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Preparing Technology for 2015 – 16 Online Testing November 17, 2015 1–2 p.m. Presented by

California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP). Preparing Technology for 2015 – 16 Online Testing November 17, 2015 1–2 p.m. Presented by Michael McDaniel, ETS. Purpose.

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Preparing Technology for 2015 – 16 Online Testing November 17, 2015 1–2 p.m. Presented by

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  1. California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Preparing Technology for2015–16 Online Testing November 17, 2015 1–2 p.m. Presented by Michael McDaniel, ETS

  2. Purpose • The purpose of this Webcast is to review your local educational agency’s (LEA’s) technological resources to ensure they meet requirements for the online CAASPP assessments.

  3. Agenda • Preparing for Online Testing • Internet and Network Requirements • Hardware Requirements • Software Requirements • Secure Browser Installation • Mobile Secure Browsers • Questions

  4. Preparing for Online Testing

  5. Data Readiness • California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) is the sole source for student demographic, enrollment, and program data for the student test registration system known as the Test Operations Management System (TOMS). • All updates must be made in CALPADS. LEAs cannot update student demographic, enrollment, or program data in TOMS.

  6. Data Readiness • Student accommodations and designated supports are not collected in CALPADS, but the ability to set them in TOMS is validated through CALPADS data. • Student accommodations and supports cannot be uploaded until CALPADS data are available in TOMS

  7. Staff Coordination • Planning the technology components for online testing requires close coordination and collaboration among: • LEA CAASPP coordinator(s) • CALPADS administrators • IT/LEA technology coordinators • Curriculum staff

  8. Internet and Network Requirements

  9. Network Configuration Settings • To ensure proper communication and optimal performance: • Configure network firewalls and proxy servers to allow traffic to the URLs, IP addresses, and ports without content filtering (see Appendix A of the Technical Specifications Manual). • Give the URLs high priority settings if your network uses network traffic management techniques (e.g., traffic shaping, packet prioritization, Quality of Service). • Configure Web proxy servers NOT to cache data from the test delivery system (TDS). • Maintain a good bandwidth • To avoid timeouts during tests: • Set session timeout values to be longer than the average scheduled testing time.

  10. Bandwidth Considerations • Number of students testing concurrently • Size of test content (number of items and average size of each item) • Low bandwidth: selected-response items • High bandwidth: items with animations, audio clips, or American Sign Language videos • Reduce other Internet-enabled applications that compete for bandwidth (e.g., attendance, bell time, sending grades) • Opening the secure browser and accessing a test for the first timeconsumes more bandwidth than accessing a test a subsequent time

  11. Bandwidth Considerations • Location where the secure browser is installed • Installing the secure browser locally on each testing workstation is recommended. This avoids bandwidth competition that would occur if workstations access the browser from a network or shared drive. • Wireless networking solutions • Load balancing • Wireless Access Points • Independent of overall network capabilities

  12. Bandwidth Considerations • Average bandwidth used by the secure browser for testing:

  13. Determining Bandwidth Requirements • To determine a reasonable number of concurrent test sessions: • Consider bandwidth for both online testing and all other non–testing-related Internet traffic. • Run a network diagnostic. • Bandwidth Checker is available on http://www.caaspp.org. • Other network diagnostic tools are listed in the Technical Specifications Manual. • For wired networks, consider using switches instead of hubs. • For Internet networks, consider the speed of the Internet Service Provider’s (ISP’s) router connection.

  14. Network Configuration • All communication with the TDS takes place over the following Internet port/protocol combinations: • Make sure the above-mentioned ports are open.

  15. Wireless Networking • Recommendations on the optimal number of testing workstations per wireless connection:

  16. Wireless Networking • A best practice is to maintain a ratio of wireless systems to wireless access points (WAPs) of no more than 20 to 1. • 15 to 1 for older WAPs • Wireless traffic should use WPA2/AES data encryption. • Try out the Bandwidth Checker, available at http://www.caaspp.org.

  17. Hardware Requirements

  18. Hardware Requirements • Desktops and Laptops

  19. NComputing and Terminal Services • Supported NComputing Solutions: • Supported Terminal Servers:

  20. Hardware Requirements • Mobile Operating Systems and Browsers *Users of iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will be required to update to iOS 9.2 upon formal approval of this operating system for testing. iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will not be supported for testing once 9.2 is released and approved for installation.

  21. Hardware Requirements • Device displays • 10″ diagonal display or larger (iPads with 9.5″ screens are acceptable) • 1024 x 768 display resolution or better • Check monitor settings and brightness • On-site printers • Print out test session information • Print test stimuli or items for students with the print-on-demand accommodation. • Only the Test Administrator’s (TA’s) computer should have access to a single local or network printer in the testing room.

  22. Hardware Requirements • Headphones are required for each test station • English language arts/literacy (ELA) tests • Text-to-speech accommodation • Job Access with Speech (JAWS) • USB headphones recommended • Microphones not required • External keyboards required for tablets • Mechanical • Manual • Bluetooth-based • Avoid keyboards with additional “shortcut” buttons

  23. Software Requirements

  24. Software RequirementsSupported Operating Systems & Devices (Windows/Mac)

  25. Software RequirementsSupported Operating Systems & Devices (Linux)

  26. Software RequirementsSupported Operating Systems & Devices (Mobile Browsers) *Users of iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will be required to update to iOS 9.2 upon formal approval of this operating system for testing. iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will not be supported for testing once 9.2 is released and approved for installation. 9.2 must be used for the summative exam.

