Managing Appeals and Score Codes
In the normal flow of a test opportunity, a student takes an online test in TDS and then submits it. Next, TDS forwards the test for scoring, and then the test scores are reported in Reporting. Appeals are a way of interrupting this normal flow. For example, a test administrator may want to reset a test because the student started the test without the proper accommodations.
Score codes can be entered for a student taking an online test that is not completed/submitted for scoring.
Instructions for managing appeal requests is in the section below:
A full list of appeal types will be available in the table “List of Appeal Request Types” in the appendix.
A list of appeals/score codes statuses will be available in the table “List of Appeal Request Statuses” in the appendix.
A list of available appeals/score codes by test status will be available in the table “List of Appeal Request Statuses by Test Status” in the appendix.
How district-level users add new appeals/score codes requests one at a time
You can create an appeals/score codes for a given test result.
Retrieve the result for which you want to create an appeals/score codes by doing the following:
From the Appeals/Score Codes task menu on the TIDE dashboard, select Create Requests. The Create Requests page appears (refer to Figure 47).
Select a request type.
From the dropdown lists and in the text field, enter search criteria.
Optional: From the Test Window dropdown, select specific test windows to limit your search or keep All Selected for the broadest search.
Optional: You can further limit your search results by choosing to view only tests that are provided through the official testing program or to view tests that are created in the Authoring system by educators. Use the Test Type drop-down to make a selection.
Select Search. TIDE displays the found results at the bottom of the Create Requests page (refer to Figure 48).
Select the checkbox for each result for which you want to create an appeal, then select Create.
From the “Select a reason” from the list dropdown, select a reason for creating the appeals/score codes. The reasons may vary based on the appeals/score codes type.
Enter a reason for the request in the window that pops up.
Select Submit. TIDE displays a confirmation message.
How district-level users modify existing requests one at a time
You can view, approve, reject, retract and export existing appeal requests.
From the Appeal Requests task menu on the TIDE dashboard, select View Requests. The View Requests page appears.
Retrieve the appeal requests you want to view by filling out the search criteria and select Search.
Optional: Review the initiator’s reason for the appeal request by selecting the speech bubble in the status column or by viewing the columns for Submitter, Submitter Comments, Appeal Reason, Reviewer, Reviewer Comments..
You can also process appeal requests on the View Requests page by selecting the checkbox. This process is covered in the How district-level users approve, reject, and retract appeal requests section.
NOTE: When you select records with a Request Status that cannot be changed, like Rejected by System or Submitted for Processing, the Process options show No Action(s) indicating that additional steps in the workflow are not possible for some records.
How district-level users add or modify multiple appeal requests all at once
If you have many appeal requests to create, it may be easier to perform those transactions through file uploads. This task requires familiarity with composing comma-separated value (CSV) files or working with Microsoft Excel.
From the Appeals/Score Codes task menu on the TIDE dashboard, select Upload Requests. The Upload Requests page appears.
Following the instructions in the section How to add or modify multiple records at once in the introduction and using the table Columns in the Appeal Request Upload file in the appendix as a reference, fill out the Appeal Request template and upload it to TIDE.
How district-level users approve, reject, and retract requests
Some appeal requests require you to approve or reject them before TDS can process them. You can also retract appeals requests you created. You cannot delete approved or rejected appeals requests. To delete such requests, contact Texas Testing Support.
From the Appeals/Score Codes task menu on the TIDE dashboard, select Approve Requests. The Approve Requests page appears.
Retrieve the appeals/score codes you want to process by filling out the search criteria and selecting Search.
Do one of the following:
Mark the checkboxes for the requests you want to process.
Mark the checkbox at the top of the table to process all the retrieved requests.
Select Process above the table and select an action:
To approve the selected requests, select Approve.
To reject the selected requests, select Reject.
To retract the selected requests, select Retract.
To resubmit a request that the TDS could not process, select Resubmit.
Enter a reason for the requested action in the window that pops up.
Select Submit. TIDE displays a confirmation message.
TIDE removes the selected appeals/score codes from the list of retrieved requests.