Accountability and Testing of Students in Various Situations:
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.
A. Yes, you are required to test or complete the testing of any student who enrolls in your school/district during the testing window, provided the student has not already completed testing elsewhere.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.
A. Yes, all students enrolled during the testing window must be assessed. Recently arrived students, who are defined as a student who has been enrolled in U.S. schools for less than 12 cumulative months, may be exempted from the ELA section during their first test administration. These students must take the ELA section during subsequent administrations, even if they still qualify as a recently arrived student.
If a student arrives after the ACCESS for ELLs® assessment window and does not have an opportunity to take that test, but is exempt from the ELA assessment, he or she will be removed from test participation calculations. Recently arrived students must also participate in all other content areas, with or without designated supports, including linguistic supports for non-ELA sessions. Students in the district for less than a full academic year (FAY) are counted for test participation only; their assessment results are not factored into school or district report cards. Results for students who are FAY in the district but not a specific school are included in district report cards.
Recently arrived students who are exempt from the ELA assessment must have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal for ELA. If a student who is exempt from the ELA assessment took part or all of the ELA test please contact DPI for further guidance.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations. The student can be tested via a district owned laptop with the secure browser downloaded, in a secure setting with an internet connection by a trained proctor. If the student is not tested, the student counts as a non-test participant for accountability purposes and needs to have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.
Test security needs to be carefully considered when dealing with homebound or hospitalized students. The student can be tested via a district owned laptop with the secure browser downloaded, in a secure setting with an internet connection by a trained proctor. Be sure that the person who is administering the test to the student is an employed district staff member who has been trained in test administration.
Homebound services differ from virtual learning provided during the pandemic in that homebound is a placement determined by an IEP team. A student with a disability who requires in-person specially designed instruction and related services in the home in order to make progress towards their IEP goals and in the general education curriculum, must receive in-person homebound services as part of a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
A. A significant medical emergency is a significant health impairment that renders the student incapable of participating in any academic activities, including state assessments, for the entire testing window. Districts should maintain documentation of the circumstance within their district (please see Medical Exemption Guidance/Form). The student will be excluded from test participation and achievement-based accountability calculations. You must enter a not-tested code of "Significant medical emergency" for the student in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. Use your professional judgment about whether it is appropriate to test a student who has suffered a recent trauma. If the student is not tested, be aware that the student will count as a non-test participant for accountability purposes and needs to have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations. The student can be tested via a district owned laptop with the secure browser downloaded, in a secure setting with an internet connection by a trained proctor. If the student is not tested, the student counts as a non-test participant for accountability purposes and needs to have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. Enter the not-tested code of "Alternate Assessment" in the portal, which will indicate that the student took DLM instead of the Forward Exam.
A. No. Your district may not test private school students.
Private schools participating in the choice (voucher) program are required to administer the same statewide assessments as public schools. Private schools not participating in the choice program have the opportunity to purchase the Forward Exam directly from DRC. For additional information see Private School Testing.
A. No. Public schools do not have the authority to administer the Forward Exam to home-schooled students, including those enrolled in their district for two or fewer classes per day.
NOTE: Testing is something in life everyone must do in some form or another, whether it be a college exam, CPR training, or a professional certification exam. The child's attitude and the attitude of those around the child will determine a great deal about how they may perform on the test that day. Encouraging a child to do their best to show their knowledge and skill will aid them in doing well and forming good testing habits as they grow into adults.
A. A parent should submit a written request for student opt-out to the principal or the school board. Per Wis. Stats. 118.30(2)(b)3., if the student is in grades 4, 8, and 9-11 the request must be granted. If the student is not in the above mentioned grade levels, the decision to grant the request is at the discretion of the school board. Districts/schools should maintain records of parent opt-out requests.
A. No, a parent opt-out applies to the entire Forward exam. Even if a student has completed a portion of the exam or has completed testing, a parent opt-out will override that student’s score.
