Golden Horseshoe 2013

WVDE Office of Instruction Veronica Barron – Special Programs Assistant Joey Wiseman – WVDE Social Studies Coordinator FAYETTE COUNTY SCHOOLS Mary Ann Freeman - Director of Federal Programs George Sumner - Education Specialist

Golden Horseshoe Test Essay Test February 12th, 2013 Multiple Choice Test March 21st, 2013

If you have technical issues the day of the test call Bob Hollandsworth at the central office

Student Test Registration WVDE aggregates the data available on WVEIS for automatic registration of each teacher’s class Students are registered for the test based on the class information in WVEIS Students use online practice quizzes to prepare for test. Student Acuity user ID and password remains the same for the actual test. WV History Teachers share this information with test moderator on test day in the event that a student forgets this procedure.

Essay Test administrator can be the social studies teacher. Test Administrator for the online test must not be the regular classroom teacher for West Virginia History. Test Administrator may be the school co unselor, county coordinator, an administrator, or a teacher from a different curricular discipline. Golden Horseshoe Test Administration

Confidentiality Agreement The confidentiality agreement must be completed by each test administrator (for the essay and the online test administrators) and needs to be sent to the WVDE by February 8. Substitutes on the day of the test must fill out a confidentiality agreement and fax it to the WVDE that date.

Sample Test Items for Practice Available from mid-January 2013 There is no teacher access to these items. The items cannot be printed as a whole document.

Home School Students Home school students are to contact the school in their district and inform the principal that they need to register: School/Golden Horseshoe Contact will need to complete a Golden Horseshoe Registration form for the student. The form will need to be ed to and/or All fields must be completed or the form will be returned. Access to practice quizzes Make arrangements with the principal and the WV Studies teacher to take the essay test at the school on the essay test day ONLY. Make arrangements to take the multiple-choice test at the school on the county designated day ONLY

Private School Students Private schools need to contact the County Golden Horseshoe Contact, Mary Ann Freeman School contact will need to complete a Golden Horseshoe Registration form for the student. The form will need to be e- mailed to and/or All fields must be completed or the form will be WVDE assigns passwords to all students who are listed on the spreadsheet Private school students have access to all practice quizzes, essay test and multiple-choice exam Private schools must give the exam on their designated county exam day.

Sample Test Items Good practice for using the test site Trial and practice prior to test day ensures easy access for the student when test day arrives All students who plan to take the Golden Horseshoe Test must login to Acuity by March 1, Important to afford them the opportunity to practice prior to test day Check your rosters and have everyone log on to Acuity to make sure everyone has access to the test site.

2013 Golden Horseshoe Test Format – Multiple Choice Portion Multiple choice exam is to be given on the designated county test day, March 21st for Fayette County. The multiple choice exam is 50 questions and must be given in a 45 minute time period The test will be turned on at the beginning of the school day 7:00 am and off at the end of the school day at 3:45 pm on the designated day of your county exam. Test Administrator must not be the regular classroom teacher for West Virginia History Test Administrator may be the school counselor, county coordinator, or teacher from a different curricular discipline.

2013 Golden Horseshoe Test Format – Essay Portion Essay test must be completed in class on February 12, Essay must be written entirely within the space provided with no attachments. Essays will be sent electronically from my office to the school coordinator one week prior to the test date. Essay test administration details will be sent electronically with the essay test. Time allotted for the essay will be one minute class period. If an emergency should occur causing a county school system to be closed on the day of the essay test, the makeup day for the essay will be the first day students return to class. Essays are to be mailed back to the central office. All essays are due to Mary Ann Freeman by February 15, (Do NOT send essay tests to the office by Van)

2013 Essays for Practice Practice essays can be accessed from the wvde.state.wv.us/socialstudies/ website You can access the WVDE social studies website off of the wvsocialstudies.com site. Please use these as class assignments to help improve your students’ writing ability Please make sure to use the past essays as writing prompts and NOT the actual Golden Horseshoe Essay prompt.

Accessing Practice Test on Acuity Prior to the actual test be sure to Log onto Acuity before March 1 st to test your access to the site Log on to Acuity at or Type in your assigned username and password On the next screen you will select TAKE A TEST Select Subject: SOCIAL STUDIES Pick one of the practice tests You will navigate through the test answering questions At the end of the test, you have 2 choices you can SAVE & EXIT and go back to the test later or you can click on FINISH & TURN IN TEST. This screen also shows you any questions that you have forgot to answer. On the day of the actual Golden Horseshoe test be sure to click on FINISH & TURN IN TEST or it will NOT be scored.

Golden Horseshoe Test Administration Reminder Test Administrator must not be the regular classroom teacher for West Virginia History Test Administrator may be the school counselor, county coordinator, or teacher from a different curricular discipline. Confidentiality agreement must be completed and sent to the WVDE prior to testing- (If there is a change in the test administrator on the test day the agreement must be faxed prior to testing) Absentee rosters are due to Joey Wiseman at the WVDE the next day after the test (Can be faxed or ed)

Golden Horseshoe Ceremony is at the West Virginia Capitol on May 3 rd Winners will be notified by the state Each student will be issued two tickets Reception is for the winners and their parents (to be held at the state capitol following the knighting) Parking space is limited Parents of Winning Golden Horseshoe Recipients

If you have any questions regarding the test (i.e. needing large print or Braille, or any other circumstances need to inform Mary Ann Freeman by JANUARY 11th) WVDE and/or FAYETTE COUNTY Reference & Special Needs

wvsocialstudies.com WVDE website WVDE social studies site Field trips, (e.g. Clay Center, Youth Museum of Southern WV, etc.) Current Events, Videos, Novels West Virginia Cultural Center Libraries Local Historical Societies WV Humanities Council Specific Resources for preparing your students for success

mywvhome.com

The next set of slides will give you a view of the materials available online at the WV Division of Culture & History site for your students to use both in your class and on their own for Golden Horseshoe Test preparation. These are screenshots from the site: Opportunities for online preparation at WV Culture Site

If you should have any further questions or need additional help, please contact Mary Ann Freeman ext 2131 or George Sumner Need more support?

Questions