Page Pearson’s Online Technology Training Preparing for Online Testing

2 Page2 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Agenda - Introduction to Pearson’s Online Testing Solution  Administrative Site  TestNav  Proctor Caching  Online Resources - Technology Configuration for Online Testing  Proctor Caching  Test Delivery  Wireless Networks - Best Practices  TestNav Installation - Best Practices  TestNav Early Warning System  Firewalls/Content Filters  Issues/Special Considerations  Support Calls  What’s new for Spring 2011  Technical Update for Mac OSX  Technical Issues with Online Testing - Resources – Q&A

3 Page3 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Online Testing Components Administrative Web Site: PearsonAccess Used by Test Coordinators, Test Administrators, etc. Manage Student Data Create Test Sessions Monitor the Test Session Resolve Student Data Alerts Access Reports Manage User Accounts & Security Resources TestNav Used by Students to Take Tests Provides a secure test environment Proctor Caching Stores test content locally Reduces the burden on your network and ISP Required for Minnesota online assessments

4 Page4 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Online Resources Support/Resources/Manuals & Directions can be found at Technology Guidelines TestNav Technology Guidelines Proctor Caching User’s Guide TestNav Early Warning System Reference Manual Support Information Toll-free Pearson Support Center number: Support information is available on each page of the website. Pearson Support Knowledge Base is accessible from within the PearsonAccess website or at  Username: Minnesota  Password: Assessments

5 Page5 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. WAN ISP Proctor Caching Pearson Test Content Admin Workstation Student Workstations Proctor Caching – Network Diagram

6 Page6 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Proctor Caching – How Does it Help? Runs on both Windows and MAC OS X Does not require an underlying server-based operating system Pre-Caching is done through the Administrative Website A Proctor Caching Solution is required for all MN Online Assessments Proctor Caching – How Does it Work? Allows you to pre-cache test content to your local network before the test Reduces burden on your ISP by eliminating redundancy in requests for test content Stores an encrypted local copy of all pre-cached tests.

7 Page7 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Proctor Caching – Misc. TestNav must be configured through the installer or by editing the proxysettings.properties file to communicate through Proctor Caching. If all internet traffic must pass through an upstream proxy server, Proctor Caching must be configured to communicate through that device. TestNav requests test content from Proctor Caching on port Pre-Caching a Test:  Pre-cache before students test.  Change browser settings to communicate directly with the proctor caching machine.  Confirm you are contacting proctor caching using a non-Pearson address.  Pre-cache test content by selecting the Proctor Caching button inside of Session Details  Change browser settings back.

8 Page8 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Proctor Caching – Misc. Cache Directories  Windows: C:\Program Files\NCSPearson\Proctor Caching\CACHE  Mac: /private/var/run/proxy/ Full-length Sample Test Required as part of Minnesota's Site Readiness process. Run in labs representing all configurations (PC/Mac, wired/wireless, different operating systems) used for online testing.  Designed to enable you to run a full scale load test  At least as big as the largest production test  Helps verify software setup and reveal conflicts with school software  Select when setting up a test session in the Training Center  Detailed instructions are available in Support: Resources: Manuals & Directions

9 Page9 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Test Delivery – Local Installation Download and install TestNav on each workstation used for test delivery. Configure each machine to communicate with the Proctor Caching server (proxy settings.properties file) ‏. More challenging to manage than a file share installation System automation tools like SMS (Windows) and Apple Remote Desktop (Mac) make local installs much more practical.

10 Page10 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Test Delivery – File Share Installation File Share Workstations Download and install TestNav on a file share Configure the file share installation to communicate with the Proctor Caching server (proxysettings.properties file) ‏ Create a shortcut to the file share installation of TestNav on each workstation used for test delivery Easier to manage than a local installation

11 Page11 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Wireless Networks - Best Practices TestNav should be installed locally. Proctor Caching machines should be on a wired connection, instead of wireless. Wireless access points’ sustained throughput has been tested and is able to support at least 43 Kbp/s per workstation. Consider using a lower ratio of computers to access points than normal.

12 Page12 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. TestNav Installation - Best Practices TestNav Software is entirely self-contained. This allows you to copy the TestNav folder to another client machine; there is no need to run the Installer on each machine. (**Mac OS X 10.4 or higher clients require an additional script to be run on each client.) The TestNav proxysettings.properties file is the only configurable settings file. This file can be edited with Notepad or TextEdit. Editable variables in proxysettings.properties  Proxy_Host - Designates a proctor caching or proxy server IP address  Proxy_Port - Designates a proctor caching or proxy server port number  Primary_Save_Location & Alternate_Save_Location - Designates the Early Warning save locations Student machine logins will need full access to these directories  TestNav/temp  TestNav/Logs  Early Warning Save Locations

13 Page13 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. TestNav Installation Best Practices Deep Freeze - If you use hard drive imaging tools like Deep Freeze you must exclude the TestNav/Logs and Early Warning System save locations. Network Installation  Do not run the TestNav installer on the File Share itself.  Run the installer on a client workstation and then copy the client's TestNav folder to a mapped network drive.  Once copied to the network drive, edit the proxysettings.properties file to have valid file paths for the save locations.  Use mapped drives for all paths. TestNav Updates  TestNav is the current release that should be used for the GRAD retests and the upcoming spring 2011 administration of Science MCA, Mathematics MCA and MCA-Modified.  TestNav will only be updated if absolutely necessary.

