1. Test Security Required School Test Coordinators and Test Administrators

2. Objectives Understand how to use the Test Administration Manual to:
Implement the principles of secure test administration
Maintain security of printed test materials
Avoid and respond to test improprieties
-Maintaining the security of test items and stimuli is necessary so that they can be used in later years to measure trends in performance. In addition, test security helps to ensure test results provide a valid representation of what our students know and can do and can be used in accountability reporting.
-Requirements for a secure test environment, secure handling of printed test materials, item security, test administration and handling of test improprieties are addressed in Section 2: Test Security and Section 3: Test Improprieties and Irregularities of the Test Administration Manual.

4. Secure Testing Environment: Reminder of Requirements
Security refers to:
Who has access to secure test materials
What students can see and hear while testing
What resources students can access while testing
Why security is important:
Ensure that each student’s responses are a valid representation of what that student knows and can do
Ensure the assessment data used for accountability purposes are valid and accurate
Ensure that test items can be used across years to allow for year- to-year comparability and to protect investments in test development
A secure environment refers to the conditions under which tests are administered, not a specific location
TAM, Section 2.2 Security of the Test Environment

5. Secure Testing Environment: Reminder of Requirements
Security refers to:
Who has access to secure test materials
What students can see and hear while testing
What resources students can access while testing
Why security is important:
Ensure that each student’s responses are a valid representation of what that student knows and can do
Ensure the assessment data used for accountability purposes are valid and accurate
Ensure that test items can be used across years to allow for year- to-year comparability and to protect investments in test development
A secure environment refers to the conditions under which tests are administered, not a specific location
TAM, Section 2.2 Security of the Test Environment

6. Handling Secure Printed Test Materials: Reminder of Requirements
Ensure only the student and authorized staff have access
Maintain chain of custody from printing to shredding, using consistent protocols to collect and inventory all materials
Ensure all materials are securely destroyed
At the end of each test session (printed items and stimuli, notes, and scratch paper)
Upon test completion (for student drafts for ELPA21 and Smarter Balanced PT and constructed response items)
TAM, Section 2.4 Secure Handling of Printed Test Materials

7. Identifying and Preventing Improprieties: Reminder of Requirements
Definition: Behaviors prohibited because they give students an unfair advantage or compromise the security or validity of the test
Improprieties can be:
Committed by a student or an adult
Intentional or accidental
Affect a single student or a group of students
Strategies to prevent improprieties:
Know the rules and make sure students know the rules
Check the test environment to make sure it meets the security criteria
Ensure the test environment and the students are closely supervised
When in doubt, check the TAM and seek clarification before testing!
TAM, Section 3 Test Improprieties

8. Potential Consequences: Reminder of Requirements
Impacted tests may be invalidated, meaning the student loses their test opportunity
In rare cases, tests may be reset
Significant breaches of security could result in disciplinary action by the Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) or the district
TAM, Section 3.5 Consequences of Test Improprieties

9. Reporting Improprieties: Reminder of Requirements
Immediately report all potential test improprieties, even if you are unsure of the exact situation
pause the student’s test pending the DTC’s investigation and authorization from ODE
DTC sends Test Impropriety Report to:
TAM, Section 3.6 Reporting Test Improprieties

10. Related Reading Requirements by Role
User Role
Description
District Test Coordinator
Sections 2 and 3 of the TAM
Appendices D and E of TAM
The Oregon Accessibility Manual (OAM)
School Test Coordinator
Appendices D and E of the TAM
The OAM
Test Administrator
Sections 6 – 12 of the TAM based on the tests the TA will administer

11. Online Resources
Test Administration Manual:
Oregon Accessibility Manual
Promising Practices to Avoid Improprieties:
Test Security Forms: