1. Test Administration Q&A Session for the ACT
Welcome to the Nevada
Test Administration Q&A Session for the ACT
Welcome to the question and answer session for Nevada ACT testing staff. My name is Abby Montgomery and I am the ACT Project Coordinator for Nevada.
Today we will review changes for the Spring 2017 administration, student data information in PearsonAccessnext. And the requirements for the administration of the ACT online.
After a short presentation we will open the phone lines for questions.

2. The ACT paper Initial Test Date February 28, 2017
Test Dates
Administration
Dates
The ACT paper Initial Test Date
February 28, 2017
The ACT taken online Testing Window
February 28 – March 14, 2017
(weekdays only)
The ACT Accommodations Testing Window
The ACT paper Makeup Test Date
March 21, 2017
The standard time paper initial test date is February 28th, with a paper makeup test date of March 21st. Standard time paper testing must occur only on these dates.
The accommodations testing window as well as the online testing window is February 28 – March 14.
Accommodated and online testing must occur only during this window.

3. Initial material shipment
What’s New in
Mixed mode available
Proctor caching
Offsite testing
Manuals
Initial material shipment
Non-college reportable accommodation materials
Tracking information
Practice test
For the administration ACT is allowing schools to utilize both online and paper testing, or mixed mode, within the school. Schools will select the mode for individual students within Pearson Access next.
Also new for the administration is the requirement for schools who will be testing the ACT online to utilize proctor caching. ACT will indicate a school may only test on paper if a proctor caching computer has not been set up by January 26, 2017.
ACT has eliminated the requirement for school to request and receive approval of a location in order to test offsite. All offsite testing locations must meet facility requirements outlined in the Test Administration Policy Manual.
Manual information will be sectioned to provide testing staff appropriate information. Room supervisors will receive only those instructions applicable to their role.
Non-secure and initial secure material ship counts will be calculated from the Student Data Upload (SDU) file. School test coordinator will not enter an enrollment number. The non-secure and initial secure will also be combined into one shipment.
Non-college reportable (NCR) materials will not have an initial order placed in PearsonAccessnext. An overage of ACT approved accommodations materials will be shipped for NCR use. An additional ordering screen will provide the opportunity for the school test coordinator to request additional accommodations materials.
Tracking numbers for school and district inbound packages will be available in PearsonAccessnext.
All schools will have the ability to provide their students with access to an online ACT practice test. Students will receive a score report with raw scores upon completion of the online ACT practice test.

4. PearsonAccessnextTM
Shown now is the PearsonAccessnext Nevada state testing home screen. This is the administrative portal for all testing, both paper and online. All students who participate in testing will be loaded into PearsonAccessnext
Additional tasks which will be completed on this site are reviewing initial material order quantities, placing makeup material orders, viewing tracking information for material shipments, setting up proctor caching and administering the online ACT.

5. Managing Student Information
Your students information has been loaded by the Nevada Department of Education. An was sent to all participating schools and districts on Tuesday the 10th with information about how to view student data. Schools should confirm that all examinees who will be testing have been loaded. The Department of Education has loaded grade 11 examinees only. If your school has grade 12 students who will participate in testing to meet graduation requirements, they will need to be added.

6. Changes in Student Population
If you have students that have moved into or out of your school after the student information was pulled, you will need to request ACT add or remove these students in PearsonAccessnext. You can do this through the Support Request feature. Full instructions for submitting support requests is available in the Verifying Student Information PearsonAccess next user guide. A link to this guide was provided in the sent on the 10th, it is also posted under the Pearson Access Next guides section on the ACT hosted webpage.
The support request feature allows you to securely provide student data information to ACT. There is also an option to attach a file if several examinees information at your site needs to be updated. A file header to be used in these cases is also available on the ACT hosted webpage.

