District Testing Coordinator Training

1. District Testing Coordinator Training It is the vision of Region 8 ESC to develop a district-wide systemic culture to sustain a high-performing learning community. January 2009 "It is the mission of Region 8 ESC to create partnerships between school districts, teachers, school board members, universities and community colleges, community members and business leaders to provide quality services for school improvement that will prepare students to cope with the challenges of the future."

2. Tiffany Easley (TAKS) District and Campus Coordinator Manual (A) Accommodations (B) Dyslexia Bundle (C) Online Testing (D) Test Security (E) 11:45-1:00 LUNCH Karen Thompson (Assessment of English Language Learners) LAT (F) TELPAS (G) Welcome and Introduction

3. January 2009 Please Note:This Training Does NOT Take the Place of Reading the Appropriate Manuals.

4. Changes to Manuals Tab A

5. January 2009 What’s new about the 2009 District and Campus Coordinator Manual? • Telephone Assistance/Reference Sources • Guide to the 2009 Coordinator Manual • Calendar of Events • TELPAS • LAT Appendix

6. January 2009 What’s new about other manuals? • TAKS General Test Administrator Manual • TAKS program general information • TAKS test administration calendar • Test security and confidentiality • Test administrator responsibilities • Appendices • Nine grade-specific Test Administration Directions • 2009 District and Campus Coordinator Manual Supplement • Guides and training tools for online testing • Policies and processes specific to online testing • Information for planning the world geography EOC field test • Program-specific information for testing coordinators

7. January 2009 Policy changes for 2009 Two test administrator oaths, one following general training and one following administration-specific training and test administration Extension of honor statement to students taking TAKS-M in grades 9-11 Extension of SSI to students taking TAKS-M reading in grades 3, 5, and 8, and TAKS-M mathematics in grades 5 and 8 Reading test questions and answer choices aloud no longer required for TAKS-M reading tests; ARD committees may determine a need for this accommodation

8. January 2009 Policy changes for 2009, continued • Changes to TAKS-Alt assessment • reducing number of required essence statements from 6 to 4 • standardizing assessment tasks with accompanying pre-determined criteria • Keeping observation documentation locally • Automating online scoring • Shortening assessment window (January 5 – April 10, 2009)

9. January 2009 Policy changes for 2009, continued • TELPAS • Extension of assessment window from 4 to 5 weeks • Administered almost exclusively online; student information will be transmitted through an online process • TELPAS Manual for Raters and Test Administrators replaces former separate TELPAS reading test administrator manual and TELPAS rater manual • Paper test booklets and answer documents will not be shipped automatically; district coordinators will order these through a special orders process

10. January 2009 Policy changes for 2009, continued • LAT administrations of TAKS-M reading/ELA will occur at the time of other LAT reading/ELA administrations in late April • Changes to answer documents • The labels for the bubbles to indicate English or Spanish in the TEST TAKEN INFO field have been changed from “E” and “S” to “EN” and “SP” for TAKS grades 3-6 answer documents • Additional bubble added to the LAT INFO field of TAKS and TAKS-M answer document for rare situation in which approved linguistic accommodations were available but none used (Note: This bubble should NOT be marked if a student uses any of the approved accommodations.)

11. January 2009 Policy changes for 2009, continued Beginning in 2009, district and campus personnel may submit Accommodation Request Forms using an online process Distribution schedules for TAKS and TAKS-M manuals have been modified. TAKS General Test Administrator Manual will be sent in separate shipment in early January. Grade-specific TAKS Test Administration Directions and TAKS-M Test Administrator Manuals will be sent in nonsecure shipment for first spring testing administration for each respective grade level No stand-alone field-test administrations for TAKS or Spanish-version TAKS or TAKS-M

12. 2009 District and Campus Coordinator Manual 2009 District and Campus Coordinator Supplement General Test Administration Manual and Test Administration Directions 2008-2009 Test Security Supplement 2008-2009 Accommodations Manual 2008-2009 ARD Manual LPAC Manual TAKS-M, LAT and TELPAS test administrator manuals DBA instructions Online Accommodation Request Form Alternate Test Date Request Form Online Incident Report Form Corrective Action Plan template Locally Determined Disciplinary Actions Form Studenta e-mail FAQs January 2009 Useful documents on Student Assessment Website

13. Accommodations Tab B

14. January 2009 Key Changes to the Accommodations Manual

15. LAT • Detailed information regarding the LAT process for eligible ELLs, including those receiving special education services, is now available in section of this manual entitled “Linguistically Accommodated Testing (LAT)” • TELPAS • Accommodations for students taking TELPAS reading tests in grades 2-12 now included in this manual 

