Are we going online with Writing Assessment this year for 7 th and 10 th grade? Yes.

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1 2005 West Virginia 7 th and 10 th Online Writing Assessment & 4 th Grade Writing Assessment Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Are we going online with Writing Assessment this year for 7 th and 10 th grade? Yes. How are 4th grade students being tested? Fourth grade students will be tested in the same manner as in previous years. The directions are the same sixty minutes to compose a rough draft and sixty minutes to copy the final essay onto the Answer Sheet. When will manuals be available? Copies of the Writing Assessment Administration Manual Grade 4 and Online Writing Assessment Online Manual Grades 7 and 10 have been mailed to the County Test Coordinators. Number of copies for each school was based on one manual per fifteen students in the school. In addition, both 4 th Grade and 7 th and 10 th Grade manuals are available on the website of the Office of Student Assessment Services: under the WRITING ASSESSMENT section and on the Will 7th & 10th grade Writing Assessment be timed? The Online Writing Assessment will not be timed; check the manual for specific instructions concerning students who stop working. If students are 10th grade students but have not passed English 9, do they still take the Writing Assessment? Yes, all seventh and tenth grade students take the test. However, 7 th grade students who have been retained are not required to retest if they took the Writing Assessment last year. May students compose handwritten rough drafts? Yes. Students are to be given scratch paper when they enter the testing site. May rough drafts or copies of the essays be kept? No. Copies may not be kept. Examiners are directed to collect student scratch paper and rough drafts. These are to be delivered to the principal/building test coordinator who will destroy by shredding or incinerating. These instructions apply for 4 th, 7 th and 10 th testing.

2 When will the operational screen prints be available? These have been updated in the manual and in the Writing Assessment Powerpoint that is presently available on the website: under the When will revised sample reports be available? These have been posted to the website: under the What is the format of the student usernames and passwords? The username will be an abbreviation of the student s name; the password will be a combination of letters and numbers. (Note: usernames and passwords are case sensitive.) When will usernames and passwords be available and what will be the method of distribution? Usernames and passwords will be sent to the CTCs the week of Feb These will be on perforated sheets of eight cards per sheet. Student cards will include the following: County, School, Student Name, Username, and Password. Sheets will be organized in individual envelopes by schools; sheets will be alphabetized by student last name. CTCs are to deliver envelopes to the schools the week of February Envelopes will have a security seal to be opened by administrators/ building test coordinators prior to testing for final checking of names and for organizing testing schedules. Usernames and passwords are NOT to be distributed to students prior to testing. What if a student does not have permission to use a school s computer or to access the Internet and does not have on file the parental permission form: Acceptable Use of the Internet Form? According to Policy 2460, schools must have this form on file for all students who use computers. Prior to testing, make every effort to obtain these permission forms. CTCs are to contact the Office of Student Assessment Services for directions concerning the testing of students who are not in compliance with this policy. What will schools do for usernames/passwords for late enrolled students? Updated lists from schools are due in our office Feb. 1. After that date, schools should contact their County Test Coordinator with updated information. The County Test Coordinator will contact the Office of Student Assessment Services who will supply usernames and passwords. What if a student transfers schools within the county; may CTCs send usernames and passwords to the new school? Schools are to contact the County Test Coordinator with this information. They, in turn, will contact the Office of Student Assessment Services. This information will be forwarded to CTB/McGraw-Hill to ensure accurate reporting of scores.

3 What if the student logs in and nothing happens for an extended time period? Connectivity issues may arise during online writing assessment. The West Virginia Department of Education, Office of Student Assessment Services and the Office of Technology in cooperation with CTB/McGraw-Hill and various county technology representatives are working to identify connectivity issues in order that corrective recommendations may be formulated. Any individual school problems should be directed to Jason Perdue at (304) or by at If Jason is not available, you should contact Brenda West at the same phone number or at An immediate solution may not be available, but Jason and/or Brenda can evaluate the problem and begin to work toward a solution. Examiner will need to make the decision of whether to wait or exit the site. What if a student logs in and the wrong name appears on the screen? The examiner is to record this, exit the site for the student, and contact CTB Technical Support Staff at May administrators use flexible scheduling of students in and out of testing i.e., give directions prior to testing in a classroom setting, allowing the option to move students out of testing as they finish and to bring in new students? We do not recommend this; it may result in distractions to students who are taking the test. What are students to do once they submit their essays? Examiners will exit the website for the students. After this, students are not permitted to be on the Internet. Students should do silent reading or other activities provided by the examiner until the class is dismissed. May teachers review directions with students prior to the test? Teachers may review any directions found in the Administration Manual or in the Writing Assessment PowerPoint with the exception of the exiting password, found at the end of the script in the Manual. West Virginia Writing Assessment Prompts are now considered secure. Teachers are not to share with students any information they may have had prior to testing concerning West Virginia Writing Assessment Prompts. Can the screen font be enlarged for visually impaired students?

4 Font can be enlarged prior to launching VANGuard. Using the windows interface. And following theses steps: 1. When at your desktop, RIGHT CLICK on your mouse. 2. When the Display Properties window opens, click on the SETTINGS TAB. 3. At the Setting tab, find the Screen resolution box (towards the lower left hand corner) and click on the slider with your mouse. Drag it towards the Less indicator. When it you see it move all the way over, to 800 x 600 pixels, release the mouse. 4. Click OK. 5. At this point a couple of things may happen. Depending on your version of Windows, you may need to reboot the computer to get the settings to stay. Or you may see a message window asking you if you would like to change your settings. Click YES and the change should be instant. Please call Online Support ( ) or ask your IT person at the school for assistance. What if a school experiences a power outage? As soon as power is restored, reboot computers and direct students to login again with usernames and passwords. Student will be returned to the last save point or automatic back-up save upon returning to the system. Who should schools contact with problems/questions? Brenda West, Sandra Foster and Jason Perdue will be available from the Office of Student Assessment Services ( ); CTB/McGraw-Hill Technical Support Staff ( ) will also be available. What conditions will require the services of a scribe for the 2005 West Virginia Writing Assessment: The following non-standard conditions will require the services of a scribe for the 2005 West Virginia Writing Assessment: STUDENTS WHOSE IEP OR 504 PLANS REQUIRE THE ACCOMMODATIONS OF A SCRIBE STUDENTS WHO DO NOT HAVE ON FILE AN ACCEPTABLE USE OF THE INTERNET FORM o (Encourage students to return the form prior to Feb. 21) STUDENTS WHOSE PARENTS DO NOT ALLOW THE STUDENT S NAME TO BE USED ON THE INTERNET o (Scribes will input without reflecting student s name)

5 STUDENTS WHO HAVE BEEN DENIED COMPUTER USE BY THE SCHOOL o (Students will hand write the essay; scribe will enter the essay) The following procedures are to be followed for the above conditions: 1. Schools contact County Test Coordinators (CTCs) with the following information: a. Student name b. Student grade c. Student WVEIS # d. School 2. CTCs contact the Office of Student Assessment Services for prompts for students 3. Student writes the essay 4. Scribe enters the essay (See Directions for Transcribing on page 11 of West Virginia 2005 Online Writing Assessment Administration Manual.)