Manage Paper Test Sessions

District and campus coordinators must:

❏ Ensure a Proper Testing Environment

Campus coordinators should work with principals to ensure the following testing conditions:

• No element of the testing room environment should hinder any student’s performance.

• A “Testing—Do Not Disturb” sign should be posted outside the testing room.

• An instructional environment should be maintained during testing windows. It is not necessary to conceal or remove instructional or reference materials in testing areas, classrooms, or hallways unless they can provide assistance or are a direct source of answers for the subject-area or language domain assessment being administered.

• Clocks, either analog or digital, in the testing room do not have to be covered or removed.

• All desks or tables used for testing must be cleared of books and other materials not required for the assessment.

• All desks or tables used for testing must be sufficiently separated from each other so that students cannot see one another’s test booklets. Refer to the sample seating charts on the Security Forms page of the Test Security section.

❏ Ensure Proper Testing Procedures

• District testing personnel are required to have procedures in place to prevent student use of cell phones and personal electronic devices during test administrations. Before allowing student use of approved technology during testing, including technology-based accommodations, district personnel must review the Technology Guidelines for the Texas Assessment Program page of these Coordinator Resources. Technology cannot be used during a state assessment if its functionality creates a security concern that cannot be addressed.

• District testing personnel may establish specific days and start times for testing. TEA recommends that district personnel begin testing within one hour of the start of the school day. A student who arrives after a test session has started may be tested if sufficient time remains in the day for the student to complete the assessment. District personnel should exercise judgment about starting a test session after lunch for students who are late, as they might not have sufficient time to complete the assessment before the end of the school day.

• Every effort should be made to administer assessments to students absent on a given day of testing. If students are not present for the test session for which they were initially scheduled, they should be moved to another test session later in the testing window. Refer to the make-up testing policies available with the scheduling information for each program in the Program Overview section.

• At least one trained test administrator per 30 students must be present in each testing room at all times during testing.

• Test administrators should verify that students have access only to the materials specifically allowed for the assessment.

• Reinforcing, reviewing, or distributing testing strategies during an assessment is strictly prohibited.

• After testing, designated testing personnel must submit student responses in the Data Entry Interface.

❏ Answer Questions and Resolve Problems

District and campus coordinators should be aware of problems that can arise during testing and be available to respond to concerns from test administrators. If the information needed to resolve an issue is not covered in these Coordinator Resources:

• contact Texas Testing Support for questions about paper test materials, or

• call the Student Assessment Division for questions about testing policies and rules, accommodations, or testing irregularities.

Unusable or Defective Test Materials 

District testing personnel are not required to return test booklets that have human contaminants (e.g., vomit, blood, other bodily fluids) to the contractor. Instead, the district personnel should securely dispose of the contaminated materials and contact Texas Testing Support to report the disposal.

Changing Testing Locations

• It might be necessary to move students to another testing location, such as to consolidate those students who are still testing after four hours. In such cases, students should be instructed to place their test materials inside their test booklets, and the test administrator should collect all test booklets.

• Test administrators and campus personnel must provide a proper testing environment in the new location and maintain appropriate testing procedures during the transition. Another seating chart should be filled out for the new location.

Schoolwide Emergencies 

• If a schoolwide emergency disrupts testing, ensuring student safety is the top priority. Students should leave their assessments where they are and follow the school’s emergency procedures. Test administrators must closely monitor their testing groups to ensure that students do not discuss the assessment. Once the emergency has been resolved, students should resume testing when instructed to do so.

• If testing cannot be resumed on the same day, students' test materials should be collected. On the following day, students may resume testing from where they left off but may not go back to questions previously answered.

• Campus coordinators should report schoolwide emergencies or other interruptions to the district coordinator.

Power Outages

• If a campus loses power, district testing personnel should determine whether to release students or have them remain in the testing room until the outage has been resolved. If students are released from the testing room, their test materials should be collected.

• If testing cannot be resumed on the same day, students may resume testing the following day from where they left off and may go back to assessment questions previously answered.

• Campus coordinators should report schoolwide emergencies or other interruptions to the district coordinator.

Students Who Choose Not to Respond

• District testing personnel are required to provide testing opportunities to all students who are in attendance during the administration of an assessment.

• Students who choose not to participate or refuse to respond to test questions will have their assessments submitted for scoring, as both federal and state law require that all eligible students participate in state testing. Although state law provides families with the right to temporarily remove their child from a class or school activity if they have an objection to participation, it specifically does not allow families to do so to avoid a statewide assessment.