A. DPI does not provide a form. Some districts choose to create a parent opt-out form in order to collect the same information for every family. The method by which you choose to collect the written request is a local decision.
A. Yes. You must test all enrolled students in grades 3-8 and 10 with the Forward Exam. If the student is not a full academic year (FAY) student, the student counts for accountability determination only in test participation calculations and is not included in English language arts or mathematics proficiency rate calculations.
A. The Forward Exam cannot be administered out of state. If the student is still enrolled in the district/school, the student counts as a non-test-participant for accountability purposes. You must enter a not-tested code of "Absent for entire testing window" for the student in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
NOTE: A virtual school student living in another state but attending a Wisconsin Virtual School, must attend a location in Wisconsin arranged by the virtual school to take the Forward Exam in-person by a trained proctor.
A. No. The student does not need to be included in your count of students enrolled in the district if the placement is out-of-state.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.The district should work with the facility to complete testing; however, it is not the facility’s responsibility to test the student. This student will be tested on a district-owned device with the secure browser downloaded, by a trained proctor, in a secure setting with an internet connection. If the student is not tested by the district, the student counts as a non-test participant for accountability and needs to have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations.
A. See the Policy document regarding student in special/unique situations. The district should work with the RCC to complete testing; however, it is not the facility’s responsibility to test the student. This student will be tested on a district owned device with the secure browser downloaded, in a secure setting with an internet connection by a trained proctor. If the student is not tested, the student counts as a non-test participant for accountability purposes and needs to have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
NOTE: The district holding the IEP is usually the district of accountability, regardless of which district is providing educational services and submitting data to WISEdata. There are many different scenarios in which a student is enrolled in an RCC. If you still need additional information, please contact OEA at (608) 267-1072.
A. FAY is based on the following: For spring testing, an FAY student is one who has been continuously enrolled in a school or district from the 3rd Friday of September to the completion of testing, with no enrollment gaps of 30 days or more. For more information about FAY, contact Phil Cranley at DPI.
ESSA requires Academic Achievement calculations to be based upon the greater of 95% of students enrolled for the full academic year or the actual number of students tested. Hence, schools that have student groups with lower than a 95% test participation rate are penalized. Wisconsin’s ESSA system applies this requirement by adjusting the denominator of the points-based proficiency rate calculation to the 95% tested level for schools testing below the required 95% rate. For example, if a middle school serving students in grades 6-8 had 100 full academic year students, but only 90 of these students participated in state assessments, the schools points-based proficiency rate is calculated by dividing the number of points by 95 (minimum participation required by ESSA) rather than 90 (the actual number of students tested). This results in a lowered achievement score for that school.
DPI publishes school and district test participation on school and district report cards for informational purposes only. That is, test participation has no impact on report card scoring. This rule has been effective since the 2016-17 report cards. Please note that a minimum two years of 20 full academic year tested students are required to generate a report card score.
Data:
A. You need to acquire a WISEid for the student, then the District/School Assessment Coordinator may "add the student" (enter the student information) into the DRC INSIGHT Portal. Directions for adding a student to the DRC INSIGHT Portal are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. Yes, there is a multiple user upload option. Directions are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. DPI provides DRC with an initial student level data file extracted from WISEdata, approximately 8 weeks prior to the opening of the test window. DRC uploads this information to the DRC INSIGHT Portal and provides district-level data files for districts to download and check for accuracy. This data file can be edited by districts, and then uploaded back into the DRC INSIGHT Portal. Additionally, there will be a Multiple Student Upload (MSU) file layout and sample file that may be used by districts to enter their data into and perform an upload of students and student information into the DRC INSIGHT Portal. Directions for using a MSU file to upload data to the DRC INSIGHT Portal are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. WISEdata should be kept up-to-date throughout the school year via your Student information System (SIS). The Office of Educational Accountability will populate testing portals based on information submitted through WISEdata. Watch the DAC Digest for specific dates when OEA will pull data to populate the testing portals.
