Student Assessment
2011-2012 ISBE Funded EXPLORE and PLAN PROCEDURES and PROTOCOL
Introduction
Similar to last year, all Illinois public schools will be able to provide one administration of the EXPLORE and PLAN program to students at no cost to the district.
Districts will have the flexibility to decide whether to administer EXPLORE to students in grade 8 or 9 and PLAN to students in grade 9 or 10. The reporting package for both programs includes student score reports and labels, student list report, profile summary report (by school), item-response summary report (by school) and an interpretive guide, data file with school norms and a district data file with both school and district norms.
As with last year, included with the EXPLORE and PLAN programs for all public schools will be a state license for ACT Online Prep through May 31, 2013.
ISBE-funding of public school EXPLORE and PLAN orders will be contingent on the use of ACT’s Pre-ID service which must include state student identification (SSID) numbers which come from the Student Information System (SIS). This service is available from ACT free of charge.
ISBE is offering a method for schools and districts to obtain student names, birthdates, grade levels, and state student identification numbers through its Student Information System to be used in conjunction with the ACT Pre-ID ordering system. Obtaining these variables from ISBE is optional, but ordering both materials and Pre-ID labels through ACT’s online ordering system is required.
Pre-ID files submitted to ACT must comply with the specified file layout (different layouts are used for EXPLORE and PLAN), and must be validated and encrypted prior to submission of the file to ACT. To learn more about ACT’s Pre-ID service, please use the link below: http://www.act.org/education/order/preid/index.html
Notice to High School Districts
Through the ISBE funded EXPLORE/PLAN program school districts may only order tests and obtain test results for their current students. Therefore, via the ISBE funded EXPLORE/PLAN program, a high school district may not order EXPLORE tests, nor receive test results directly from ACT for eighth grade students who are not currently enrolled in their high school district.
Ordering Materials
ACT has created an EXPLORE and PLAN Online Order Process for districts participating in ISBE-Funded testing. Please note that under the contract with the Illinois State Board of Education, this order process can be used only by Illinois public school districts to test students enrolled in public schools.
(Note: this web-based order system requires that you are using Internet Explorer version 7 or higher. If you’re using an earlier version of Internet Explorer, please contact Customer Services for assistance in placing your order).
As you complete the order process, please keep the following in mind:
- To order materials as part of the ISBE-funded EXPLORE and PLAN programs, you must create an account with ACT.
- After your account has been created, you may order EXPLORE or PLAN materials.
- You may begin placing orders starting August 8, 2011.
- Orders should be placed four (4) weeks before materials are needed.
- To qualify for the ISBE funded EXPLORE and PLAN testing program, you must order and use ACT’s Pre-ID label service.
- ISBE will fund EXPLORE testing for either 8th or 9th grade students and PLAN testing for either 9th or 10th grade students.
- After an order has been submitted, you will need to contact Customer Services to make changes.
- District level aggregate reports will be produced 75 days from the latest material ship date of the participating school(s) in your district. It is your responsibility to ensure that schools return answer documents in sufficient time so they are included in the reports.
- EXPLORE orders must be placed separately from PLAN orders.
- If you have questions about your order, please contact ACT Customer Services at 800/553-6244 ext. 1892 (EXPLORE) or ext. 1029 (PLAN) for assistance.
Ordering EXPLORE/PLAN Pre-ID Labels
The 2010-11 ISBE-funded EXPLORE/PLAN program requires you to order and use Pre-ID labels. EXPLORE/PLAN Pre-ID labels help schools and districts save time, help ensure the accuracy of reporting and correctly capture student state ID numbers.
- Directions for obtaining a file from ISBE containing student names, birthdates, grade levels, and state student identification numbers to be used for ordering Pre-ID labels from ACT
- Ensure students are enrolled in the Student Information System at ISBE for the grades to be tested for EXPLORE and/or PLAN
- Log into IWAS
- Select “System Listing”
- Under Reporting and Monthly, Select “Student Information System”
- On Left, select “Request File”
- From Dropdown Menu, select Explore or Plan
- Select Grade(s) to be tested
- Select “Request File” (File will be processed. An email will be sent to your IWAS account when it is ready)
- Select “Download File”
- Select file for download. Files are listed chronologically with the most recent on the top of the list
- Save file to your computer in a location where it is accessible – this file contains student names, birthdates, grade levels, and state student identification numbers (You will still need to add other information to the template, such as ACT school codes and optional information like student home addresses)
- Go to http://www.act.org/education/order/preid/index.html to access the ACT template
- Follow ACT’s directions on opening their templates
- Continue to follow ACT’s directions on completing the ordering of materials
If you have any questions regarding obtaining the state provided file, call the SIS Help Desk at (217) 558-3600.
If you have questions regarding ordering materials or how to complete the ACT templates for the Pre-ID labels, please contact EXPLORE Customer Services at 800-553-6244 ext.1892 and/or PLAN Customer Services at 800-553-6244 ext.1029.
Illinois ACT Online Prep
For further information, please contact Andy Metcalf at 866-317-6034, or email at lmetcalf@isbe.net.