16. Reorganization and Addition of New Appendices • Participation requirements for certain state assessments (Appendix A) • Eligibility criteria for specific accommodations (Appendix B) • Teacher tools that districts have the option of using if needed (Appendix C) • Expanded information about the accommodation request process (Appendix D) • General instructions for administering braille and large-print tests (Appendix E) • List of supplemental aids allowed for TAKS (Accommodated) without submission and approval of Accommodation Request Form (Appendix F) • New appendix regarding administering tests to students who are deaf or hard of hearing will be posted separately at a later date 

17. New Accommodations Policy Changes and Clarifications • Policies changed and clarified as part of ongoing efforts to improve access to state assessments for all students • Implemented with the spring 2009 administrations • Should result in a significant reduction of Accommodation Request Form submissions 

18. January 2009 Key Changes to Accommodation Policy

19. TELPAS Administrations • TELPAS reading tests for grades 2–12 will be an online administration only • An Accommodation Request Form must be submitted for rare instances when a paper administration may be necessary because an accommodation is not available in an online administration • When a paper administration is approved, districts will follow a special orders process to obtain test booklets and answer documents. Details about this process are found in the Coordinator Manual and training slides for ELL assessments  p. 2 Accom. Manual

20. Large Print Materials • No changes to policy • Separate eligibility page has been deleted and information has been included in the ‘Accommodations by Category’ chart • Accommodation Request Form is not required if a student has a visual impairment and routinely uses large-print materials in the classroom  p. 25 Accom. Manual Appendix E

21. Reading Aloud Questions and Answers on TAKS-M Reading • An accommodation beginning this year and no longer a required part of test administration • Applies to Grades 3-9 Reading and the reading section of Grades 10 and 11 ELA • Not necessary to convene a special ARD committee meeting to address this accommodation, but at next scheduled meeting ARD committees must determine whether this accommodation is necessary for all test questions and answer choices or only as needed per student request • Accommodation Request Form is not required  p. 3 & 27 Accom. Manual

22. Sign/Translate Directions • Included once again as an allowable accommodation • No policy changes • Directions given orally before or after test may be signed to a student who is deaf or hard of hearing or translated into the native language of a student with limited English proficiency • An Accommodation Request Form is not required • Translating directions into native language of student is not considered an accommodation for an ELL taking TELPAS reading  p. 28 Accom. Manual

23. Other Methods of Response • Clarifying language included to explain role of scribe during different administrations • Written composition • Open-ended reading responses • Computation and notes p. 29 Accom Manual

24. Spelling Assistance • This accommodation not allowed on revising and editing • This accommodation applies only to written composition (4 & 7 writing, 10 & 11 ELA) and open-ended reading responses (9 reading) • TAKS (Accommodated) and TAKS-M • Grade 4: word lists allowed per ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required • Grades 7, 9, 10, 11: various types of spelling assistance allowed per ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required p. 30 Accom. Manual

25. Calculation Devices • Specific conditions must be met • Disability affecting math calculation, not reasoning • or • Disability affecting physical reproduction of numbers • TAKS (Accommodated) • Accommodation Request Form required for grades 3-6 mathematics and 5 science • ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required for grades 7-8 • TAKS-M • ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required for 3-8  p. 31 Accom Manual

26. Supplemental Aids • Student must be able to understand content but needs assistance recalling some of it • Must be a tool; cannot provide direct answers to the TEKS being tested • Separate appendix lists aids that are allowable for eligible students for TAKS (Accommodated) without an Accommodation Request Form • TAKS (Accommodated) • Accommodation Request Form required for all grades if the aid is not listed in appendix of manual • TAKS-M • ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required for all grades  p. 32, Appendix F Accom Manual

27. Manipulatives • Assists students with visualizing abstract concepts • Must serve as a tool; manipulative cannot provide direct answers to the TEKS being tested • List of manipulatives that are allowable for eligible students in the “Accommodations by Category” chart • TAKS (Accommodated) • Accommodation Request Form required for all grades if the aid is not listed in manual • TAKS-M • ARD committee decision and no Accommodation Request Form required for all grades  p. 32 Accom Manual

28. Extended Time (2 days to test) • Clarification to policy only and approved only for small number of students in unique situations • Accommodation Request Form required for all students taking any assessment • Prior to submitting an Accommodation Request Form, schools should consider other, less restrictive accommodations (e.g., individual or small-group administration, frequent breaks, dividing test into short sections, use of a scribe, oral administration if eligible) as well as the assessment the student is taking (i.e., format changes, fewer items) • If a student is approved for two-day testing, specific procedures must be followed in order to maintain test security and confidentiality  p. 35 Accom Manual

