Test Security Policies Procedures and Best Practices Lake

Test Security Policies , Procedures and Best Practices Lake County Schools 2017 -2018 Lake County Schools Testing Department 1

Lake County Schools requires security training for all personnel involved in state and district testing. This training will provide district & state policies regarding test security in an effort to ensure the integrity of all testing in Lake County Schools, as well as to protect teachers, proctors and students throughout the testing process. 2

Test Security Policies and Procedures • Florida State Board of Education Rule 6 A 10. 042, FAC, was developed to meet the requirements of the Test Security Statute, s. 1008. 24, F. S. , and applies to anyone involved in the administration of a statewide assessment. The Rule prohibits activities that may threaten the integrity of the test. • Inappropriate actions can result in student or classroom invalidation and/or loss of teaching certification. 3

Test Security Policies and Procedures • All school personnel, including itinerant teachers and proctors, must receive thorough training in test administration and security policies and procedures, familiarize themselves with all relevant content of the test administration manual(s), read the Statute and Rule in the state provided testing manual, and then sign a Test Administration and Security Agreement. • All test administrators must be certified educators and must read and sign the Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement. • School assessment coordinators must maintain an accurate Test Materials Chain of Custody Form for all paper tests. 4

Test Administration and Security Agreement 5

Test Administration and Security Agreement Only required to be signed one time a year and covers Florida Standards Assessments, FCAT 2. 0, and EOC’s. Florida State Board of Education Rule 6 A-10. 042, FAC, was developed to meet the requirements of the Test Security Statute, s. 1008. 24, F. S. , and applies to anyone involved in the administration of a statewide assessment. The Rule prohibits activities that may threaten the integrity of the test. The Florida Test Security Statute and State Board of Education Rule are located in the appendices of each test administration manual. 6

Test Administration and Security Agreement • Example of Prohibited activities: – Reading or viewing passages or test items – Revealing the passages or test items – Copying the passages or test items – Explaining or reading passages or test items for students – Changing or otherwise interfering with student responses to test items – Copying or reading student responses – Causing achievement of schools to be inaccurately measured or reported *If any of the above examples are allowable accommodations for students with current IEPs, Section 504 plans, or ELL plans, test administrators are permitted to provide the accommodation(s) as described in the appendix of each test administration manual. 7

Test Administration and Security Agreement All personnel are prohibited from examining or copying the test items and /or the contents of the test. The security of all test materials must be maintained before, during, and after the test administration. Please remember that after ANY administration, initial OR make-up, materials must be returned immediately to the school assessment coordinator and placed in locked storage. Secure materials should not remain in classrooms or be taken out of the building overnight. 8

Test Administration and Security Agreement The use of untrained test administrators increases the risk of test invalidation due to test irregularities or breaches in test security. Inappropriate actions by district or school personnel will result in further investigation, possible loss of teaching certification, and possible involvement of law enforcement agencies. Therefore: No person will be allowed to administer or proctor a test in Lake County until officially trained by their School Testing Coordinator. 9

Test Administration and Security Agreement This what you are agreeing to when you sign this form: • I, ________________, understand that I must receive adequate training regarding the administration of statewide assessments and read the information and instructions provided in all applicable sections of the relevant test administration manual(s), including the Florida Test Security Statute and State Board of Education Rule. I agree to follow all test administration and security procedures outlined in the manual(s), Statute, and Rule. • Further, I will not reveal or disclose any information about the test items or engage in any acts that would violate the security of statewide assessments or cause student achievement to be inaccurately represented. 10

Protect Yourself! • FLDOE provides the Lake County School Testing Department with yearly training materials for all FSA ELA/Math, FCAT 2. 0 Science, and EOC tests. • Lake County School testing personnel train school test coordinators and provide the training presentation used to train test administrators and proctors • If you feel that you have not been adequately trained by your school or district test coordinator, you have the right to ask that further training or clarification be given to you before you administer or proctor a test • Simply emailing the Training is NOT considered adequate training 11