Designated Supports and Accommodations (Accessibility Features):
A. Allowable accommodations and supports can be found in The Accessibility Guide Available on the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
A. Yes, students may use hearing assistive technology (HAT), or FM (frequency modulation) systems additional information about this is available in the Accessibility Guide.
A. A designated support or accommodation can be entered at any time when the test set-up feature is available but must be done before test tickets are printed.
A. Accommodations and supports are entered in to the DRC INSIGHT Portal by selecting checkboxes. Accessibility features can be entered on an individual student basis or by groups of students who have the same accessibility feature.
A. If a student does not require any designated support or accommodations, nothing needs to be modified in the DRC INSIGHT Portal.
A. A scribe is an adult who enters into the computer what a student dictates via speech, American Sign Language, or an assistive communication device. The guiding principle in scribing is to ensure that the student has access to and is able to respond to test content.
Scribes are allowable on the Forward Exam as a designated support for ELA, mathematics, science, and social studies. Scribing Guidelines are available in the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
A. Yes, text-to-speech (TTS) is a universal tool and may be used by any student if they choose.
A. The read aloud accommodation allows the student to listen to all ELA test information displayed on the screen, including test directions, questions, answer choices, and ELA reading comprehension passages. This accommodation may only be provided to students with visual impairments who are learning braille but are not yet proficient, whose need is documented in an IEP/504 plan, and have prior approval from DPI by submitting a Request for Read Aloud Accommodation for the Forward Exam Form. More information is available in the Accessibility Guide, available on the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
Students who do not meet this criteria, but require read aloud, should use the Read Aloud Designated Support, including those with IEP/504 plans. Read aloud designated support allows the student to listen to test information displayed on the screen, including test directions, questions, and answer choices for all content areas with the exception of the ELA reading comprehension passages.
A. TTS Universal Support, Read Aloud Designated Support, and Read Aloud Accommodation allow the student to listen to test information displayed on the screen, including test directions, questions, and answer choices. The difference between them is:
A. Scoring will be the same for all students, including those using universal tools, designated supports, and/or accommodations outlined in the Accessibility Guide.
A. In extremely rare circumstances, when a student has a medical condition that allows them no screen time at all (i.e. photosensitive epilepsy) and an IEP or 504 plan, the DAC may put in a request for a Print-on-Demand Version of the Forward Exam that will need to be approved by DPI.
A. A DAC may submit a request for Print-on-Demand A student with a concussion who is not permitted screen time due to that medical condition, may put in a request for a Print-on-Demand Version of the Forward Exam that will need to be approved by DPI.
A. The Print-on-Demand (POD) accommodation is for extremely rare instances (e.g. photosensitive epilepsy) where a student’s condition prevents him or her from accessing material online. All other students should access the assessment in the online format. The decision to allow this accommodation must be based on each individual student’s need and documented in a student’s IEP or 504 plan. There are emergency circumstances in which medical documentation is acceptable (i.e. concussion with no screen time permitted).
A request for the POD accommodation must be completed and submitted to DPI. This request must be approved by DPI prior to use during the Forward Exam. DPI staff will review the request and if approved, activate the accommodation. See the Test Administration Manual for information about how to administer the POD accommodation.
A. A paper-based single digit (1-9) multiplication table will be available for reference as a non-embedded accommodation for students in grades 4-8 with a documented and persistent calculation disability (i.e. dyscalculia) who have an IEP or 504 plan. A student must have a documented disability/disorder that significantly impacts a person’s ability to learn and perform math calculations as evidenced on the student’s IEP. It is not available for students in grade 3 as computation is strongly assessed at this grade level and therefore would affect test validity. See the Accessibility Guide for specific guidelines.
A. “Braille” must be selected as an accommodation in the DRC INSIGHT Portal for the student and a braille version of the test must be ordered via the “additional materials” tab in the DRC INSIGHT Portal. It is best to order materials at least two weeks prior to the test window.