29. January 2009 Online Accommodations Request Process Appendix D Accom. Manual

30. Online Accommodation Request Form • District testing coordinators can submit Accommodation Request Forms through online system (similar to online incident report) • Open to all districts by December 2008; being piloted currently • Intended to dramatically reduce number of faxed or e-mailed requests • Paper requests can still be submitted 

31. January 2009 Online Accommodations Request Demonstration

32. Dyslexia Bundled Accommodations Tab C pp. 41-43 DCCM

33. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • What are the characteristics of dyslexia? • Having severe difficulty reading words in isolation • Lacking word-identification skills

34. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • What are the allowable accommodations? • Orally reading all proper nouns associated with each passage before students begin individual reading • Orally reading all questions and answer choices to students • Extending the testing time over a two-day period

35. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • What tests can be administered using these accommodations? • Grades 3–6 TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) reading tests in English and Spanish, including all three SSI administrations at Grades 3 and 5 • Grades 7 and 8 TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) reading tests,including all three SSI administrations at Grade 8

36. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Who is eligible? • Students not receiving special education services who are identified with dyslexia • Students receiving special education services who are identified with dyslexia • Students receiving special education services who have a severe reading disability that exhibits the characteristics of dyslexia

37. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Remember… • Students in all these eligibility groups must routinely receive accommodations in classroom instruction and testing that address the difficulties they have reading words in isolation.

38. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Who decides which students are eligible? • For studentsNOTreceiving special education services • The student’s placement committee as required by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 • A committee of knowledgeable persons as outlined in The Dyslexia Handbook • All decisions must be documented in writing in the student’s official records in accordance with district policies and procedures.

39. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Who decides which students are eligible? • For students receiving special education services • The student’s admission, review, and dismissal (ARD) committee • All decisions must be documented in the student’s individualized education program (IEP)

40. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Some important reminders • The test administrator MUST administer the reading test using all three accommodations as a bundled package. • Campuses should plan for students taking TAKS reading with the bundled accommodations to be tested individually or in small groups.

41. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Some important reminders • There are separate test administrator instructions and proper-nouns lists for TAKS and TAKS (Accommodated) for all SSI administrations due to the inclusion of a field-test passage on TAKS in March as well as differences in formatting between the two tests. • Districts must ensure that the test booklet, test administrator instructions, and proper-nouns list match for students taking TAKS and for those taking TAKS (Accommodated).

42. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Some important reminders • Both students and the test administrator MUST use Form 1 for TAKS. There is only one form of TAKS (Accommodated). • A copy of the proper nouns list applicable to each grade/language must be distributed to each student and the test administrator. Copies of these lists must be made using the blackline masters provided in each campus box.

43. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Some important reminders • Each question and set of answer choices may be read as many times as necessary but cannot be rephrased. • The test administrator must keep his/her voice inflection neutral during the reading of test questions and answer choices.

44. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • Some important reminders • The test administrator will give the test over a two-day period and will be provided with explicit information about where to stop on Day 1 and where to begin on Day 2. • The test administrator must indicate that the student has received a dyslexia test administration by marking the DB bubble in the accommodations column on the front of the TAKS test booklet (grade 3) or answer document.

45. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 3 • March 34 Reading • April 28 Mathematics • April 2930 First Reading Retest • July 12 Second Reading Retest

46. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 4 • March 3 Writing • April 28** Mathematics • April 2930 Reading ** Important Note: Students taking the reading test with dyslexia bundled accommodations must take the mathematics test with Form 1.

47. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 5 • March 34 Reading • April 7 Mathematics • April 2829** First Reading Retest • April 30 Science • May 19 First Mathematics Retest • June 30 Second Mathematics Retest • July 12 Second Reading Retest • ** Important Note: Students taking the April TAKS reading retest with dyslexia accommodations will take the first day of reading a day earlier than noted on the calendar. This change is necessary to maintain the testing schedule for science.

48. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 6 • April 28** Mathematics • April 2930 Reading ** Important Note: Students taking the reading test with dyslexia bundled accommodations must take the mathematics test with Form 1.

49. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 7 • March 3 Writing • April 28** Mathematics • April 2930 Reading ** Important Note: Students taking the reading test with dyslexia bundled accommodations must take the mathematics test with Form 1.

50. Dyslexia Accommodations January 2009 • The 2009 Schedule for Grade 8 • March 34 Reading • April 7 Mathematics • April 2829** First Reading Retest • April 30 Science • May 1 Social Studies • May 19 First Mathematics Retest • June 30 Second Mathematics Retest • July 12 Second Reading Retest • ** Important Note: Students taking the April TAKS reading retest with dyslexia accommodations will take the first day of reading a day earlier than noted on the calendar to maintain the testing schedule.