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement 12

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement • It is important for you, as a test administrator of a statewide assessment, to know that the following activities are prohibited. Engaging in such activities may result in an investigation, loss of teaching certification, and/or prosecution for violation of the law. I understand that before testing I may not: • Leave test materials unattended • Remove test materials from the school’s campus • Open and check through test books • Read test items • Copy, photocopy, or photograph test content 13

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement I understand that during testing I may not: • Read test items or student responses as I monitor the room • Assist students in answering test items • Give students verbal cues (“you may want to re-check number 7”) or non-verbal cues (pointing at a specific item) • Give students more time than is allotted for the session (unless a student has an extended time accommodation) • Encourage students to finish early • Display or fail to cover visual aids (e. g. , word lists, multiplication tables) that may help students • Use my cell phone, check email, grade papers, or engage in other activities that will result in my attention not being on 14 students at all times

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement I understand that during testing I may not: • Leave the room unattended for any period of time • Allow students to talk or cause disturbances • Allow students to use cell phones or other electronic devices, even if they have already submitted their tests • Instruct students to test in a session other than the one designated for that day/allotted testing time (going on to Session 2 during Session 1, reviewing work in Session 1 during Session 2) • Coach students during testing regarding test-taking strategies • Administer the assessment to my family members 15

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement I understand that after testing I may not: • • • Leave test materials unattended Remove test materials from the school’s campus Read through student test documents Change student answers Discuss the content of the test with anyone, including students or other school personnel • Reveal the content of the test via electronic communication, including but not limited to email, text, or post to social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. ) 16

Test Administrator Prohibited Activities Agreement If you are administering a test(s) to students with flexible-responding or flexible-presentation accommodations that require you to read test items, you may not: • reveal, copy, or share the items, or use the test content during instruction after testing. 17

What Would You Do? Best Practices on how to protect yourself, your fellow educators, proctors and students 18

While proctoring the state test you notice the test administrator tapping student’s answer books while they are testing. 19

You are administering a test with a fellow teacher in the computer lab. The teacher points to a student’s computer screen and says, “No choose this. ” 20

You witness a test administrator responding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as students signal with their fingers 1, 2, 3 or 4 while they test. 21

You walk in the teacher or test coordinators room and see them erasing in students’ test booklets. 22

Scenarios: Common Misperceptions …and Best Practices to limit investigations based on misperceptions 23

Scenario 1 While proctoring the state test you notice the test administrator tapping student’s answer books while they are testing. Finding After Investigation: Teacher was redirecting students to focus on the test did not provide answers or ask students to ‘recheck’ answers. You CAN: • Encourage a student to “keep working” You CANNOT: • Point to a question and ask the student to ‘answer this one’ or ‘check this one’ Best Practice: • Don’t tap on a student’s desk or test while they are testing 24

Scenario 2 You are administering a test with a fellow teacher in the computer lab. The teacher points to a student’s computer screen and says, “No, choose this. ” Finding After Investigation: Teacher was showing student how to go to ‘exit and submit’ properly. You CAN: • Assist students that ask for help with computer navigation issues, ex. ‘How do I submit my test? ’ ‘How do I go to the next question? ’ You CANNOT: • Point to a specific question and tell a student to ‘check this one’ • Help a student choose a answer Best Practice: • Not to touch a student’s computer screen. Instead, verbally instruct them ‘click the arrow bottom right that says- submit’ ‘click where it says- next’ • Do NOT take a student’s mouse and click something for them during the test 25

Scenario 3 You witness a test administrator responding ‘yes’ or ‘no’ as students signal with their fingers 1, 2, 3 or 4 while they test. Finding After Investigation: Teacher was using signaling system that she normally did in class to communicate with students. 1 was need to go to bathroom, 2 was need to get water etc. You CAN: • Have non-verbal signals that you utilize daily in the classroom setting and use them during the test You CANNOT: • Make gestures to students that would indicate an answer to a question or help them figure out the answer to a question Best Practice: • Inform your proctor of the non-verbal system being used BEFORE test begins 26