A. There is no "large print" version of the Forward Exam. The test has a magnifier function that allows viewers to magnify the screen 1.5 or 2.0 times. Additionally, the test expands to fill a monitor, so using a larger monitor would result in a larger print.
A. Forms are available from the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage and the Assessment Forms webpage.
DRC INSIGHT Portal
A. The DRC INSIGHT portal is the secure interface to the administrative functions of the online testing system for the Forward Exam. As the primary repository of student, site, and testing data associated with the Forward exam, users can manage student data, test sessions, print test tickets, assign accommodations and supports, and monitor testing progress. The DRC INSIGHT Portal also provides access to crucial documentation, software downloads and the Central Office Services interface.
A. If you are a new DAC and need access to the DRC INSIGHT Portal contact the DRC Helpdesk or one of the DPI Forward contacts. If you are school or district staff, contact your District/School Assessment Coordinator about access.
(608) 266-5182
(608) 266-5193
- Test Administrator/Proctors (TA) –set up by DAC or SAC (if district decides to give TAs access to the DRC INSIGHT Portal TAs do not need access to DRC INSIGHT Portal in order to administer the exam.)
A. For security purposes, only one DAC is permitted per district. There is a role available for an Assistant to the District Assessment Coordinator (DAC) to allow district-wide assessment related administrative tasks to be shared by more than one person. However, this role should be used sparingly for security reasons (1-2 people per district). For all other roles there can be more than one person assuming the same role. For example, schools will have multiple people in a TA role.
A. There is a User Roles and Permissions Matrix in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The not-tested code of "parent opt-out" must be selected in the portal for that student. The student will count as not tested for accountability purposes.
A. Select the not-tested code of "Recently arrived ELL" for ELA for the student in the portal. This will designate the student as a non-test-participant for the one-time exemption of the ELA section of the Forward Exam while still allowing them to participate in the required Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies sessions. If a student who is exempt from the ELA assessment took part or all of the ELA test please contact DPI for further guidance.
A. Yes. As long as the Forward Exam testing window is still open the district/school is responsible for testing the student.
English Learners (EL)
A. See the Accessibility Guide.
A. See the Accessibility Guide.
A. See the Accessibility Guide.
A. A Spanish stacked translation is available for students as an embedded designated support. For EL students whose native language is not Spanish, a translator/Interpreter or small group translation are allowed as designated supports. See the Accessibility Guide for more information about translation and the Spanish stacked translation.
A. Word-to-word bilingual dictionaries are allowed as a locally provided designated support to EL students for the mathematics, science, and social studies assessments. Word-to-word bilingual dictionaries are not allowed for the Forward ELA assessment. A list of DPI-approved word-to-word bilingual dictionaries is available as a link on the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
A. ELs are required to take all of the same content area assessments as all other students, dependent on grade level. They may be eligible for linguistic supports during the assessment with the exception of the ELA test.
A. Yes, all students enrolled during the testing window must be assessed. Recently arrived students, who are defined as a student who has been enrolled in U.S. schools for less than 12 cumulative months, may be exempted from the ELA section during their first test administration. These students must take the ELA section during subsequent administrations, even if they still qualify as a recently arrived student.
If a student arrives after the ACCESS for ELLs® assessment window and does not have an opportunity to take that test, but is exempt from the ELA assessment, he or she will be removed from test participation calculations. Recently arrived students must also participate in all other content areas, with or without designated supports, including linguistic supports for non-ELA sessions. Students in the district for less than a full academic year (FAY) are counted for test participation only; their assessment results are not factored into school or district report cards. Results for students who are FAY in the district but not a specific school are included in district report cards.
Recently arrived students who are exempt from the ELA assessment must have a not-tested code entered in the DRC INSIGHT Portal for ELA. If a student who is exempt from the ELA assessment took part or all of the ELA test please contact DPI for further guidance.
