Student Assessment Listserv

• Fifteen-Year-Old Students with Disabilities (with an IEP)
  The following policy for testing pertains to 105 ILCS 5/14-6.01 of the school code. Fifteen-year-old students with disabilities who are enrolled in an elementary district become accountable to the high school district (according to school code). The high school district becomes financially responsible for the student. The high school district is also responsible for the educational program of the student. The law only pertains to elementary districts that feed into a separate high school district. It does not pertain to unit districts.
  In response to questions from school district staff regarding testing accountability, the following must occur for students, who are 15 years old (the student turns 15 on or before April 23, 2019), attend an elementary district, and have an IEP:
  • The home school (in SIS enrollment) must be the high school in the high school district
  • The serving school (in SIS enrollment) may remain as the school in the elementary school district, if still applicable.
  • The student must be enrolled in grade 9.
  • Grade 9 students take the PSAT 8/9 assessment, or the grade 9 DLM-AA assessment, and possibly the science assessment.
  • It is recommended that an IEP meeting be called to make these changes.
• - Public Comment for Proposed Rule Changes to the State School Code - Section 1.30 State Assessment
  The link below contains proposed rule changes to the State Code that are available for public comment. Of note is proposed language related to the high school assessment and student graduation requirements.
  https://www.isbe.net/Documents/1-wf-Assessment-Updates.pdf
  Public comment may be submitted on any item for which the deadline has not yet passed, either via e-mail (addressed to rules@isbe.net) or via standard mail (addressed to Lindsay M. Bentivegna, Agency Rules Coordinator, ISBE, 100 North First Street - E-222, Springfield, Illinois 62777-0001).
• – 1^st Year in US Status
  Students with 1^st Year in US status will take the math, ELA, and science (if applicable to the grade or course) assessments. The scores the students receive will not be used in the calculation for district and school accountability.​​
• 2018-19 State Assessment Dates
• ​New Support and Accountability Resources
  Illinois’ system of support and accountability helps us identify which schools need the greatest assistance to meet our shared goals. The system launches statewide with the 2018 Illinois Report Card. ISBE is sending a series of emails leading up to Oct. 31 to ensure you have the information you need about the Report Card, IL-EMPOWER, and summative designations. View past emails, or subscribe. Please share these emails and materials with your networks. We are grateful for your partnership to build a fairer system to support the whole child, whole school, and whole community.
• Student Assessment Webinar Dates for fall 2018
  The scheduled day and time is Friday from 10 – 11 a.m.
  • November 9^th
  • November 30^th
    
  • December 14^th
• Registration - Illinois Assessment Update Webinars – Nov. 9, 2018
• Recorded Assessment Webinars​
• SIS Help Desk – 217-558-3600, option 3

IAR (Illinois Assessment of Readiness)

• Students Must Test On Grade
  Beginning in 2019, students must test on grade. Students who have been accelerated in mathematics (for example), will not be able to take a high school course assessment (e.g., Algebra I assessment).​​
• Notice of Award for Illinois Assessment of Readiness (3-8) Provider
  ISBE has posted a letter announcing a notice of award that has been posted (reference #22041975) for the state’s procurement of an administration, scoring, reporting, and development vendor. The Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) was awarded the contract.
  The agency has received a formal protest of the award. We will be able to provide more information about test administration after the review of the protest has been completed. 
  Please contact ISBE's Division of Assessment and Accountability at (866) 317-6034 with any questions. We also encourage an administrator and/or assessment coordinator from each district to join the ISBE assessment division's webinars at 10 a.m. on the scheduled Fridays. Please find webinar details on the  Assessment Communications webpage​.​​
  

PARCC

• PARCC Spring 2018 PLS, ES & CSR Interpretation Guide
  
• PARCC Score Interpretation Guide
• PARCC Score Interpretation Guide for Parents
• Access to Pearson Access Next (PAN)
  • District/School staff access to information in PAN will end on 12/28/2018.