Scenario 4 You walk in the teacher or test coordinators room and see them erasing in students’ test booklets. Finding After Investigation: Person erased demographic info that was bubbled incorrectly. You CAN: • Erase stray marks ONLY on the student demographic page You CANNOT: • Erase on any page with student responses (questions or essay) Best Practice: • Let the school test coordinator make any erasing needed on demographic area of students test book • Teachers not to erase ANYTHING on a student’s test* *If the test administrator allows students to bubble the demographic information on the test books, the test coordinator may require that he/she erase the information WHILE they monitor that the demographic page is all that is being erased 27

If you are concerned that a security breach may have occurred DO: • Ask for clarification of action that is suspect • Contact the test coordinator if you still suspect security was breached DO NOT: • Discuss the issue with anyone other than the test coordinator and principal • Anonymously report security breaches Best Practice: • Meet with your test administrator/proctor prior to testing and discuss classroom procedures 28

Scenarios: Security Breaches 29

Security Breaches Examples: You hear someone give an answer to a student: • Report the breach to the test coordinator and principal per school policy/process • Do not mention or discuss the issue with ANYONE else You see someone copying a test book or writing down test questions from the test: • Report the breach to the test coordinator and principal per school policy/process • Do not mention or discuss the issue with ANYONE else You hear teachers discussing test questions after the test: • Report the breach to the test coordinator and principal per school policy/process • Do not mention or discuss the issue with ANYONE else 30

Bottom Line • School Administrator needs to develop mandatory test security reporting procedures and protocols and ensure that they are followed • If you witness anyone violating test security or the prohibited activities agreement, YOU MUST report it to the test coordinator and principal per school policy and procedure • Do not discuss your report or concerns to anyone other that your test coordinator and principal 31

How a Student Reports a Problem with a Test Question If a student reports to the test administrator that they believe there is an error with a question (Ex. “there isn’t a right answer”): DO: • Encourage the student to re-read the question • If they still believe the question is flawed, tell them that you will report their concern to the proper people and have them look into it • Ask the student for the number of the question and the reason they feel it’s flawed • Assure the student that someone will look into the matter and if they find the question is indeed flawed, the question will NOT count against their score or any student’s score • Give the information to the School Test Coordinator, who will pass it along to the District Test Coordinator to give to FDOE for investigation DO NOT: • Work the problem to see if the student is correct • Send the question via email to anyone to ‘check this question to see if there is a problem with it’ • Have the student write down the problem so you can submit it to someone to check later 32

Protecting Students • Allowing students to cheat is also considered a security breach and should be reported • Caveon is a company hired by FDOE to examine student answer patterns and erasures after each test. • Lake County has students each year, each test administration, whose scores are invalidated due to similar answer patterns. The student will show an NR 8 where a score should be. That means the state invalidated the score. • There is an appeals process but if students were sitting side by side, which is the case in 99% of the time, it is hard to prove cheating did not occur • FDOE requires test administrators to write up a report of what occurred during testing even if a parent/students does not appeal • Best Practice: Circulate during testing, watch students and warn them before testing that if they cheat, their scores will be invalidated. 33

What to watch for… 34

Erasures • Caveon also conducts erasure analysis on all paper based tests • The report will show many students changed an answer from right to wrong, wrong to right and wrong to wrong • If the FDOE determines that the threshold is reached in percentages of erasures for a school, FDOE will assign the school an ‘I’ grade until the investigation is complete and a determination is made as to whether students made the erasures or someone else or if students were encouraged to change their answers • There has been discussion of computer based testing answer patterns being analyzed by Caveon 35

Erasures Best Practice • Teachers DO NOT erase anything on student answer booklets or tests unless directed by and in the presence of the test coordinator • Put the time of day each time you sign tests in an out • Inform the test coordinator if any erasure/s are needed on the student’s demographic page • Never tell a student to erase something on an answer booklet • What if a student is using an answer sheet and discovers that he/she miss-bubbled or skipped an answer and needs to erase multiple answers to re-bubble correctly? Ø Inform the test coordinator after testing Ø Write a brief statement as to what occurred- Include student name and test booklet barcode Ø Test coordinator- file the statement with other required testing documentation at the school 36

Questions 37