  27. Operating SystemsSummary of Changes — Desktop Operating System Support Windows: • Nothing will be dropped this year. • Windows XP likely to sunset at the end of 2015–16. • Windows 10 support now available; Edge browser not yet supported for TA sites. OSX: • 10.4 or 10.5 Power PC machines will not be supported in 2015–16. • 10.5 Intel machines are the only version of OSX supported that requires a special browser. • Planning to add support for OS 10.11. Linux: • Discontinuing support for Fedora Core version 16 through 18. • Fedora Core 19 will be supported, but appropriate libraries must be installed. • Keeping support for Fedora Core 20 and adding support for Fedora Core 21. • Support discontinued for Ubuntu 10.04 (latest is 14.04 LTS).

  28. Operating SystemsSummary of Changes — Desktop Operating System Support New Security Measures for Windows 8: • New native solution for securing Windows 8 devices. Assist-X will be dropped in favor of that solution. • New feature works similar to Assist-X with regard to closing all open applications when the browser is launched. • Part of the browser, no separate install or service to run. Linux Secure Browser Skipping a Version: • In 2014–15, Linux users were required to use Secure Browser 6.5. A 7.x version was never released due to time constraints. • Version 8.1 of the Linux secure browser brings along a Firefox baseline upgrade from version 10 to version 30. All security and performance improvements will be available in this version.

  29. Operating Systems • Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Vista, 7, 8.0, and 8.1, 10 Server 2003, 2008 2012 • Mac 10.5 (Intel processors only) • Mac 10.6 -10.10 • Linux Fedora 19–22, openSUSE 13.1, Red Hat 6.5, and Ubuntu (LTS) 12.04, 14.04 • Apple iOS 7.0, 7.1, 8.0-8.2, *9.x • Android 4.3.4–4.4, 5.0, 5.1 • Chrome OS 41–46 *Users of iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will be required to update to iOS 9.2 upon formal approval of this operating system for testing. iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will not be supported for testing once 9.2 is released and approved for installation.

  30. Software Requirements • Disable pop-up blockers. • Install Verdana font on Linux machines used for testing. • Disable Windows Fast User Switching. • Disable Spaces in Mission Control for Macs. • Enabled Single App Mode, Autonomous Single App Mode, or Guided Access on iPads (Guided Access no longer recommended by Apple, in order to maintain appropriate assessment security). • For Android tablets, change the keyboard to the AIRSecureTest.

  31. Secure Browser Installation

  32. What is the Secure Browser? • Type of software that must be installed on each testing workstation • Prevents students from accessing other computer or Internet applications during testing • Different versions of the secure browser for different device types and operating systems • Link to secure browsers download Web page is on http://www.caaspp.org

  33. Secure Browsers Download Web Page

  34. Secure Browser Installation: Desktops and Laptops • One-by-one manual installation: • Download and install directly on each computer • Download and save onto a media device (i.e., flash drive) • Download and save to a network folder

  35. Secure Browser Installation: Desktops and Laptops • Network installation or distribution: • Shared drive • Push the secure browser installation directory from the network to client computers • Installation without administrator rights • Thin Client (Windows) • Terminal server • NComputing • Apple Remote Desktop (Mac OS X)

  36. Secure Browser and Proxy Settings • Secure browsers for Windows, Mac, and Linux are packaged with the proxy setting set to “auto-detect” • The following proxy values are supported: • 0: Direct connection, no proxy • 1: Manual proxy configuration • 2: Proxy auto-configuration (PAC) • 4: Autodetect proxy settings • 5: System proxy settings (this is the default)

  37. Secure Browser Notes • Old secure browsers used need to be uninstalled before installing new ones. • Installing the new Windows secure browser will uninstall previous versions automatically (in most cases). • Mac secure browser installation: • Secure browser must be launched to successfully complete the installation. • Disable Spaces in Mission Control (Mac 10.7–10.10). • Disable function keys on Mac computers and keyboards.

  38. Mobile Secure Browsers

  39. Mobile Secure Browsers • Mobile Operating Systems and Browsers *Users of iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will be required to update to iOS 9.2 upon formal approval of this operating system for testing. iOS 9.0 and 9.1 will not be supported for testing once 9.2 is released and approved for installation.

  40. Secure Browser Installation: Mobile Devices • Install on iPads via the Apple App Store • Install on Androids via the Google Play Store • Install on Chromebooks from the Chrome Web Store

  41. Secure Testing on Tablets • iPads: • Single App Mode, Autonomous Single App Mode, or Guided Access must be enabled and activated (Guided Access no longer recommended) • iOS feature that allows users to restrict activity to a single application • Prevents screenshots • Android tablets: • Secure browser keyboard must be selected before students can access the logon page • Default Android keyboard allows predictive text

  42. Secure Testing on Chromebooks • Chromebooks must use the secure kiosk application: • Using the AIRSecureTest kiosk application requires Chromebooks to be run in kiosk mode. • Must be deployed onto managed Chromebooks via the Chrome Management Console as a kiosk application rather than via a public session. • Kiosk mode must be set prior to logging into the Chromebook. • The application has to be set up as a kiosk app via admin management on the device, or from an account logged on with administrative authority.

  43. Questions

  44. Resources and Support

  45. Resources • Manuals to be available on the Instructions and Manuals Web page at http://www.caaspp.org/ administration/instructions: • Technical Specifications Manual for Online Testing • Secure Browser Installation Manual • System Specifications Manual • Bandwidth Checker: • Linked on the Instructions and Manuals Web page

  46. Help Desk Support The California Technical Assistance Center (CalTAC) is there to support all LEA CAASPP coordinators! Available Monday–Friday from 7 a.m.– 5 p.m. PT E-mail:caltac@ets.org Phone: 800-955-2954 Web site:http://www.caaspp.org/

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