SAT^®, PSAT™10, and PSAT™8/9 College Board Assessments

• Website for SAT and PSAT Information
• New this year, ISBE will require public-school students in grade 9 to take the PSAT 8/9 and public-school students in grade 10 to take the PSAT 10, unless the student will take DLM-AA instead.
  ISBE will continue to require public-school students in grade 11 to take the SAT, unless the student will take DLM-AA instead.
  Additionally, some public-school students in grade 12 may also be required to take the SAT or DLM-AA, as appropriate. Please see the flowchart document for details about which grade 12 students are required to test.
• District/School Conflict with Scheduled Test Dates
  If your district or school has a conflict with the test dates for the high school assessments (PSAT/SAT), please send an email to: assessment@isbe.net
• 2018-19 Test Date Options​
  
• College Board Customer Service for Illinois:
  844-688-9995 - Option 1
  ilsat@collegeboard.org
  

Illinois Science Assessment (ISA)

• Please update your ISA Test Coordinator Field in the Entity Profile System (EPS).
  Directions beginning on Slide 103 of the presentation will step through the process to update the ISA Test Coordinator field. The data in the fields are used to create initial ISA user accounts for the current school year. ISBE will create accounts for one ISA Test Coordinator (if provided by the school or district) and one administrator for each entity in IWAS. ISBE will also create accounts for the superintendent (COOP Directors, etc.), an ISA district test coordinator, the building principal, and a building ISA test coordinator. The ISA Test Coordinator can be a teacher, counselor, assistant principal, etc. depending on school needs. ISBE will not create additional accounts. Staff within the district and school who have ISA user accounts initially set up by ISBE must create additional user accounts for other staff, as needed.
• 2018 Illinois Science Assessment Summary Reports Now Available in IWASThe 2018 Illinois Science Assessment school and district summary reports are now available in IWAS through the Assessments listing.
  The reports are not FERPA compliant, so handle appropriately. If you have questions about the “Assessments” System Listing navigation, please contact the Division of Assessment and Accountability at (866) 317-6034. If you require technical assistance with IWAS in general (e.g., if you cannot see the “Assessments” System Listing), after reviewing the online help, please contact our Call Center at 217-558-3600 (option 3), during our business hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
• ​ISA Test Windows
  • 2018-19 Test Window: March 1st - April 30th, 2019
    

ACCESS​

• - ACCESS Material Ordering
  WIDA AMS users now have accounts that are ready for the 2018-19 administration. Material ordering began on October 17, 2018 and continues through November 13, 2018. In addition to ordering paper materials, also submit counts of students testing online, so that the vendor (DRC) can prepare for the online demand. Editing of online test session begins December 4, 2018 and goes through January 19, 2019.
• - WIDA Customer Service Hours
  The WIDA Client Services Center (866-276-7735) will hold extended hours starting in November.
  • Monday – Thursday 7:00am to 6:00pm CT
  • Friday 7:00am to 5:00pm CT
• ACCESS for ELLs: What's New for 2018-19?
  Looking for a summary of new materials and changes? Check out the ACCESS for ELLs: What's New for 2018-19 infographic​.​
  
• ACCESS Test Administration Tips: Writing Domain
  The ACCESS for ELLs Writing Test Tips flyer provides an overview of the online and paper-based Writing tests, reminders for students and test administrators, and details about how the Writing test is scored. This flyer is posted on the Preparing Students for ACCESS for ELLs page of the WIDA website.
  
