Introduction to TIDE

At its core, the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) is a registration system for users who will access Cambium Assessment, Inc. (CAI) systems and students who will take Texas Assessment Program Users of all CAI systems must be added to TIDE before they can access any CAI system. Students must be added to TIDE before they can test in the Test Delivery System (TDS). During testing, TIDE users can print test tickets, manage appeals/score codes, and monitor test progress. After testing, TIDE users can clean up data and resolve discrepant records.

You can use TIDE to perform the following tasks:

You can add new users or modify existing user accounts in TIDE so district and campus personnel can access TIDE and other CAI systems. Users must be registered in TIDE to access other CAI systems.
You can add new students or modify existing student accounts so students can take the correct tests with the correct test attributes at the correct time. Students must be registered in TIDE to test in TDS.
You can add new rosters or modify existing rosters. Rosters represent classes or other groups of students. While rosters are not required, they may be added to allow teachers to review scores in the Centralized Reporting System (CRS) or grouping students for the purposes of printing test tickets.
You can print hard-copy test tickets that include a student’s unique identifier so the student can log in to a test.
You can add new appeals/score codes or modify existing appeals/score codes.
You can view your district’s or campus’s assessment participation rates.

TIDE divides tasks by user role. Users with higher roles will have access to more tasks in TIDE than users with lower roles. District-level users have access to the most tasks, followed by campus-level users, test administrators, and teachers with assigned rosters. Refer to the User Role Permissions matrix to determine which specific features and tasks within each CAI system you can access.

Figure 1. TIDE Dashboard