Transcript New Test Coordinators’ meeting

Presented by:
Research, Evaluation & Accountability
What in the
world have I
gotten
myself into?
FCAT
•
website:
www.fcat.fldoe.org
• DOE website:
www.fldoe.org

Materials were developed by the FDOE to assist teachers in
preparing students for the FCAT. Districts receive sample test
materials in the fall of each year. Schools should use sample test
materials to familiarize students with the test format. Each
student should receive sample test materials and the booklet
Keys to FCAT: Information About the 2009 Test.

Students may take these materials home to parents after they
have been used in the classroom because sample test materials
are not secure. These materials can also be accessed online at
www.fldoe.org.

Reading, Mathematics, and Science:
Reprints of ’08 materials

No Writing Sample Test Materials

Shipments to districts in early November 2008

Per Legislature, delivery to schools should be after January 1, 2009

PDFs posted to DOE website in January 2009
Keys to FCAT
• Print delivery and web posting mid-January 2009
Understanding FCAT Reports
• Print delivery and web posting late
April 2009
FCAT Results Folder
• Reduced quantities
• Distribution
 Grade 3 students only
 Overage for mobility
 Delivery early May 2009

2008-09 and 2009-10 FCAT Schedules

2008-09 Assessment Calendar

Updates
• 2008-09 FCAT Schedule
• Test Dates
• March 10 – 19
• Grade 11 Science
• Test Dates
• March 12, 2009

Test Materials Shipment and Pickup Schedule
Calendar of Events
All students enrolled in the tested grade levels (Grades 3-11) should
participate in the FCAT test administration. Students must take the
test appropriate for the grade level in which they are enrolled.

Home Education Program - Students must be registered with the
District Office and may participate ONLY in the tests appropriate
for their grade level.

Grades 11 and 12 Home Education Program students are not
permitted to take the SSS Reading and Mathematics portions of
the FCAT. However, Grade 11 Home Education Program students
may take the Grade 11 SSS Science test in order to show annual
progress in Science.

You will receive a student list from Nereida.

The parent/guardian is responsible for contacting the school to
register the student for the selected assessments and for
transporting the student to and from the school assigned testing
location.

The parent/guardian is also responsible for providing the
following to the testing location on or before the day of the test:
all student information necessary to complete the student grid
sheet, photo identification (if the student is unknown to the test
administrator or other school staff), and emergency contact
information.

These students will be coded with the school code 49-9998.

Results – The FCAT results arrive during the summer and are sent
to the School Principal for distribution. No test results will be
released from the REA office to students or parents.

Students enrolled in Private schools through the McKay
Scholarship Program may participate in statewide assessments.

School districts are required to provide information to these
students regarding the locations and times available for
statewide assessments.

You will receive a student list from Nereida.

These students will be coded with the school code of 49-3518.

Students enrolled in PUBLIC schools through the McKay
Scholarship Program are required to participate in the statewide
assessments as outlined in their IEPs.

You will receive a student list from Nereida.

These students will be coded with your school code.

A private school student enrolled in the CTC Scholarship Program
MAY participate in the statewide assessments.

A parent/guardian is responsible for contacting the district to
register the student for the selected assessments and for
transporting the student to and from the district-assigned
location.

You will need to verify with Nereida if these students are
enrolled in the CTC Program before scheduling any test
administration.

These students will be coded with the school code of 97-9999.

These students are public school students enrolled in grades 3-8
and must participate in the FCAT program.

The school code is 78-0700.

If a student is enrolled in FL Connections, and will test at your
school, you will receive a student list from Nereida.

Place all TO BE SCORED answer documents for FL Connections
students in the envelope marked FL Connections Academy and
seal it. You will use only one envelope for all grade levels.

These students are public school students enrolled in grades 3-8
and must participate in the FCAT program.

The school code is 79-0801.

If a student is enrolled in FL Virtual, and will test at your school,
you will receive a student list from Nereida.

Place all TO BE SCORED answer documents for FL Virtual students
in the envelope marked FL Virtual Academy and seal it. You will
use only one envelope for all grade levels.

These students are enrolled in high school and can attend public
schools, charter schools or the Home Education Program.

You will need to verify with Nereida if these students attend the
FL Virtual School before scheduling any test administration.

ALL ELLs are expected to participate in FCAT Reading and Writing;
however, if an ELL has been receiving services for one year or less AND the
LEP committee determines that it is appropriate, the student may be
exempt but must participate in an alternate assessment. (CELLA)

ALL ELLs are expected to participate in the FCAT Mathematics and Science
tests no matter how long these students have been receiving services.

If a student is identified as an ELL and receives services in an
approved ESOL program, provide the length of time the student
has received services if this information is not pre-identified on
the student label.