14 Page14 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. TestNav TM Early Warning System The TestNav™ Early Warning System (EWS) is designed to save student responses locally in the event of a network interruption. EWS saves the student's responses to an encrypted backup file so the student can either continue testing or exit the system without losing data.  Designate two (2) file save locations for student responses in the event of a connectivity loss to the testing servers. oBest Practice: Primary response location should be a shared location because it allows access to stored student responses from one location. The alternate response location should be a location on the local workstation  Students must have full access to the designated “save locations”.  When connectivity is restored and the students resume the test, the locally saved responses are transmitted to the testing server and added to the responses already stored there. This activity occurs in the background of the test delivery software while the software continues to provide test questions to the student.

15 Page15 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. TestNav TM Early Warning System Districts can verify that EWS is working with TestNav: TestNav can be forced into the EWS  Setting false save locations  Pulling the network connection after logging in TestNav will find the correct response file  A combination of the test ticket ID combined with the session token is used to uniquely identify a Student Response File (SRF)  A SRF can only be used the next time the student resumes a test  TestNav will only delete a SRF if it just successfully uploaded it

16 Page16 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Reasons Why TestNav EWS Triggers 1.TestNav client determines that neither Early Warning Save Location is viable. 2.TestNav is unable to download portions of a test. The two situations above will result in immediate notification of the student. 3.TestNav is unable to upload responses. This situation will result in notification of the student at the time of test submission.

17 Page17 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Invalid Save Locations

18 Page18 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Invalid Save Locations

19 Page19 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Unable to download test content

20 Page20 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Unable to download test content

21 Page21 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Unable to upload responses

22 Page22 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Early Warning - Screenshots Unable to upload responses

23 Page23 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Firewalls/Content Filters The following domains and ports must be allowed to pass through your Internet firewall or proxy system. DomainPort www8.etest.pearson.com 443 www9.etest.pearson.com80 www11.etest.pearson.com80 proctorcaching.pearsonaccess.com443 launcher.etest.pearson.com If you require an IP address you will need to contact Pearson Support.

24 Page24 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Issues/Special Considerations Disable Popup Blocking Software (Administrative Site) ‏ A pop-up blocker will block the login screens from opening on administrative workstations. Applications that launch automatically Any applications that may automatically launch on a computer should be configured not to launch during testing sessions. Common applications that may launch automatically include:  Anti-virus software performing automatic updates  Power management software on laptops warning of low batteries  Screen Savers  with Auto message notification Screen resolution All tests are authored to a screen resolution of 800 x 600 so make sure that your testing machines are capable of 800 x 600 resolution Screen Resolutions below this setting will cause an error as TestNav tries to load the test Screen Resolutions above this setting will cause the test to appear smaller than the available screen size.

25 Page25 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Support Calls Information needed to diagnose technical issues Session Details  Test Administration name?  Session Name?  Affected student name? Error messages/numbers? What were you doing when the error occurred? Do you have a log file? Basic network configuration  Are you using proctor caching? IP address?  Do you use a proxy server? IP address?  Local or file share installation of TestNav?  Firewalls/content filters?

26 Page26 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. New for Spring 2011 Submit NEW Site Readiness Workbook by March 7 Districts are required to complete a NEW Site Readiness Workbook this year, verifying they have the capacity to conduct online testing. A few changes in the new workbooks: updates to system requirements updates to online tests and the scheduling calculator a new online utility, System Check for TestNav, which can be used in place of the original Excel-based Network Assessment New blank workbooks are available at MDE’s Test WES website. Detailed instructions are included within the workbook. Work with your District Assessment Coordinator to access Test WES and complete the workbook. System Check Tool for TestNav The online System Check utility for TestNav is designed to help technology staff better assess overall “readiness” for online testing in advance of scheduled testing dates. The System Check utility addresses the two primary components of local technology readiness: client-side readiness network infrastructure readiness Documentation for the System Check tool is available under PearsonAccess | Support | Manuals and DirectionsPearsonAccess | Support | Manuals and Directions

27 Page27 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Technical Issues with Online Testing Cisco Iron Port web security appliances require some modifications to work with Pearson computer-based testing. Documentation is available on PearsonAccess under Support | Resources | Manuals and Directions. New installer available for Macintosh computers running Java 1.5 or higher. The updated installer resolves potential issues with proctor caching when student workstations are using Java versions 1.5 or higher. A reminder with details was sent to district staff on 12/21/2010. Updated URLs were added to the Technology Guidelines for These updated URLs should be added to content filters and firewalls. Please refer to the updated Technology Guidelines for the URLs or contact Pearson support if IPs are needed. Apple update of Java 6.0 SE has caused TestNav to fail while launching on Macintosh computers. Details on this issue were sent to district staff on 12/21/2010. Internet caching solutions provided by Internet Service Providers (ISP) have created issues downloading content to TestNav during testing. Districts with this issue should contact Pearson support for assistance.

28 Page28 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Technical Updates for MAC OSX Platform: Macintosh 10.5 or 10.6 running Java 1.5 or higher Impact: In April 2010 it was identified that TestNav on Macintosh 10.5 and 10.6 running versions of Java 1.5 or higher was no longer communicating with proctor caching services properly. Current Solution/Workaround: Districts can resolve this issue by utilizing the updated TestNav installer that was provided in April 2010 and available on the PearsonAccess website under Support | Downloads Platform: MAC OSX versions that use JAVA 1.6 as the default for TestNav and have accepted the update to Java 6. Impact: This update will prevent TestNav from successfully launching. Current Solution/Workarounds: If TestNav does not launch, Districts should contact Pearson Technical Support for help in modifying a file in the TestNav application.

Pearson Customer Support PearsonAccess Website –System Status Website –Pearson Knowledge Base –System Check for TestNav Research & Assessment, MDE website: (Accountability Programs > Assessment & Testing) Resources

30 Page30 Confidential Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. and/or one or more of its direct or indirect affiliates. All rights reserved. Questions?