SPRING 2014 WRITING: EXAMINER TRAINING February 2014

Test Examiner’s Primary Responsibilities  To carefully read Examiner’s Manual  Review the checklist at the front of the manual  Read prior to testing day  To resolve any and all questions you may have with the School Test Coordinator (STC)  Note: You are responsible for the content in its entirety  To be familiar with students’ IEP, 504 plans, and ESL accommodations  Sign the School Division Personnel Test Security Agreement (Appendix A)  Please read this document thoroughly and carefully

Test Examiner’s Primary Responsibilities  To prepare students for testing About Us Testing (at the bottom) VDOE Resources (right-hand side) “Practice on Technology Enhanced Items….. (second from bottom)  To prepare the testing room for testing  Remove or cover Any curricular materials Materials related to test content Test-taking strategies Related to test content

Test Examiner’s Primary Responsibilities  To be familiar with the Directions for Administering the Test  Directions to be read aloud to the student are in bold Examiners are permitted to modify testing directions for students with disabilities who indicate their answers in “other ways” such as “respond verbally, point, mark in test booklet, etc.  If you make a mistake, stop and say, “No, that is wrong. I must read it to you again.”  Directions may not be modified or deleted unless it is necessary due to the student’s IEP, 504 plan, or ESL plan  Please mark in your Examiner’s Manual to help you read the directions smoothly and clearly

Elementary—New Information  On the SOL Writing assessment, grade 5 students only may receive “limited assistance”  “Limited Assistance” pertains to the Examiner/Proctor reading specific information to the student regarding unfinished items during test submission  Grade 5 test examiners and proctors should carefully read pages 29 and 30 of the Examiner’s Manual Please note that this does not pertain to grade 8 or EOC testing

Limited Assistance Example (Elementary ONLY)

 When the grade 5 student is ready to submit the test, the Examiner may read the number of unfinished items from the Submit and and Exit screeen (Stop sign) to the student  Examiners must read the SAY directions in the book

Guidance for Grades 8 and EOC  If the Examiner/Proctor sees that a grade 8 or EOC student has unfinished items, the Examiner/Proctor may only tell the student to “Read the screen carefully”

Writing Update: Indents and Line Breaks  For the online Writing Practice Tools, indents and line breaks that a student types in the writing response screen will not match the printed/text version  In a live testing environment, there are no scoring implications for line wrapping, so this will NOT impact the student’s score  Actual SOL tests that are submitted for scoring are viewed and scored online and are not printed; therefore, scorers see the indents and line breaks

Dates of the Administration  Online Writing Window—March 10 through March 21  Students who are absent the day of the test do not need to take an alternate form of the test—absences are not an issue for the short-paper component  Paper/Pencil  Multiple Choice—Monday, March 3; Tuesday, March 4; or Wednesday, March 5  Short-Paper Component— Thursday, March 6 Students who are absent or have an irregularity for the short-paper component should use the alternate form of the test—Paper/Pencil Only  Students musts take both the MC portion of the test and Short-Paper component to receive a score  All students who are absent should be given the opportunity to take the component they missed  NOTE: Testing takes precedence over ALL other scheduled school activities

Students to be Tested  All students in grades 5 and 8  Students with an IEP/504 plan cannot be exempted  All high schools  All students enrolled in English 11 for credit  All students who previously passed English 11 but failed the SOL Writing assessment and need the verified credit to graduate  All students in 12 th grade who transferred in and need the Writing assessment for a verified credit  Others  Students who have already left school and are returning to take the EOC English Writing SOL assessment to earn a verified credit (Test Takers)

Test Security  Each examiner must sign out the test tickets from the STC the day of the test  Counts the test tickets and signs the Secure Check Out/In Form  Each examiner must check the test tickets into the STC as soon as possible after testing  STC counts the test tickets and signs the Secure Check Out/In Form  Examiner signs the Secure Check Out/In Form certifying all security/standard testing procedures were followed

Test Security  Examiners/proctors are responsible for monitoring students  You should walk around the room  Other activities are prohibited (i.e., reading, grading, working at the computer)  Students engaging in inappropriate behaviors (e.g., cheating, taking out a cell phone, etc. ) should be confronted immediately Do not wait until the action becomes an irregularity and the student has to receive a zero

Test Security  Students may not have electronic devices during testing  Cell phones  I-Pods  PDAs  Blue tooths  Electronic games  Scanners  Students may not have dictionaries—online testing

