Student Assessment
EXPLORE/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. Similar to last year, the reporting package for both programs has been enhanced to include Item Response Reports, Local Norms and a School Data CD.
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, 2011.
ISBE-funding of public school EXPLORE and PLAN orders will be contingent on the use of ACT’s Pre-ID service beginning January 1, 2009. This service is available 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 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.
Ordering Materials
ACT has created an EXPLORE and PLAN District Online Order Process for 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. The testing window is September 8, 2009 through May 7, 2010, and orders for materials must be placed before March 26, 2010. Pre-ID labels must be ordered through ACT and affixed to answer documents to be eligible for ISBE-funding of EXPLORE or PLAN. Any answer document received after May 14, 2010 will not be scored.
As you complete the order process, please keep the following in mind:
- You may begin placing orders immediately.
- Orders should be placed four (4) weeks before materials are needed. Materials will arrive by the date you indicate on the order form that they are needed.
- To qualify for the ISBE funded EXPLORE and PLAN testing program, you must order and use ACT’s free of charge 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. Districts wanting to test “off-grade” or multiple grades for either EXPLORE or PLAN must place a separate order outside of this process.
- Your district order must include ALL schools that will be testing. After an order has been submitted, you will need to contact Customer Services to make changes. (Only students enrolled in public schools are eligible to test as part of ISBE-funded EXPLORE and PLAN.)
- Only those schools included in your district order will be reflected in aggregate reporting for your district.
- As part of the ISBE-funded program, you will receive the Enhanced Reporting Package.
- EXPLORE orders must be placed separately from PLAN orders.
Go to http://www.act.org/education/order and follow the instructions below to place your order(s):
Select the name of the test you want to place an order for, either EXPLORE or PLAN, click the first radio button to indicate you are placing a "District Order", and provide the appropriate access code:
- EXPLORE Access Code: IL114E
- PLAN Access Code: IL114P
Click on “Place a District Order” and proceed with the following six steps to submit your order for processing!
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Step One:
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On the "1. Package Selection" screen, read and agree to the District Participation Agreement.
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Step Two:
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Complete the "2. School Order Details" screens. Complete orders for ALL schools in your district that will be testing. Use the "Save and Add Another School" button if you are ordering for multiple schools; if ordering for only one school, or when finished placing orders for ALL schools in your district, click "Save School and Continue". You’ll be taken to an order summary screen and asked to indicate an "Answer Document Return Deadline (for ALL schools)". Indicate the date on which the answer documents from ALL schools will have been returned to ACT. District level reporting will automatically commence from this date.
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Step Three:
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Specify district information on the "3. District Details" screen.
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Step Four:
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Provide district level shipping information (street addresses only) on the "4. Shipping" screen.
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Step Five:
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Review your district’s order on "5. Review Order" screen. You may edit your order from this screen. When you are done, be sure to click the "Place Order" button.
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Step Six:
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Print the final screen "6. Order Confirmation" and retain for your records. Under "What’s Next?" on the confirmation page, click "Order Pre-ID Labels". Follow the instructions for ordering your labels or go to http://www.act.org/education/order/preid/index.html after placing your order. Please remember that you must use Pre-ID labels to participate in the ISBE-funded program.
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You will receive an e-mail from ACT that confirms your order has been received.
If you have questions concerning this order process, please contact EXPLORE Customer Services at 800-553-6244 ext.1892 and/or PLAN Customer Services at 800-553-6244 ext.1029.
Ordering EXPLORE/PLAN Pre-ID Labels
The 2009-10 ISBE-funded EXPLORE/PLAN program requires 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
- Illinois ACT Online Prep School Version Order Form (Posted 08.07.09)
- Frequently Asked Questions (Posted 08.07.09)
For further information, please contact Andy Metcalf at 217-782-4823, or email at lmetcalf@isbe.net.
