -10).
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February 25-April 17: WY-ALT additional paper response options ordering window
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March 4-29: WY-TOPP and WY-ALT address verification window
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March 4-29: WY-TOPP paper order window
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March 11-April 24: WY-ALT online assessment window (Grades 3-10)
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April 2: ACT paper test day (Grade 11)
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April 2-4, 9-11: ACT online test window (Grade 11)
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April 15-26: WY-TOPP additional paper form ordering window
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April 15-May 10: WY-TOPP Spring Summative window (Grades 3-10)
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April 15-May 10: WY-TOPP Spring Interim window (Grades K-2)
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April 16-30: WorkKeys assessment window (Grades 11 & 12)
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April 26-27: Wyoming English as a Second Language Conference - Casper
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May 21: ACCESS 2.0 Interpreting Score Reports for Instruction Workshop - Casper
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May 22: ACCESS 2.0 Interpreting Score Reports for Instruction Workshop - Riverton
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