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Test Security Plan

2016-2017

This Test Security Plan sets forth the test security procedures and responsibilities that the Turner County School District has established for all testing programs.

Turner County Schools testing program includes local, state, and national assessments. The assessments are utilized for planning purposes for the district. The following assessment programs are administered in Turner County Schools:

National Assessments:

  • Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) – Grade 10
  • National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) – Grades 4, 8, & 12

State Assessments:

  • Ga. Milestones End Of Grade (grades 3-8)
  • Ga. Milestones End Of Course (grades 8, 9-12)
  • Georgia Alternative Assessment (GAA) (grades K, 3-8, 11)
  • Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (GKIDS) (grade K)
  • Accessing Comprehensive & Communications State to State (ACCESS) for ELLs (grades K – 12)

Local Assessments:

  • Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) (grades K-12 for non-SGP courses)

The following notice applies to all tests and to all educators:

Under no circumstances may any of the testing materials be reproduced or duplicated for individual or group use. Failure to comply with U.S. Copyright Laws protecting these materials could result in legal action. Any instance of violation of copyright law must be reported immediately to the Georgia Department of Education. All test booklets and supporting materials are confidential and secure.

It is a breach of test security if anyone performs any of the following:

*Gives examinees access to test questions prior to testing.

*Copies, reproduces, or uses in any manner inconsistent with test security regulations all or any portion of secure test booklets.

*Coaches examinees during testing, or alters or interferes with examinees’ responses in any way.

*Makes answers available to examinees.

*Fails to follow security regulations for distribution and return of secure test materials as directed, or fails to account for all secure test materials before, during and after testing.

*Uses the secure test booklets for any purpose other than examination.

*Participates in, directs, aids, counsels, assists, encourages, or fails to report any of these prohibited acts.

Failure to safeguard these materials or to comply with test administration procedures could adversely affect an individual’s certification status and employment with the Turner County Board of Education. Such practices will be reported to the Georgia Department of Education and the Professional Standards Commission as failure to adhere to established policies and procedures.

Test Distribution and Storage of Materials

Test booklets, answer documents, Examiner’s Manuals, and School Test Coordinator’s Manuals are distributed to school test coordinators one to two weeks prior to the testing dates depending upon the assessment.

School Test Coordinators will attend a school test coordinator’s training at a district designated day, time, and location.

School Test coordinators must sign off on the inventory list of test materials before they are released to the school test coordinators at their respective schools. Test materials are secured at the system test coordinator’s office until materials have been inventoried and signed out to the school test coordinators.

If additional materials are ordered, the system test coordinator delivers them to the school test coordinator and documentation must be signed indicating the receipt of additional materials.

The School Test Coordinator and School Principal are responsible for test material storage and security once the materials are distributed to the schools. Each school must have a secure testing location. The school test coordinator and school principal should be the only people with a key to the secure testing location.

Whenever tests or administration materials are not in use, they must be stored in a secure locked location. No student, teacher, or other school personnel may have access to test booklets, questions, or test tickets prior to testing.

Test materials are picked up by the system testing coordinator 1-3 days after testing has been completed. Test materials are inventoried in by the system test coordinator and prepared for shipping. Test materials that are not required to be returned to the vendor are shredded at the system level.

Security and Accountability

Security Breaches

Any action that compromised test security or leads to an investigation of an individual’s or a group of students’ test scores will be viewed by the Turner County School System as inappropriate use or handling of tests and will be treated as such. Below are guidelines to assist system personnel in determining which activities might compromise test security or score validity. The list is not exhaustive. Local School Test Coordinators are to immediately communicate any testing concerns to the local System Testing Coordinator. All and any testing concerns will be reported immediately to the GaDOE by the Turner County System Test Coordinator. The local system test coordinator will inform the superintendent of any concerns reported to GADOE.

Local School Test Coordinators will inform all test examiners and proctors through their testing orientation meetings that it is a breach of test security, if anyone performs any of the following:

  • coaches examinees during testing, or alters or interferes with examinee’s responses in any way; gives examinees access to test questions or prompts prior to testing;
  • copies, reproduces, or uses in any manner inconsistent with test security regulations all or any portion of secure test booklets;
  • makes answers available to examinees;
  • reads or reviews test questions before, during (unless specified in the IEP, IAP, or ELL/TPC), or after testing;
  • questions students about test content after administration;
  • fails to follow security regulations for distribution and return of secure test materials as directed, or fails to account for all secure test materials before, during, and after testing (NOTE: lost test booklets constitute a breach of test security and will result in a referral to PSC);
  • uses or handles secure test booklets and answer documents for any purpose other than examination;
  • fails to follow administration directions for the test.
  • Participates in, directs, aids, counsels, assists, encourages, or fails to report any of these prohibited acts.
  • Erases, marks answers, or alters responses on an answer document.

School personnel will be informed that failure to safeguard test materials or to comply with test administration procedures could adversely affect an individual’s certification status. Such must be reported to the GaDOE by the local system testing coordinator and may be referred to the Educators Ethics Division of the Professional Standards Commission as failure to adhere to established policies and procedures. Under no circumstances may any tests be reproduced or duplicated for individual or group use unless authorized by GaDOE. Failure to comply with the U.S. Copyright Laws protecting these materials could result in legal action. Any instance of violation of copyright laws must be reported immediately to the GaDOE

Training

After receiving training from the System Test Coordinator, the School Test Coordinator trains ALL examiners and proctors.