7. TAA PIN Information
Following the initial load of examinee data, ACT will be adding the TAA pin for examinees with ACT approved accommodations to each students record in PearsonAccessnext. This will generate the appropriate materials to be shipped to the school for paper testing. It will also allow for online accommodations to be available to approved examinees. Once the TAA pin is entered, a check box will appear next to the approved accommodations for the examinee.
Prior to the test administration, school test coordinators can run a report from PearsonAccessnext which includes all examinees for which a TAA Pin has been entered. Under the reports tab in PearsonAccessnext, select Operational Reports, check the box next to Students and Registration, then select the TAA Pin report.

8. Testing Mode
All student information loaded by the NDE will have all examinees testing mode defaulted to a paper administration. School test coordinators will be able to update the mode if they are participating in the online administration.
From the setup menu, select the students heading. On the following screen, select the check box next to the students you wish to update. Use the dropdown menu next to the blue start button and select manage student tests. From this screen, you can update from paper to online, or vise versa, using the Delivery Format drop down menu. Always be sure to select the save button after making any changes.
If your school plans to participate in online testing, all student delivery format changes should be made prior to January 26. This is that date at which ACT will pull information for the packing and distribution of test materials.

9. Technical Requirements:
Online Testing
Technical Requirements:
System Check:
Technical requirements for online testing can be found at the url shown on the screen now.
The system check tool is used to verify that the computers planned to be used for online testing meet the minimum browser, operating system and Java requirements. If using Chromebooks, the TestNav installable app will need to be installed prior to running a system check. The tool will also instruct on how many testing computers your proctor caching machines will be able to handle.
Browser based TestNav will only operate using FireFox ESR 45 (32 bit)
The system check should be run during the school day at approximately the same time at which testing will occur for the most accurate information.

10. Proctor Caching
Proctor caching is required to be set up by Jan 26 for any school who plans to test online. If a proctor caching machine has not been set up ACT will switch any students from online to paper testing mode.
The Technical guide for the ACT Taken online is available on the ACT hosted webpage, under manuals and supplements. This document contains information on how to setup and install proctor caching software.
The proctor cache download website shown on the screen contains the information needed to install the caching software for each type of computer configuration.
The caching of test content in preparation for testing will be available starting on February 24th.

11. Available on January 23 On TestNav Full Test Raw Score
Student Online Practice Test
Available on January 23
On TestNav
Full Test
Raw Score
An online practice test will be available starting January 23. An will be sent to each school level test coordinator with instruction on how to guide students to the practice test. One generic username and password will be provided for all students to use
The practice test will be use TestNav, therefore the computers used will need to meet the technical requirements or have the App installed in order to launch.
The practice test is a full test, meaning it has the same number of test items as an actual ACT test. Students will receive a raw score only upon completion.

12. Key Dates and Deadlines
Topic
Date/Deadline
Shipment of Manuals Arrives
Week of January 16
ACT Approved Accommodations Application Deadline
January 20
Deadline to add Students to PearsonAccessnext for creation of barcode labels
January 26
Deadline to Update Student Testing Mode to Online
Deadline to Setup Proctor Cache Machine
Window to add Late Enrolled Examinees
January 27 – February 22
Window for Test Coordinators to Create Test Sessions and Assign Students to Sessions
January 30 – February 14
Window to Precache test content
February 24 – March 14
I wanted to quickly review important dates and deadlines which are approaching. *read from slide*
For a full Schedule of Events, please go to the ACT hosted webpage at

13. For policy inquiries: Name: Henry King phone: 775.687.9194
State Contact Information
For policy inquiries:
Name: Henry King
phone:
website:
Any questions regarding state policy and eligibility should be directed to Henry King with the Nevada Department of Education at the phone number or listed here. A reminder: ACT customer service is not able to answer any state policy or eligibility questions.

14. For ACT test administration inquiries:
ACT Contact Information
For ACT test administration inquiries:
phone:
standard time ext. 2800
accommodations ext. 1788
ACT hosted website:
If you have questions not answered in today’s session, please contact us using the information currently shown.
Please visit the URL ACT hosted webpage for copies of the manuals and supplements, to view the training videos, and access other state specific information.

15. We will now take questions.
Q&A
We will now take questions.
Thank you for your attention. We will now open the line for questions.