Prepare for Online Administrations

Verify Testing Information

District and campus testing coordinators must:

❏ Ensure Staff Members Understand Their Testing Responsibilities

Training modules are available in the Learning Management System (LMS). Training is especially recommended for technology requirements and test security.

  • Technology staff must:

    • review applicable technology documents on the Secure Browsers webpage and all hardware and software requirements;

    • ensure that the district’s network infrastructure and computers meet the Minimum System Requirements;

    • follow the instructions for Setting Up TDS Workstations regarding firewalls, proxy servers, downloading and installing required software on testing devices (including installing the correct Spanish voice pack and testing the text-to-speech [TTS] functionality in Spanish before a test administration), and other technical and system requirements;

    • disable any automatically launching applications, such as screensavers, scheduled virus scans, email notification alerts, detectors, instant messaging programs, and power management software warning of low battery levels; 

    • confirm that the network is secure, if testing via a wireless network;

    • alert network users at each campus to the schedule for online administrations and, if necessary, request that they avoid unnecessary or heavy bandwidth activities that might impair the network during testing; and

    • ensure that accessibility features are set up; refer to the Assistive Technology Manual.

  • Campus coordinators must:

    • ensure that all eligible students are scheduled to test;

    • update student demographic information in the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE);

    • verify that appropriate test settings and attributes are enabled for each student in TIDE;

    • determine if test sessions will be proctored or unproctored;

    • set up and manage test sessions; and

    • ensure test sessions include only operational assessments.

  • Test administrators must: 

    • help students log in to and access their assessments;

    • maintain test security, including active monitoring;

    • not duplicate, record, or electronically capture (e.g., take pictures or capture screenshots of) confidential test content unless specifically authorized to do so by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) or procedures outlined in the test administrator manuals;

    • manage any interruptions during testing, such as restroom breaks or student illness; and

    • complete seating charts, including all required information.

❏ Verify Student Information in TIDE

  • Review student information, including student name, demographic information, and test attributes.

  • Use the View Student History feature to review updates made to students' records by TIDE users, including edits and file uploads, and to see when and by whom the updates were made.

  • Refer to the Verify Student Information page for more information.

❏ Ensure Students Are Familiar with the Online Practice Tests

Students should be provided with opportunities to use the online practice tests. The test directions in the operational assessments assume that students are familiar with the online testing environment. The practice tests, available on the Practice Test Site, give students experience using the online interface and tools and allow them to become familiar with various assessment question formats.

Schedule Test Sessions

District and campus coordinators must:

❏ Plan and Organize Test Sessions

  • Review the scheduling test administrations information for the applicable program in the Program Overview section.

  • Establish a schedule of administration dates for each assessment within the state testing window on the Testing Calendar.

  • Determine if proctored or unproctored test sessions will be used. Refer to How to Create Test Sessions for more information.

  • Students have a maximum of seven hours to complete STAAR and TELPAS online assessments. Schedule sufficient time for each test session. Once a student begins an assessment, he or she must complete it on the same school day unless the student has a TEA-approved Extra Day designated support.

  • Students taking online administrations can be grouped across grades and subjects, courses, or language domains. Be sure to organize test sessions so that students are not confused by differences in directions read aloud or accommodations provided.

  • A student who uses certain accommodations might need to complete the assessment in a separate setting to eliminate distractions to other students and to ensure the confidentiality of the assessment.

  • District coordinators should contact Texas Testing Support one week prior to a signed or oral administration to request that a test administrator providing such an administration be allowed access to the assessment within the secure browser.

❏ Create Test Sessions

  • Test sessions can be scheduled in the Test Administrator Interface of the Test Delivery System (TDS) up to three weeks before the testing window opens. Sessions can also be created at any point during the administration. For specific dates, refer to the Calendar of Events.

  • Use the Test Administrator Practice Site to become familiar with setting up test sessions.

  • Create a test session and determine the assessments to be administered in the session. Be sure to select only operational assessments for the test session.

  • Determine how many days the test session should be open. Keep in mind test security requirements when determining test session durations.

  • Determine how many hours the test session should be open. Students have a maximum of seven hours to complete an assessment. Keep in mind test security requirements when determining test session times. 

  • Specify the start date, start time, end date, and end time for each test session. Be sure to adjust the a.m. and p.m. settings as necessary.

  • Ensure that the session start and end dates and times are within the state testing window on the Testing Calendar and that they conform to the testing room schedule.

  • Test sessions can be added to individual calendars by clicking the Add to Calendar button from the Session Information pop-up message that appears after a session has been scheduled.

  • Details of all active and upcoming sessions can be exported to a spreadsheet for reference by clicking the Export button in the Create and Manage Test Sessions screen.

  • Specific instructions for creating test sessions can be found in the TDS User Guide. 

Prepare Areas for Online Testing

Campus coordinators must:

❏ Arrange for Testing Areas

  • Confer with the campus principal to arrange appropriate testing areas, including consolidation testing areas, and ensure that the areas are properly prepared.

  • Ensure that students are sufficiently separated from each other that they can work without distraction and cannot see one another’s monitor. Refer to the sample seating charts on the Security Forms page of the Test Security section.

  • Ensure that enough devices are available to accommodate the established testing schedule.

  • Ensure that one headset is available for each student receiving a speech-to-text (STT) accommodation when multiple students are tested in the same room.

  • Avoid scheduling activities that would interfere with testing conditions.

  • Consult with technology staff to ensure sufficient Wi-Fi access for wireless connected devices. The maximum recommended number of wireless devices per wireless access point is 20.

  • On the day of testing, consult with technology staff to verify that computers are ready for testing, as changes might occur after initial setup and before testing begins.

STAAR

  • Ensure a Spanish voice pack is available for students testing with a TTS accommodation in Spanish.

  • Ensure that one pair of headphones is available for each student receiving a TTS accommodation when multiple students are tested in the same room.

  • Ensure that students recording answers using the STT accommodation are seated far enough apart that background noise does not cause interference.

TELPAS

  • Ensure that one headset is available for each student taking a TELPAS listening and speaking assessment.

  • Ensure that one pair of headphones is available for each student taking a TELPAS reading and writing assessment.

  • Ensure that students taking TELPAS listening and speaking or recording answers using the STT accommodation for reading and writing are seated far enough apart that background noise does not cause interference.

Manage Test Materials

Campus coordinators must:

❏ Print Student Test Tickets

  • Each student must have a test ticket to log in to an online assessment. Student test tickets contain the student’s first name and the Texas Student Data System (TSDS) ID needed to log in to take an online assessment.

  • Student test tickets are available in TIDE before the start of an administration and should be printed at least one day before the test administration. Printed student test tickets must be stored in a secure location.

 ❏ Distribute Test Materials

  • Campus coordinators should plan how the test session ID will be shared with students (e.g., write the session ID on the board) and communicate the plan to test administrators.

  • On the day of the assessment, campus coordinators should provide test administrators with the following materials:

    • student test tickets; test tickets contain personally identifiable information and should be kept confidential;

    • test session ID; session IDs are secure and must be kept secure;

    • pencils or pens for use with scratch paper or graph paper; and

    • any additional TEA-authorized materials (e.g., headphones) required for the administration.