All school staff participating as testing examiners and/or proctors is required to attend the local school test coordinator’s training prior to each state standardized test administration. If a test examiner or proctor is unable to attend the scheduled test training, it is the responsibility of the local school test coordinator to make-up that training prior to the test administration. A test examiner may not test and a proctor may not proctor unless they have received the training from the local school test coordinator prior to the administration of a state-standardized test. All test examiners and proctors must sign a sign in sheet at the training to verify that they have attended the training session. Local school test coordinators will keep a copy of the sign-in sheet, agenda, and handouts of the training(s) in the school testing files for each state standardized test. During the test training sessions, each test examiner will also be required to read pages 29, 30, and 31 from the 2016-2017 Georgia Student Assessment Handbook and sign page 31. A copy of page 31 will also be placed in the school coordinator testing files. A copy of the same training information will also be retained in a notebook by the System Testing Coordinator

Test Security

Steps for Reporting a Testing Irregularity

  • School Test Coordinators will communicate with the System Testing Coordinator about possible testing irregularities as they transpire in the schools. Local school test coordinators will phone the system test coordinator to discuss testing incidents. School test coordinators will then follow up by e-mailing the system testing coordinator a statement describing the testing incident, including the student’s name, teacher’s name, grade level, content area affected, date of incident, and student’s GTID number. Additional statements from test examiners, proctors, and students will be required.
  • The local system test coordinator will e-mail the statements describing the testing incident to GaDOE for review via the GaDOE portal. The response from GaDOE will be forwarded to the school test coordinator and cc’d to the school principal. The school test coordinator will code the IR as directed by the GaDOE. The system test coordinator will enter the testing IR information into the GaDOE Portal. The system test coordinator will keep a copy of all e-mail communications from GaDOE and the local school test coordinators. The System Test Coordinator will attach a copy of all e-mail communications to a copy of the information that is entered into the GaDOE portal as documentation of all testing irregularities and invalidations. Documentation will be filed in the system testing files for each testing incident as it relates to each respective state standardized test. All e-mail communications will be moved to a folder on the system test coordinator’s computer.
  • The School Test Coordinator will communicate with the principal to complete the Principals’ Certification Form (p. 130 SAH). The School Test Coordinator will turn in a copy of the form when test materials are checked-in to the System Test Coordinator. The System Test Coordinator will keep copy on file with the respective documentation for each state standardized test and the local school test coordinator will keep a copy in the school testing files for five years.

The GaDOE will inform the local district if it is required to report the irregularity to the Professional Standards Commission. In the event that happens, the System Test Coordinator will work with the Superintendent and Director of Human Resources to file the report to Professional Standards Commission.

Additional Procedures:

  • The School Test Coordinator is responsible for random monitoring of testing sites; however, they may be assisted by other administrative personnel.
  • In case of severe weather or the need to evacuate, test examiners shall instruct the students to close their test books, insert their answer document, and place all materials on their desk. The examiner shall evacuate everyone and lock the door behind them. If online testing, the students are to click the pause button on the test.
  • Electronic devices are not permitted to remain with students during testing. Electronic devices are collected and returned after all testing materials have been collected and returned to students after testing has finished.
  • In case of student emergencies (illness or restroom) the test examiner must collect the student’s test materials and a member of the school testing personnel or a person designated by the School Test Coordinator must accompany the student to and from the restroom/nurse’s station.
  • The School Test Coordinator must ensure that only approved calculators are used during testing. Each examiner/proctor must monitor the students to make sure that they are using only state approved calculators.
  • The School Test Coordinator or Principal shall visit all testing rooms prior to testing to ensure that all relevant materials have been removed or covered in the testing room. An appropriate documentation form shall be signed saying that this has been done.
  • Coding for students with accommodations (Sp. Education, 504, El, etc.) should be completed at the school level before returning answer documents to the system level.
  • The School Test Coordinator and designee shall examine ALL answer documents before returning them to the system level. Should make sure that all demographic data has been written and bubbled in, labels are on correctly, bubbles are clear, stray marks have been erased, etc.
  • The School Test Coordinator will ensure that the transferring of answers from books to answer documents has been completed and that the Validation From for Transposing Answer Documents (page 134 of SAH) has been filled out for each area and student and signed by the person transferring as well as the School Test Coordinator.
  • The school test coordinator is to ensure that a schedule of test examiners, proctors, test sites is prepared and distributed to school personnel before testing
  • Once testing is Complete, the Examiner’s Certification of Adherence to Prescribed Test Administration Procedures Form (page 136 of SAH) must be signed by all examiners and retained by the School Test Coordinator. (can write all sections given onto one before the teacher signs)
  • All materials specific to testing, except voided answer document, test books, and scratch paper are kept on file for a period of five years.
  • The School Test Coordinator will ensure that all students with disabilities, El, and 504 students received the necessary and correct accommodations during testing.

423 N. Cleveland Street ● P.O. Box 609 ● Ashburn, Georgia 31714

Phone: (229) 567-3338 ● Fax: (229) 567-3285

turner.k12.ga.us