The Purpose of Summative Assessments

As the summative assessment windows quickly approach, the WDE would like to remind everyone of the purpose of the WY-TOPP State Summative Assessment. There are a variety of assessments, all with different intended purposes. Schools and districts have screener assessments, district assessments, formative assessments, benchmark assessments, interim assessments, and summative assessments, which mostly serve the purpose of informing instruction and getting a pulse on student achievement at that point in time.

Summative assessments serve a number of purposes. They are aligned to grade-level standards and are built to determine the knowledge a student has acquired by the end of each school year and to provide student performance data which help drive school improvement. 

This year the summative assessment is particularly important in providing additional baselines for Growth and Equity. Growth provides a ranking of student performance scores when compared to the scores of their academic peers. Score history is important for determining growth measures. Due to COVID-19, there is a gap in student trend information due to the lack of spring 2020 results. Where possible, testing must occur in the upcoming assessment windows to provide the data necessary for calculating Growth. 

Additionally, the state summative can provide valuable information for determining possible gaps in learning that have occurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This may be useful for educators and the state in making future decisions

Please know that the state will assess to the greatest extent possible while keeping everyone safe and healthy. This means all students who can test must test.

For more information, contact Jessica Steinbrenner, WDE Assessment Supervisor , at 307-777-8568 or jessica.steinbrenner@wyo.gov.

ACT has provided updated Schedules-of-Events for the 2020-21 test administration cycle. These schedules contain administration dates for ordering and shipping materials, requesting accommodations, webinars about accommodations and tech readiness, etc. 

Please select the following links for additional information regarding The ACT and WorkKeys (Online and Paper) milestone dates.

For more information, contact Michelle Carroll, WDE Assessment Consultant, at 307-777-3618 or michelle.carroll@wyo.gov.

Selecting Paper Option Three

Schools interested in testing using the third window for ACT will find that option is not accessible in PANext. For schools planning to use the third window for all of their ACT testing, please use the instructions below. This will register your school for testing and give you the option to order materials for the third window. The deadline for submission is by the end of the Manage Participation window.

1. Start by selecting the second window for testing. This will allow ACT to set up your school for testing in the spring.
2. Email Jessica Steinbrenner at jessica.steinbrenner@wyo.gov and give her the populations you intend to test during the third window. Are you testing all of your students? Those with accommodations, those without? The shipment for the second window will be held and ACT will set up shipment for the third window instead.
3. After the second ACT window, check to ensure the materials in the system are logged for the appropriate number of assessments and track the shipping of these materials in PANext.

For more information, contact Jessica Steinbrenner, WDE Assessment Supervisor, at 307-777-8568 or jessica.steinbrenner@wyo.gov.

From 3:45-5 p.m. MST on November 19, 2020

Join WDE for the English Learner (EL) Quarterly Webinar. This webinar is designed to provide up-to-date clarifying information and specific details on revisions to English Learner (EL) and Title III programs, processes, and documents. Sessions will offer guidance on a number of topics specific to all districts serving ELs. Q&A session to follow.

Click here to join the Zoom Meeting.

For more information, contact Antoinette Hallam, WDE EL Consultant at 307-777-5217 or antoinette.hallam@wyo.gov.

New Test Administrators

From Noon-1 p.m. MST on November 17, 2020

This webinar will provide an overview of Kindergarten ACCESS for ELLs, including: 

• Scheduling. 
• Basics of administration.
• Review of training resources.

Click here to join webinar.

From 9-10 a.m. MST November 20, 2020

This webinar will provide an overview of Alternate ACCESS for ELLs to support understanding and implementation. During this webinar, test administrators will explore how the WIDA Standards and Assessment System is connected to Alternate ACCESS for ELLs. This is not a replacement for the online training course. Time is built into the webinar for participants to ask questions.

Participants will learn how to:

• Schedule testing.
• Administer and score this assessment.
• Locate training resources.

For more information, contact Antoinette Hallam, WDE EL Consultant at 307-777-5217 or antoinette.hallam@wyo.gov.

Click here to join webinar.

The Updated Supported System Requirements for ACCESS for ELLs Online and WIDA Screener Online have been posted to WIDA AMS. These system requirements are valid for October 2020 - February 2021. Major changes include: 

• DRC has ended support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 as of October 31, 2020. 
• iPad OS 14: DRC anticipates moving iPad OS 14.x to full support in November 2020.
• iPad OS 12: With Apple’s introduction of iPad OS 14, DRC will end support for iPad OS 12 in December 2020. 
• DRC has added Ubuntu 20.04 LTS to the list of fully supported operating systems. 

Contact DRC Customer Support at wida@datarecognitioncorp.com or 855-787-9615 with any questions or Antoinette Hallam, WDE EL Consultant at 307-777-5217 or antoinette.hallam@wyo.gov.