6.026 Participation in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium
6.026 Participation in the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC), Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Test, and Scholastic
Achievement Test (SAT) by C.E.S. Students
It is the policy of Cooperative Educational Services (C.E.S.) that all students enrolled in C.E.S. programs have an opportunity to participate in the standard administration of the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Test, the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Test, and the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT). If standard participation is not possible, students participate in the statewide testing by taking the standard test with accommodations or with designated supports as specified by the State Board of Education.
Accommodations are available to 1) students identified as needing special education; 2) students identified disabled under Section 504 and 3) English Language Learners (ELLs). Testing accommodations are provided as indicated in the student’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) and/or Section 504 Plan and in accordance with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium: Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines.
C.E.S. shall appoint at least one District Test Administration Coordinator.
REFERENCES: C.G.S. Title 10-14n and 14q Statewide Mastery examination
C.G.S. Title 10-145b(m) Teaching Certificates
ADOPTED: October 2, 2003
REVISED: May 1, 2014
REVISED: November 1, 2018
Administrative Guidelines for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Test, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Test, and Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT)
All students enrolled in C.E.S. programs must have the opportunity to achieve statewide student expectations by participating in general education curriculum and statewide assessments. This includes the opportunity to participate in efforts to assess student outcomes by use of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT. All C.E.S. students will participate in the statewide testing in accordance with the testing protocol as established by the State Board of Education.
District Test Coordinator C.E.S. shall appoint at least one District Test Coordinator to oversee the administration of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT. C.E.S.
shall submit to the State Department of Education, the name of the coordinator. If the person designated as the District Test Coordinator needs to change, C.E.S. shall appoint a new test coordinator and shall inform the appropriate State Department of Education office as soon as the new person is identified.
The District Test Coordinator shall be responsible for receiving, checking the inventory and securing testing materials prior to testing and collecting and returning completed test documents and secure testing materials at the conclusion of the testing. The District Test Coordinator will interface with the State Department of Education, and the testing vendor to be sure all testing procedures are followed. The District Test Coordinator shall report any difficulties that may arise in the C.E.S. administration of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT that would impact the successful completion of the test for all students and shall immediately communicate such to the State Department of Education. The District Test Coordinator shall be encouraged to attend on an annual basis, the workshop for test coordinators sponsored by the State Department of Education.
The District Test Coordinator shall also be responsible for training test examiners in the administration of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT, including the procedures for ensuring test security as identified below and ensuring students receive their accommodations when testing. Such training shall take place prior to the start of the testing window each year.
The District Test Coordinator in collaboration with the school test coordinator shall provide training and information to teachers as to the procedures to be used to identify those students needing accommodations or alternate assessments.
Universal Administration of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT
Students enrolled in regular or special education, (unless otherwise indicated on a student’s IEP or Section 504), shall take the universal administration of the SBAC, NGSS, and SAT test at the time of the statewide administration. The SBAC and NGSS assessment include a wide variety of embedded universal tools that will be administered to all students in accordance with the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, NGSS, and SAT: Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines.
Administration of the SBAC and_NGSS with Designated Supports and Accommodations
Designated Supports for the Smarter Balanced Assessment are those features that are available for use by any student for whom the need has been indicated by educators or a team of educators with parent/guardian and student agreement completed during a PPT meeting. C.E.S. will use a written process for making decisions about using designated supports. Designated Supports need to be identified prior to assessment administration and entered into the state electronic assessment system. All Designated Supports must be administered to eligible students in accordance with the Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines.
Students eligible for special education through an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), English Language Learners (ELLs), or who have a Section 504 plan, and have a documented need for accommodations will be given the SBAC or NGSS with such identified accommodations. The accommodations will be provided in accordance with Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines and based on individual student documented need in the IEP or 504 Plan.
Test Security
All SBAC NGSS, and SAT test materials are “secure” with the exception of the Practice Tests Test Coordinator and Test Examiner Manuals. All other test materials are “secure’ and must be handled in a manner that ensures test security.
Any breach of test security is a serious matter with far-reaching consequences. Any C.E.S. personnel found to be in violation of test security may be subject to sanctions including, but not limited to; 1) disciplinary action by the C.E.S. Representative Council, and 2) civil liability pursuant to federal copyright law. In addition, sanctions for C.E.S. certified personnel might also include the revocation of Connecticut teaching certification by the State Board of Education (Section 10-145b(m), CGS). The State Department of Education will investigate all such matters and pursue appropriate follow-up.
Examples of test security include, but are not limited to copying test materials, failing to return test materials, coaching students, giving students answers and/or changing student’s answers. Such acts may lead to the invalidation of an entire school district’s student test scores, disruption of the test system statewide and legal action against the individual(s) committing the breach.
Procedures for Securing Test Materials
The SBAC and NGSS are electronically administered assessments using individualized user names and passwords to access a secure state testing
system. Therefore, other than as a student accommodation to use a paper version of the assessment, there are no SBAC or NGSS test materials to secure.
For the Science SAT, the District Test Coordinator and the School Test Coordinators, after receiving and inventorying the testing materials prior to the actual start of the testing period, will store the materials in a designated locked closet or program or school office. Prior to the testing window, the school test coordinators will complete any pre-test tasks with the id-labels and provide students with an instruction session to fill out the required information prior to test administration. Any student without a pre-id label will have to bubble in all the needed demographic information.
Prior to the testing window, all the materials needed for testing will be distributed to each school test coordinator, and secured in a locked closet, cabinet, or office. The School Test Coordinators shall be designated to distribute to each test examiner the secure testing materials and answer documents needed for the tests scheduled for that day. At the end of each school day, that designated School Test Coordinator shall collect test materials and answer documents and inventories all testing materials and prepare them for return to the testing vendor. The testing materials will remain secure at all times prior to delivery pick up. The District Test Coordinator will ensure that all secure test materials are returned to
the testing vendor.
Designated Supports Process
Designated supports will be made available to students for whom a need has been identified by school personnel familiar with each student’s needs and testing resources. A complete listing of available designated supports is available in the Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines.
The School Test Coordinators will provide students with practice sessions to review the supports available and how to use them. Any students with unique supports will be provided with an individualized session to review their supports. Designated Supports will be made available to identified students through an Instructional Support Team (IST), 504, or PPT meeting. Decisions to provide instructional supports will include clear documentation identifying the need and reason for providing the support.
All individualized designated supports must be activated prior to testing by entering information in the TIDE system.