A. DPI has translated the ISR and ISR Cover letter into Spanish and Hmong. Districts may send this translated ISR template with the student’s English ISR home to Families. Districts must contact the DRC helpdesk to request an ISR template in additional languages. The ISR Cover letter and the informational handout What is an ISR? Have also been translated into Spanish and Hmong.
A. Yes, the Forward Exam Informational Brochure has been translated into Spanish and Hmong and is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The Spanish Stacked Translation TTS is in Latin-American Spanish without regional dialect.
Grade Classification:
A. If you have a student who is in the wrong grade in the DRC INSIGHT Portal, remove the student from all test sessions, switch the grade, and then place the student in test sessions for the new grade. Please remember to ensure the student’s record is updated in your local student information system (SIS) so the correct information is transmitted to DPI through WISEdata.
A. Students must be tested at the grade level at which they are enrolled.
Hardware
A. Yes, an external keyboard is required. This is to ensure the test content has enough space to display correctly on the device screen.
A. Yes, students will need to respond to two short write tasks that will require keyboarding.
A. Yes. As Text-to-Speech (TTS) is a Universal Tool, headphones are required for all students.
A. No.
A. Yes, a school can use any combination of devices for testing as long as those devices are supported by the DRC INSIGHT system. Please refer to the Technology Requirements webpage for a link to the list of supported devices.
Wireless (Bluetooth) headphones are allowed but not recommended as they can lose power or have connectivity issues. If used, test administrators must ensure the Wireless earbuds or headphones are synced to the proper device before the students may begin the test. It is the responsibility of the test administrator to confirm that wireless earbuds/headphones are connected to the testing device and not to a student phone or other device.
Local Content Hosting (Central Office Services)
A. Central Office Service (COS) Service Device software functions as local content hosting service that downloads all testing content to the local network and then serve up that test content to student testing devices configured to request test content from those devices. The COS Service Device has functionality that make it easier to take advantage of new configuration, monitoring and management features of the Central Office Services. Local content hosting is required for all tests with TTS (Text to Speech) or VSL (Video presentation of American Sign Language content). COS Service Device meets this requirement.
A. Currently available
A. For current hardware recommendations, see DRC INSIGHT System Requirements. For setup instructions see the Technology Users Guide. Both available on the Forward Exam Technology Requirements webpage.
A. As long as all student testing devices can communicate with the COS Service Device host machine, both options are possible with COS Service Device software. In general, COS Service Device features make a centralized architecture simpler to set up and easier to maintain. The best setup depends on the individual networking conditions, technology staff resources and hardware management in place at the district and/or school. More detailed information is available in the Technology User Guide.
A. Yes, COS Service Device works very well on virtual host machines. COS software runs as four separate Node.js services.
A. COS Service Device will work if installed on the same machine as another caching service. Be aware, however, that the machine resources (CPU capacity and RAM) used up by one caching service will be under additional strain by adding another active caching service like the COS Service Device.
A. No
A. DRC INSIGHT saves all responses with each navigation and on a 45-second heartbeat as long as the connection to the DRC system remains available.
Manuals and Guides:
A. All Forward Exam test guides and manuals are only available online. Schools and Districts only need to print what they need. The publications can be used as electronic documents, if that is the school/district decision. Forward Exam manuals and guides are available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The TAM is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage. All TAs must have a copy of the full TAM for test administration (either printed or electronic).
A. The Accessibility Guide is available on the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
A. The DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. The DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage
Practice Tests
A. The Forward Exam Practice test will be available for practice in late December. The Practice Test is designed to familiarize students, teachers, administrators, and other interested parties with the kind of content that is tested on the Forward Exam. It includes examples of each item type and a representative sample of items aligned to the Wisconsin Academic Standards. The Practice Test is designed to familiarize students with the tools, item types, embedded accessibility features, and other functionality of the testing system used for the Forward Exam. All students should have an opportunity to use the Forward Exam Practice Test prior to the exam.