ELL—Receiving ESOL services for:
• Less than 1 year (1 on label)
• At least 1 year, but less than 2 years (2 on label)
• 2 years or more (3 on label)

In general, students with disabilities are expected to participate
in statewide assessments; however, if a student with a disability
has a current IEP and has been assigned to a special program
according to State Board Rule 6A-6.0331, FAC, AND the student
demonstrates cognitive ability that prevents him or her from
taking the test even with allowable accommodations, the student
may be exempt from taking the FCAT.

If a student with a disability is granted an exemption, the IEP
must document why the assessment is not appropriate and what
alternate assessment will be provided. This procedure follows
the current requirement according to the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004.

A student with the accommodation of extra time must complete
one session before continuing to the next session.

These codes are used to identify students with current IEPs who
have been classified as exceptional according to State Board Rule
6A-6.0331, FAC. The school coordinator must provide the test
administrator with a list of the students with disabilities and the
appropriate code for each.

If the code is not on the pre-identified student label, the test
administrator must grid the appropriate bubble. GRID ONLY ONE.
If more than one code is gridded, none of the codes will be
recognized as valid.

The test should be administered in a room that has comfortable
seating, good lighting, and sufficient workspace. Make sure that
the room is adequately ventilated and free of distractions.

Arrange the room so that each student will have enough
workspace for the test materials. There must be sufficient space
(at least three feet) between students to prevent cheating.
Make sure that students are not facing each other when seated at
tables and are not in seating (stadium or staggered) that allows
them to easily view other students’ answers.

Remove or cover all visual aids in the room, such as posters
showing mathematical and scientific concepts. Students may not
have access to any unauthorized aids, including word lists,
spelling lists, lists of adjectives and adverbs, word definitions,
punctuation charts, transitional devices, organizational patterns,
etc.

FCAT posters distributed by the FDOE may be left uncovered
during testing. Discuss any concerns with your school
coordinator.

Outside each door to the testing room, post a sign that
announces TESTING—Please Do Not Disturb. You may use the sign
provided in the Appendix of your manual.

If you are administering the test to 31 or more students, see the
chart in the manual for the number of proctors needed.

The student grid sheet, the front of the answer document,
captures student demographic information. The preidentification information provided by each district was used to
create student labels.

A document is pre-identified if it has a student label affixed to
the lower left corner of the student grid sheet. If demographic
information is missing from a student label, grid the information
with a No. 2 pencil.
 Affix the label in the box in the lower left corner of the student grid
sheet
 Do not remove labels once they have been affixed
 Do not place a label over another label

The pre-identification information provided by your district was
used to print student labels for all answer documents.

If the district supplied class code information, the student labels
are sorted by class code; otherwise, they are sorted
alphabetically by grade.

School personnel are responsible for ensuring that certain preidentified student information is correct. You are NOT required
to grid the missing numbers of the Social Security Number if the
Pre-ID Roster reflects the correct Social Security Number.

Refer to the administration manual for directions regarding
student labels with missing or incorrect information.

Please adhere to the following policies:
• Only the school coordinator and persons designated by the
building/site administrator may open the shrink-wrapped
packages and affix labels. Secure books must not be opened.
• Do NOT use student labels from previous administrations.
• Students are not permitted to handle test documents before or
after testing.
• All secure materials must be returned to locked storage and
remain there until testing.

Verify that the student is still enrolled and will be tested.

Verify the information on the Pre-ID Roster against the school’s
student information database.
• The Pre-ID Roster includes each student’s complete Social
•
•
•
Security Number or Florida Student number.
Because the complete Social Security Number is not printed on
the label, the Pre-ID Roster MUST be used to verify student
information for the SSS administration.
It is not necessary to check both the labels and the roster
because the same file is used to create the roster and the
labels.
Use the Pre-ID label if the student last name, student ID
number, district number, school number, AND grade level are
CORRECT, even if other information is incorrect.

Students who are not tested on the regular administration date
due to a temporary illness or disabling condition should be tested
on a make-up day. All security and administration procedures
must be followed while conducting make-up administrations.

Please remember that after ANY administration, initial OR makeup, materials must be returned immediately to the school
coordinator and placed in locked storage. Secure materials
should never remain in classrooms or be taken out of the building
overnight.

Make-up testing may begin on Day 2 and continue through Day 10
as needed.

There should be no deviations from the established SSS FCAT
administration schedule unless districts requested and received
written approval from the FDOE prior to implementation.

Electronic Devices

Previous policy stated that “possession of electronic devices may be
cause for invalidation. “Due to security breaches involving the use of
electronic devices, the policy now states that: “Possession of any
electronic device that reproduces, transmits, calculates, or records is
cause for invalidation. “Possession” is defined as “within arm’s reach,”
even if the electronic device is not visible. For example, students
should not have cell phones in their pockets, clipped to their belts, or
anywhere they can be easily accessed during testing.