• ACCESS for ELLs Writing Field Test
  Recruitment for the ACCESS for ELLs Writing Field Test is well under way but WIDA is still seeking educators and students to help us reach our goal. If you would like to participate, check out the Writing Field Test Flyer.​
  
• Supporting Parents and Families
  The following resources for supporting parents and families are available on the Family Engagement page of the WIDA website.
  • The My Child is an ELL Flyer is now available in Spanish. This visual was developed to help educators explain the ELL identification process to parents and family members.
  • The K-12 Family Webinar Series (available in English and Spanish) dives deeper with information on key topics including what it means to be an ELL, the WIDA standards and assessments, and how to interpret scores.
  • Both the Parent Handout and Parent Guide for ACCESS for ELLs and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs Score Reports are available in several languages in the WIDA Resource Library.​
    
• ACCESS Braille for 2018-19
  ACCESS for ELLs grades 1-5 are currently transcribed using literary math (for example, use the words “divided by” instead of “÷”). Grades 6-8 and 9-12, however, have some algebra and formulas that do not lend themselves to this approach. Based upon recommendations of the Accessibility, Accommodations and Equity Subcommittee, grade cluster 6-8 will be available in UEB with Nemeth in the 2018-19 administration while grade cluster 9-12 will be added next year in UEB with Nemeth.
• Technology Documents in WIDA AMS and WIDA Secure Portal
  The following technology documents have been updated for the 2018-19 administration:
  • Technology Readiness Checklist for WIDA Online Assessments
  • Technology User Guide
  • Supported System Requirements for ACCESS for ELLs and Screener
  • Windows Quick Reference
  • Mac Quick Reference
  • ACCESS for ELLs Headset Specifications
  • TSM Decision Guide
  • Configuring a Mega TSM
  These documents are posted in WIDA AMS. Links to these documents are found in the WIDA Secure Portal behind the Technology Coordinators tile.
• 2018-19 Manuals Available
  
• The 2018-19 ACCESS for ELLs Test Administration Manual and District and School Test Coordinator Manual are now available in the Download Library and ACCESS for ELLs training course in the WIDA Secure Portal. The Accessibility and Accommodations Supplement is now available in the Resource Library on the WIDA website.
• The WIDA AMS User Guide can be accessed via WIDA AMS. Additionally, it can be found in the WIDA Secure Portal in the ACCESS for ELLs training course and behind the Technology Coordinators tile.
• WIDA 2018-2019 Q&A Webinar Schedule
  WIDA has begun holding live webinars. These are free and offer the chance to discuss various topics directly with WIDA and DRC staff. A schedule is posted in the Download Library of the WIDA Secure Portal. Webinar recordings are also available online.​

DLM

• Special Education Cooperatives with new RCDTs codes
  Please do not create a new account as this will change their training status to “new user.” Guidance documents are posted on the DLM Illinois webpage under supplemental resourceson how to update a user’s account. New identified codes have been added to DLM as they are created for ISBE. Please be sure to update the current users location to the new codes in Educator Portal.
  
• Required teacher training now available in Moodle.
  For any new user, it takes 24-48 hours for an account to be created in Moodle. Current active users should be able to access the required training. When logging into the training site, please use your full email address as the user name and password is everything before the @ symbol of the email address.
• ​Information on how to retrieve your username and password for Moodle can be found on page 6 of the “Guide to DLM Required Test Administrator Training” manual.​
  
• An Educator Portal password can be reset from the log-in screen by clicking on the link that says, “Forgot Password.” The user will be sent an email message to create a new password.
  
• ​District Test Coordinators
  District test coordinators need to add new users into Educator Portal in order for the new teacher to complete the required training. New users who will be administering the assessment should have the teacher role. The proctor role is not to be used. The educator identifier is the email address of the user.
  Students will begin to appear on the Pre-ID roster in SIS on November 9th.  Please be sure to move students in SIS to ensure that the students are located in the correct program. All 3rd graders, and new students to DLM are defaulted to Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR, formerly PARCC).
  • To remove students from IAR, log-in to SIS and select the IAR Pre-ID.
  • Enter in the student information, then click search. The Pre-ID information will display and a button will appear that states, “Remove from IAR to DLM-AA.”
  • The user should click this button and follow the prompts.
  ​Once completed, the student will be located in the correct program. 
  Students in grades 3 through 11 will be assessed for DLM. This includes 9th and 10th grade students. Please make sure you identify the students as taking the DLM using the DLM Pre-ID.​