DATE:
Thursday, November 17, 2022
TO:
Elementary School Administrators
FROM:
Carolyn Gough, Administrator of Teaching and Learning
Ben Jameson, Director of Evaluation, Research and Accountability
SUBJECT:
MOY Acadience Reading and Math Testing Reminders
The middle-of-year Acadience Reading and Math testing window opens on Thursday, December 1st and closes on Tuesday, January 31st. As we prepare for Acadience testing, there are a few friendly reminders that help the district testing teams be as efficient as possible while they are at your school testing students:
- Because our assessment teams are fully staffed, it is not required that instructional coaches assist with testing, though they are still welcome to help. That said, we will still need coaches to assist us with absent testing. We have left a narrow cushion of two days at the end of the testing window during which we will come test as many students who were absent on the days of testing as is possible, but those days may be used as alternate testing days to cover a snow day.
- For snow days before the winter break, schools will need to plan on testing the first day back from winter break (Tuesday, January 3rd). For snow days during January, schools will need to plan on testing either on January 30th or 31st. Evaluation, Research & Accountability will contact any school affected by a snow day.
- Please avoid scheduling kindergarten and first grade classes back-to-back, when possible. They take longer because assessment assistants are administering both the reading and math measures. Staggering them between second and third grade classes helps the team stay on time.
- Encourage your teachers to be flexible. They need to be prepared to come early or late to their allotted time. When possible, please try not to schedule classes to test around recess or lunch times just in case assessment teams are running early or late.
- Be sure to have an adult runner available who knows the school and can quickly get the next class to come to the testing area, distribute student cards, and help the testing run as efficiently as possible. If schools don’t have a runner available, a parent who knows where teacher classrooms are is a viable option. If there is no runner, one of our assessment assistants must do it, which means she is testing less students.
We know creating testing schedules can be difficult and we understand that some things are just not possible. We appreciate your efforts to make the process run as smoothly as possible. Please contact Ben Jameson or Shannon Johnson in Evaluation, Research & Accountability with any questions or concerns.
