P.E.R.T.

1. P.E.R.T. 2014-15 Administration Procedures and Policies

2. What is the P.E.R.T? • The Postsecondary Education Readiness Test (P.E.R.T.) is used to determine if a student is ready for college credit courses in math and reading. • The test is computer-adaptive and administered Online through McCann Associates College Success testing platform. • Paper-based and large print paper tests will be available for students who require these accommodations. • For certain students, the P.E.R.T. is a required State assessment.

3. Who Should Take the P.E.R.T.? UPDATE: Students are no longer restricted to only taking the P.E.R.T. twice in their high school career. • Although students are no longer limited to only taking a PERT sub-test twice, the district only receives a certain number of testing units each school year. • Schools will be given enough units to permit their required testers (see criteria below) to test once on the PERT in 2014-15. Additionally, schools will receive extra units to be used for students who are permitted to test (see criteria below). • Depending on quantity of units left after the above-referenced groups are tested, schools can offer more than one testing opportunity per student. • Once a school has exhausted its PERT units for 2014-15, the district will be unable to provide additional units.

4. Who Should Take the P.E.R.T.? REQUIRED to Test Reading and Writing • Current Grade 12 students who are enrolled in English IV College Prep (P.E.R.T. to be administered at the end of Semester 2) and are not otherwise deemed college-ready*. *A student is considered college-ready if they have achieved one or more of the scores cited in the College Ready Cut-Score charts.

5. Who Should Take the P.E.R.T.? REQUIRED to Test Math • Current Grade 11 students who took the Algebra 1 EOC for the first time in Spring 2014 and achieved a Level 2, 3, or 4, and are not otherwise deemed college-ready*. • Current Grade 12 students who are enrolled in Math for College Success or Math for College Readiness (P.E.R.T. to be administered at the end of Semester 2) and are not otherwise deemed college-ready*. *A student is considered college-ready if they have achieved one or more of the scores cited in the College Ready Cut-Score charts.

6. PERMITTED to Test (based on funding) • Any current Grade 10 or 11 student who has taken but has not passed the Algebra 1 EOC. • NOTE: A score of 97 on PERT Math has been established as the concordant score for the Algebra 1 EOC. A student achieving a 97 on PERT Math will be considered having satisfied the Algebra 1 EOC graduation requirement. • Any current Grade 11 student who is enrolled in a college-ready course. • Any current Grade 12 student who is not yet deemed college-ready but who could impact your school grade by passing the PERT.

7. 2014-15 P.E.R.T. Testing Window Our district’s P.E.R.T. testing window is: October 27th – 31st Dual Enrollment February 2nd – 6th Grade 11 May 18th – 29th Grade 12 College Ready & Dual Enrollment • When applicable, paper tests will be distributed to schools as soon as we receive them. • Schedule your paper testing separate from computer testing (due to the difference in how the tests are administered).

8. Test Details What is tested on the P.E.R.T? • Students who are required to test based on reading scores, will take the Writing and Reading subtests of P.E.R.T. • If a student passes Reading or Writing on their first attempt they only need to take the subtest they didn’t pass during future testing. • Students who are required to test based on math scores, will take the Math subtest of P.E.R.T. How many questions are on the P.E.R.T.? • Each P.E.R.T. subtest has 30 questions (25 are operational questions and 5 are field test items). How long is the P.E.R.T? • P.E.R.T. is untimed and computer adaptive, but it takes approximately 30 minutes to complete the math and writing subtests and one hour to complete the reading subtest. Can a student take all three subtests in one sitting? • A student is permitted to take all three subtests in one sitting, but this is not the recommended policy.

9. P.E.R.T. Scores What are the college-ready cut scores for P.E.R.T.? • The scaled score for each subtest ranges from 50-150. • The State established new cut scores for PERT tests taken on or after October 22, 2013. The new and old cut scores are listed below. *Students must meet both the Reading and Writing cut scores in order to be college-ready in English. What if a student does not achieve a college-ready cut score? • 11th Grade P.E.R.T. test takers must be enrolled in a college-ready course during their senior year.

10. Administering the P.E.R.T.

11. Before Testing Test Administrator Accounts • If you administered the P.E.R.T. last year, your account is the same as it was in 2013-14. If you have forgotten your username and/or password, please ask tonya. • If you are a new high school test coordinator, Your username and password were e-mailed to you.

