Technology Use by Students

District testing coordinators are required to have procedures in place to prevent student use of personal electronic devices during test sessions. Personal electronic devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, smart watches, smart glasses, or any similar device. When students are using allowed or approved technology, including technology-based accommodations (i.e., designated supports and accessibility features), the following guidelines for test security and validity must be followed in reviewing the technology prior to its use during an assessment.

Appropriate review requires knowledge of both the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) for the specific grade level and subject and the capabilities and functions of the device or software that will be used during the assessment. Some technology may be useful during daily academic settings; however, that technology cannot be used during a state assessment if its functionality creates a security concern that cannot be addressed. District or campus personnel must conduct additional reviews of technology, including technology-based accommodations, after an upgrade or update to determine if it continues to meet Texas Education Agency (TEA) guidelines for use during a state assessment.

Technology Use Guidelines 

Test administrators must actively monitor the use of technology, including technology-based accommodations, during an assessment. All technology used during state assessments must adhere to the following guidelines. 

For a device or software to be considered appropriate for state assessment use, it must:

• be set in a mode that locks the user into a specific software program; and

• block the user from accessing functionality or features that may violate test security, such as:

  • the ability to send secure assessment content (e.g., messages, captured images, videos);

  • the ability to send or receive any person-to-person communication about secure assessment content (e.g., chat, video); and

  • the ability to save secure assessment content.

District testing personnel must ensure that applications on a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer do not provide functionality that compromises the curriculum assessed.

Use of Chromebooks

It is essential that technology staff ensure that any accessibility features used on Chromebooks for other assessments, such as the SAT, are disabled before students use those Chromebooks to take assessments in the Test Delivery System (TDS) for the Texas Assessment Program. Because assessments in TDS have built-in accommodations for students who are eligible for them, failure to disable external accessibility features may result in students receiving accommodations they are not eligible for, which is a procedural testing irregularity.

Technology Use by Educators

Although test security and confidentiality are a high priority, nothing in these Coordinator Resources or any other Texas Assessment Program publication shall prevent district staff from having access to communications infrastructure (e.g., standalone hardware, electronic devices, other telecommunications devices) during test administrations for the purpose of satisfying school safety standards.