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California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)

This webcast provides detailed information to ensure technological readiness for the upcoming California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) online testing. It covers topics like Internet and network requirements, hardware and software specifications, secure browser installation, and more to assist educators in preparing for successful online testing. The session focuses on data readiness through CALPADS, staff coordination, and Internet and network configurations to optimize the testing environment. Useful guidelines and recommendations are provided for a seamless testing experience.

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California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP)

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  1. California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Preparing Technology for 2015 Online Testing October 15, 20141–2:30 p.m.

  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. Source Material • Detailed information and step-by-step instructions can be found in the following manuals: • Technical Specifications Manual for Online Testing • Forthcoming on http://caaspp.org • Secure Browser Installation Manual • http://caaspp.org/rsc/pdfs/CAASPP.secure-browser-manual.2015.pdf

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

  5. Preparing for Online Testing

  6. Data Readiness • 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. • Student accommodations and designated supports are not collected in CALPADS. • Student accommodations and supports cannot be uploaded by the LEA until CALPADS data is available in TOMS.

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

  8. Internet and Network Requirements

  9. Internet and Network Requirements • For testing to occur, a stable, high-speed Internet connection is required since the Test Delivery System (TDS) administers tests via the Internet.

  10. High-level Technology Overview State hosted-test delivery servers Internet Test proctor using standard Web browser Student using Smarter Balanced Secure Browser software application

  11. Smarter Balanced Server Hosting Consortium HostedItem authoring, item bank, data warehouse, reporting, Digital Library State HostedTest delivery, test scheduling, test registration, reporting, scoring Internet

  12. 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 and IP addresses 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.

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. Bandwidth Considerations • Minimum of 20K bits/second must be available for each student connected to a system • Average bandwidth used by the secure browser for testing:

  16. 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://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.

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

  18. Wireless Networking • 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://caaspp.org.

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

  20. Hardware Requirements

  21. Hardware Requirements • Desktops and Laptops

  22. NComputing and Terminal Services • NComputing is supported on: • Windows XP (Service Pack 3) • Windows 7 • Terminal Services is supported on: • Windows 2003 • Windows 2008

  23. Hardware Requirements • Mobile Operating Systems and Browsers

  24. 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) computer should have access to a single local or network printer in the testing room.

  25. 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

  26. Software Requirements

  27. 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 Guided Access on iPads • For Android tablets, change the keyboard to the AIRSecureTest

  28. Secure Browser Installation

  29. 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://caaspp.org

  30. Secure Browser Availability • Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Vista, 7, 8.0, and 8.1, Server 2003, 2008 • Mac 10.4 and 10.5 (PowerPC or Intel processors) • Mac 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 • Linux Fedora 16–20, openSUSE 13.1, Red Hat 6.5, and Ubuntu (LTS) 10.04, 12.04, and 14.04 • Apple iOS 6.0–7.1 • Android 4.0.4–4.4 • Chrome OS 31–35

  31. Secure Browsers Download Web Page

  32. 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

  33. 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)

  34. 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)

  35. Secure Browser Notes • Old secure browsers used for the Field Test need to be uninstalled before installing new ones. • Installing the new Windows secure browser will uninstall previous versions automatically (most cases) . • Mac secure browser installation: • Secure browser must be launched to successfully complete the installation. • Disable Spaces in Mission Control (Mac 10.7–10.9). • Disable function keys on Mac computers and keyboards.

  36. Mobile Secure Browsers

  37. Mobile Secure Browsers • Mobile Operating Systems and Browsers

  38. 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

  39. Secure Testing on Tablets • iPads: • Guided Access must be enabled and activated • 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

  40. 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

  41. Questions

  42. Updates and Announcements

  43. Updates and Announcements • Next Webcast: Accessibility and Accommodations for CAASPP 2014–15 : An Overview • Date: October 22, 2014 • Time: 1 – 2:30 p.m.

  44. Resources and Support

  45. Resources • Technical Specifications Manual for Online Testing • Forthcoming on http://caaspp.org • Secure Browser Installation Manual • Available at http://caaspp.org/rsc/pdfs/CAASPP.secure-browser-manual.2015.pdf • Bandwidth Checker • Available on the CAASPP home page at http://caaspp.org

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

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