12. Before Testing Security Agreements • Before you can begin testing, we must receive a signed Security Agreement from you. Parent Letters • English and Spanish parent letters are available in the P.E.R.T. section of our test coordinator Web site. Please distribute the letter to the parent/guardian of students who will take the P.E.R.T.

13. Before Testing Scratch Paper • Students can use scratch paper for the math portion of P.E.R.T., but they must write their name on the scratch paper and return it to you after testing. Practice Tests • The login page of College Success has a link to practice tests. It is recommended that students complete the practice tests in a classroom environment prior to testing to expedite the actual testing process.

14. Launching Tests • Utilizing the ticketing systems requires the Site Manager to: • log into one workstation to deactivate/activate students • export student information to a spreadsheet • Create/print/distribute “tickets” to student the day of testing • Collect tickets after testing

15. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Locating Students [Completed by Site Manager] • Log into College Success (http://www.college.measuredsuccess.com) with your username and password. • Click Administer Tests and then click Student Logins.

16. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Locating Students (cont.) • You can search by student name, ID, or conduct a general search of all names by clicking “Search”. • In the search results, student information will be listed, along with a “Status” column.

17. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Activating and Deactivating Students [Completed by Site Manager] • By default, all students show an “Active” status. • If you want to use the ticketing system to launch tests, you will need to select all students and click “Deactivate Students” (per page) prior to processing the tickets. • For any testing day, you will need to activate the students who will be testing. After the testing session is over, you will need to deactivate the students to ensure that they can not log back into the test.

18. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Exporting Student Data for Ticketing System [Completed by Site Manager] • You can export student information for the purpose of generating tickets from the “Student Logins” page (use the “Administer Tests” link to get to the Student Logins page. • Unlike activating and deactivating students, you do not have to select all on every page to export all of the students to Excel (or a CSV file). • The system does not create tickets like Pearson, so you will need to manipulate the rows into your own ticket design. • Please remember to collect the “tickets” after testing. Tickets are secure documents.

19. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Log in to College Success as a Student [Completed by the Student] • Visit http://www.college.measuredsuccess.com • Students should enter the username and password from their “ticket”.

20. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Accepting the Online License Agreement [Completed by Student] 1. The student is now logged into their dashboard (the system times out after 12 minutes of inactivity). The Online License Agreement will appear and you will need to direct students to Accept the agreement in order to test.

21. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Entering an Access Key [Completed by Student] 2. After accepting the agreement, students will need to enter the appropriate access key*, click “Submit”, and then click the name of test to launch the test.

22. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Launching a Test with the Ticketing System 3. After launching the appropriate subtest, students will need to read the Student Privacy Policy and then click “I have read this policy”.

23. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Reading the Welcome Message [Completed by Student] 4. After accepting the Privacy Policy, students will need to read the Welcome Message and then click “Next”.

24. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Reading the Directions for Answering Questions [Completed by Student] 5. Students will need to read the directions for answering questions, and then click “Start Test Session”.

25. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Reading Subtest Specific Information [Completed by Student] 6. Finally, students will need to read information regarding the specific P.E.R.T. subtest they are taking and then click “Start Test Session” to begin the subtest.

26. Launching Tests:Ticketing System Calculators Students are not permitted to use handheld calculators for the computer version of the Math P.E.R.T. Students will need to be aware that a calculator icon will appear in the lower-left corner of the test for certain math questions.

27. Submitting a Test:Ticketing System Submitting P.E.R.T. • A student must click “Submit” at the end of each subtest in order for the test to be scored. • As the Site Manager, you can instantly view scores and run reports. • Please refer to the P.E.R.T. TAM for instructions on running reports.

28. After Testing • Collect and retain “tickets”. • Store used tickets and scratch paper in a secure and locked location. • Instructions on how to return paper tests and answer sheets will be emailed to schools with students taking paper tests.

29. Next Steps • If you haven’t already, Please sign and return a Security Agreement before you leave the training. • Schools can not test without a signed Security Agreement. • Review the TAM and log into College Success to familiarize yourself with the test platform.

30. Resources • Additional P.E.R.T. documents can be found on the P.E.R.T. page of the TC Web Site. • College Success Training Videos and Resources • Log into College Success and click on Resources tab.