Testing Guidelines
• If a student starts a test and leaves campus without finishing
(for an appointment, illness, etc.), he or she will NOT be
allowed to complete the test.
• NO EXCEPTIONS will be made once the student leaves the
campus; therefore, if you have concerns about a student,
you should not allow the student to begin.
• Consider administering the test to that student on one of
the make-up days.

Use ALL of the allotted time in each session of
the SSS and not end a session early.

Test administrators must NOT administer the FCAT to their family
members. Students who are related to their assigned test
administrator should be reassigned to an alternate test
administrator.

Prior to test administration, remind students that they are not
permitted to have notes or scratch paper in their possession,
even if they do not use them.

In each testing room, schools must maintain an SSS Security Log,
provided in Appendix C of your manual.

Forms located at www.ctb.com/fcat
• Comment Forms
Ensure that the online comment forms are reviewed BEFORE testing
•
so that feedback will address the concerns of the FDOE and the
•
contractor.
• Test Administrator
• School Coordinator
• District Coordinator
• Required Administration Information
• Missing Materials
• Administration Irregularities and Breaches

Schools must maintain the following infromation for each testing
room:
• Students assigned to the room (provide Student Name and
Student ID Number
• Attendance information—Present, Present but Invalidated,
Absent, Withdrawn
• Test Group Code (Grades 3-AD)
• Unique security numbers of secure documents assigned to each
student

Copy and file all required administration information for future
reference. Return the originals to the school coordinator.
When creating your own Security Checklist remember to add the
following information:

Letters and numbers from the original Security Checklist

School name

Grade level

Subject area

Test book or answer book

TO:
District Assessment Coordinators

SUBJECT:
Test Group Code Instructions for the Spring 2009 FCAT
Administration

Test group codes will now be used on answer documents for ALL grades,
including grades 3 and 4.

Test group codes identify groups of students tested together. The test
administration scripts in the manual instruct students to grid the fourdigit code on the back of their answer documents.

Test group codes are provided on the attached Excel spreadsheet.
Distribute the spreadsheet along with this memo to all appropriate school
coordinators.

When completing the attached spreadsheet, schools are only required to
complete the “Room #” column. The other fields on the spreadsheet are
not required, but may be helpful in managing test administrations and
records. Assign one code from the spreadsheet to each testing room. A
test group code may be used more than once in the same testing room
for different subjects tested; however, it may not be used again for the
same subject test.

A supply of FCAT calculators has been provided to each district by
the FDOE. No other calculators may be used. The school
coordinator and test administrators must ensure that one working
FCAT calculator is available for each student in Grades 7-AD for
use on all Mathematics tests and in Grades 8 and 11 for use on
the Science test. Calculators may not be used by students in
Grades 3-6.

Calculator practice sessions should be conducted prior to the
scheduled test administration dates, using the information
contained in the SSS sample test materials.

Students in Grades 6-AD are provided Mathematics Reference
Sheets for use on the SSS Mathematics sessions.

Science Reference Sheets/Periodic Tables of the Elements are
provided to students in Grades 8 and 11 for use during the SSS
Science sessions only.

Students will remove Mathematics Reference Sheets and Science
Reference Sheets/Periodic Tables from the test books on the day
of the appropriate test, according to the directions in the scripts.
These sheets may be referred to at any time during the
appropriate test.

After students complete the appropriate test(s), the test
administrator should collect all Mathematics Reference Sheets
and Science Reference Sheets/Periodic Tables, and the school
coordinator should destroy or return them as directed by the
district coordinator.

Take lots of deep breaths…force yourself to do this!

Request a test pre-slug from the Data Entry Clerk at your school four to
five weeks in advance of testing.

The test pre-slug should contain social security number, birthday,
exceptionalilities, ethnicity, and gender.

Ask the Data Entry Clerk to pull up the ELL’s or ESE’s from the 702 screen.

Give the test pre-slugs to the teachers that will be test administrators.

Have a good team of reliable people to work with.

Work with administrators all the way through the testing process.

Plan - plan – plan and train people thoroughly (not just proctors –
everyone in the school needs to know what their duties will be during
testing).

Hold training sessions to relay information face-to-face.

Know Nereida’s extension by heart…and do not be afraid to use it! 66158

Double and triple check everything!
DON’T

Assume people will read e-mails or memos.

Let anyone “forget” about a meeting – if they don’t show up,
hold them accountable and arrange another session.

Assume things will go smoothly – plan for any catastrophe. (Fire
Alarm goes off)

DO NOT throw anything away until all is said and done…like June
or until all student test results have been received.

DO NOT wait until the last minute.

DO NOT hesitate to reach out for help.
ESE ALTERNATE
ASSESSMENT
JANUARY 12FEBRUARY 27, 2009
CELLA
APRIL 14 –
MAY 15, 2009
SAT10
MAY 26-29, 2009
Grades 1, 4, and 7
Grade 3 Pending
FCAT Test Results