Test Security  Restroom Breaks  Only one student at a time may leave the room  S/he must be monitored (accompanied by an adult) To be sure s/he doesn’t communicate with another student Have access to textbooks, class notes, etc.  Students moved from one location to another are not allowed to carry any test documents in the process An adult should collect all test materials prior to moving the student Test ticket (online) Scratch paper Test booklet and answer document if paper/pencil The adult should walk the materials and the student to the new location The student is not allowed to have contact with any other person

Supplies—Paper/Pencil ONLY  Multiple Choice Component  Test booklet  Answer document  Scratch paper  No. 2 pencils  Short Paper Component  Writing prompt  Answer document—be sure student receives his/her own answer document  Scratch paper  No. 2 pencils  Dictionary—NO THESAURUS SHOULD BE INCLUDED

Online Tools

Online Tools—Multiple Choice Component  TestNav tools cannot be used to indicate answers to online test items. The Pointer must be used to:  Select multiple-choice answers  To place the cursor in a box to type a response  To select one or more answers  To click and drag answers from one location to another  If a student uses a tool other than the Pointer to indicate his/her answers, the Review screen will show that the question is unanswered

Online Tools—Short-Paper (Word Processing Tools) Component

Online Hand-Held Manipulatives  Scratch Paper  Single color  No words, numbers, symbols, labels, or graphics  No graphic organizer, writing web, outline, etc.  No patty (hamburger)paper  No  No Dictionaries  Student may be given one single-color highlighter to use with the scratch paper

ESL English Dictionary Update  The English dictionary may be used alone or in conjunction with the bilingual dictionary on non- writing SOL tests, the short-paper component of the SOL Writing test, and the multiple-choice component of the EOC 2002 English: Writing SOL test  Both accommodations must be coded if both dictionaries are provided

Handling Irregularities  Examiners must contact the STC immediately  Teachers may be asked to fill out portion of the Irregularity Form and accompanying documentation, depending on the irregularity

Dictation to a Scribe for the Online Short-Paper Component  My Recommendations:  Two computers and a printer should be available  The student logs into TestNav and gets his/her prompt  After planning, the student dictates and the scribe types the paper and prints it out  The student makes any necessary changes (i.e., punctuation, capital letters, grammar, etc.) either on the paper copy or on the computer  Once the paper is in final format the examiner types the paper in TestNav in front of the student  The proctor checks to be sure the paper was typed into TestNav exactly as written on the student paper

Miscellaneous Reminders  Only special education/504/ESL students can have an accommodation, and that accommodation must be based on what occurs on a regular basis and the student’s management plan  The relationship between the student’s disability and need for the accommodation to provide access to the test should be clear  Accommodations based solely on the potential to enhance performance beyond providing equal access are not appropriate

Miscellaneous Reminders  Not all instructional accommodations are allowable testing accommodations.  Not all accommodations documented on the IEP/504 Plan are allowable testing accommodations.  Once a student is found to be ineligible for special education services by an IEP team, that student no longer can receive accommodations, even if it’s written in their IEP they will receive accommodations for the rest of the year

Miscellaneous Reminders  Students cannot have facilitated communication  If you have a student who receives FC on a regular basis and feel that student should receive that accommodation for the SOL assessment, you need to send me a request in writing that can be forwarded to the VDOE The VDOE takes each student and their into account on an individual basis Montgomery County has never had facilitated communication approved

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. If a scribe is used during an administration of the writing test, can the scribe read the student’s short paper back to the student? A. Yes, but it must be documented in the student’s IEP or 504 plan and used routinely in instruction; however, the scribe must read the paper in such a way that no assistance regarding formatting, capitalization or punctuation is provided to the student. It may be provided by the test examiner or a computer with text-to-speech capabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions Q. Can students with disabilities use graphic organizers on the SOL writing assessments. A. Yes, students with disabilities may use graphic organizer if the organizers are blank and documented as an accommodation on the student’s IEP or 504 Plan. Graphic organizers should be coded as “4” (visual aids).

Frequently Asked Questions Q. Are whisper phones allowed on SOL tests? A. Whisper phones are allowed for students with disabilities if documented on the IEP or 504 Plan. Whisper phones are NOT ALLOWED for students without disabilities.

Frequently Asked Questions Q. When a student is eligible for the read- aloud/audio accommodation, is the examiner required to read the entire test or is the examiner permitted to read portions as requested by the student. A. The accommodation as described in the student’s IEP or 504 Plan must be followed as written. If the IEP or 504 state that words, questions or sentences can be read orally when requested by the student, then reading the entire test is not required.

Accommodation Resources

cipation_va_accountability_system.pdf guidelines.pdf elines_read_aloud.pdf