1. Student Registration/ Personal Needs Profile
Welcome to the Student Registration/Personal Needs Profile training module.
This training module gives an overview of the steps for registering students in order to receive MCAS test materials for both computer-based testing (CBT) and paper-based testing (PBT), as well as the steps for indicating selected accessibility features and accommodations.
All Test Administrations

2. Topics
Glossary of Terms Used in this Training Module Overview of the SR/PNP Process Preparing your SR/PNP File for Import SR/PNP File Import Using the User Interface to Add Students or Update Student Data in PearsonAccessnext Resources
In this training module, we will cover the topics listed on this slide.
By the end of this module, you’ll become familiar with the student registration process for ordering materials. The last slide of this module will show you additional resources that are available to help you complete the process on your own. 

3.
Glossary
PearsonAccessnext (PAN): the online management system. All schools will use PAN to register students and order test materials. Schools administering computer-based tests will also use PAN to manage testing activities for computer-based testing.
Student Registration (SR): student information needed to register a student for a test
Personal Needs Profile (PNP): a collection of selected accessibility features and accommodations a student needs to take a test
SR/PNP File: the file containing your student data to be imported to PearsonAccessnext
Guide to the SR/PNP Process: the guide posted at that defines the field names and expected values for the SR/PNP file
Please take a moment to pause the module so that you can read the definitions of the different components of the SR/PNP process. The pause button is located on the bottom, left-hand side of the screen.

4. Overview of the SR/PNP Process
ESE posts .CSV files of students in the MCAS folder in school and district drop boxes in the MassEdu Gateway.
Edit the file.
Remove students who are not taking the test.
Add students who should be tested.
Add or update accessibility features and accommodations when necessary.
CBT only; recommended, but not required during the initial SR/PNP window: enter session names in column M. View the “Creating Sessions” module and/or the Guide to the SR/PNP Process for more information.
Import the file into PAN. This file will register students for the tests assigned to them, and is the basis for your school’s shipment of test materials for PBT.
Contact your district SIMS contact if you are making updates to student information in the SR/PNP that is different from SIMS. (To find your district SIMS contact, go to select “SIMS Contact” from the “Function” menu, and click “Get Results”).
Here is the step-by-step process for all MCAS test administrations. Please note that the demonstration screens in this module are from the February Biology administration, but the process is the same across all administrations. Deadlines for completing these steps are included in the statewide testing schedule, and the web address for it is shown on slide 8.
Step 1. The Department will post a file in school and district MCAS drop boxes prior to the registration window.
Step 2. You will need to make sure that only the students who will take the test are included in the file. For the retests, this means only the students who will be testing, and for the spring tests, this means all the students in a particular grade who are currently enrolled. This means that you’ll need to remove any students who are not taking the test, and add new students as appropriate. While going through the process of confirming the participating students, also confirm their PNP information for the selected accommodations and accessibility features, paying special attention to any special test forms that are needed, such as text-to-speech for CBT or large-print for PBT.
Step 3. For CBT only, you may want to populate Column M with the Session Name. This will auto-create test sessions. During the initial SR/PNP window, this step is recommended, but not required. Sessions can be created any time before the start of testing. Please refer to the “Creating Sessions” module and the Guide to the SR/PNP Process before completing this step.
Step 4. When all the students who will be testing are listed in the file and their accessibility features and accommodations are correct, the file is complete and ready to be imported into PearsonAccessnext.
As a reminder, if you are making any changes to student data from the original file, or if students were added to the file, you must notify your district SIMS contact to ensure that the information in SIMS is updated, since SIMS is the data of record for MCAS reporting.

5. Preparing your SR/PNP File for Import
(all the steps described in the script below will be demoed here)
You should reference the Guide to the SR/PNP Process while completing this process.
Open the .CSV file you downloaded from the MCAS drop box. (demo opening student file)
Review the .CSV file and remove any students not participating in that test administration by deleting the entire row that corresponds to that student. (demo removing student)
If you need to add a student to the file -- for example, if you have a student who moved in after the most recent SIMS submission -- you will need to add a row in the file for the student. You will need to add the student data in that row using the expected values from the Guide to the SR/PNP Process. (demo adding a student)
If you need to add or update selected accessibility features and accommodations, again use the expected values to make the updates. We will now show an example where we need to change a student’s special test edition from Large Print to Braille. (change a Large Print student to Braille)
Once all the fields in the file have been updated, save the file as a .CSV file. Since this is a .CSV file, you will be prompted “Some features in your workbook might be lost if you save as CSV (Comma Delimited). Do you want to keep using that format?” Select Yes to continue. (demo saving as CSV)

6. SR/PNP File Import
(all the steps described in the script below will be demoed here)
Here we will walk through the steps to import the file into PearsonAccessnext. If you only have a few students to add, or if you have a student who was not included in the initial SR/PNP file, skip to the next slide.
First, log into PearsonAccessnext. If you have trouble logging in, you may call the Service Center at
Then, select the appropriate test administration for the file you’re importing. Go to Setup and then Import/Export Data. Click Select Tasks, check Import/Export Data, and then click Start. In the Type dropdown, select Student Registration Import. Click Choose File and locate the .CSV file you just saved. Click Open. Then click Process.
Refresh the screen while the file is importing.
When the file has finished importing, you will see if it was able to upload and if there were any errors. In this example, we had an error caused by an incorrect Typed Response value. To fix this issue, open the .CSV file and correct the value in the Typed Response field. Let’s try importing the file again. This time the file imported correctly, and there were no errors.

7. Using the User Interface to Add Students or Update Student Data in PearsonAccessnext
(all the steps described in the script below will be demoed here)
If you only have a few students to add, or if you have a student who was not included in the initial SR/PNP file, you can follow these steps to use the PearsonAccessnext User Interface.
Step 1. Click Setup and then click Students. Go to Select Tasks, and then select Create/Edit Students and all of the Registration tasks.
Step 2. Fill out all the fields on the Create/Edit Students page and then click Save. Then click the Register Students tab. Check the box next to Registered and select the student’s testing grade and click Save. Go to the Manage Student Tests tab. Fill out the required fields on this page, and then select the necessary PNP options. Click Create and then click Exit Tasks.

8. Resources Resource Web Address Guide to the SR/PNP Process
Test administration resources (e.g., manuals)
Statewide testing schedule, including SR/PNP deadlines
PearsonAccessnext User Guide
Import/Export Data
Create/Edit a Student
Create an Online Test Session
“Creating Sessions” training module
Here are resources to help you with this process when you do it yourself.
Refer to the Department’s website for policy information and test administration resources.
The PearsonAccessnext User Guide will help with the SR/PNP file import and creating students in the user interface.
If you have questions on ­­­­­any part of the SR/PNP process, you may contact the MCAS Service Center at or
Questions? Contact the MCAS Service Center at or

9. Thank you.
This concludes the SR/PNP training module. Thank you for taking the time to review this important process.