Note: A student’s performance on the practice test cannot be converted to a scale score, used to predict performance on the Forward Exam, or used to make inferences about the student’s learning.
A. Test preparation is only useful to the extent that it is also teaching content area knowledge and skills. Therefore, the use of test preparation resources is of limited value to students due to the narrow opportunity for content learning. While it is important that students have an opportunity to become familiar with the format of the test and with the types of questions they will be required to answer, it is more important to ensure that teachers are teaching to the standards and not to the test, as teaching to the test narrows the focus of instruction to only that content covered by the test.
- via the INSIGHT app.
A. No. No student information needs to be uploaded in order for students to take the Practice Test. There is a generic password available to everyone when logging in.
A. No, the Practice Test is shorter than the Forward Exam, approximately 2/3 as long. The purpose of the Practice Test is to illustrate a sample of the content and types of items that students will encounter on the Forward Exam.
A. No, the Practice Tests is not scored. The purpose of the Practice Test is to illustrate a sample of the content and types of items that students will encounter on the Forward Exam.
A. The Practice test will be available in late December 2023 and remain available throughout the school year.
A. No, Internet Explorer is not compatible with the Practice Test. The Practice Test should only be viewed in a Chrome browser or in the installed INSIGHT app (secure testing browser).
A. It is recommended to allow at least one 45 – 60 minute session for the Practice Test. This will allow most students plenty of time to practice with the online tools and item types.
A. With the exception of length (Forward Exam is longer than the Practice Test) both are very similar in terms of bandwidth requirements for concurrent test sessions. Note: adding media accommodations, such as Text to Speech, similarly increases bandwidth requirements for both.
Scoring and Reporting
A. Electronically
A. Student results will be available to schools and districts through the DRC INSIGHT Portal approximately 7 weeks after the test window closes. School and district level data files can be downloaded in Excel or CSV format. Individual student reports (ISRs) are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal as pdf files. In addition, hard copies of the ISRs will be shipped to districts. See the Forward Exam Calendar webpage for dates.
A. WISEdash for Districts is a secure platform that provides dashboards for district-wide use of student data including specific detail inquiry, topic-specific current and trend data, and advanced analysis dashboards to compare data and demographics over time.
A. Log into WISEhome with a personal WAMS ID or an approved district email account and request to have your agency's administrator grant you access to an application through the WISEsecure system.
A. Several learning resources are available including: WISEdash for Districts guides, videos, and other resources.
A. WISEdash Public is a data portal that uses dashboards, or visual collections of graphs and tables, to provide multi-year education data about Wisconsin schools. Data on the portal are redacted and available by school, district, or state. Users can disaggregate data by student subgroups and make district or school side-by-side comparisons.
A. The WISExplore group builds capacity with educators to engage in data inquiry processes and culturally responsive continuous improvement practices utilizing WISEdash portals and many other data sources. The Using Assessment Dashboards presentation created by the WISExplore team in collaboration with the Office of Educational Accountability, is a guide to interacting with various dashboards and useful tools to analyze assessment data.
A. Districts should provide ISRs to parents/guardians shortly after receiving them. Districts are responsible for the secure distribution of the ISRs to parents/guardians in a language they can understand and in a format that is accessible to them. This may be done by mailing a hard copy of the report, posting a copy of the report on the district’s parent portal, or meeting with parents/guardians. Note that simply sharing assessment scores is not sufficient as the ISR contains additional information useful to parents.
Secure Browser (DRC INSIGHT Secure Browser or Application)
A. See Forward Exam Calendar
A. Yes, the Windows DRC INSIGHT secure browser is built with an .msi installer file extension. The Technology User Guide includes detailed instructions for installing the secure browser silently via the command line on both Windows and MacOS devices.
A. No, the DRC INSIGHT Secure Application has no external dependencies.
A. No.
A. An iPad automatically allows the DRC INSIGHT Secure App to set the device into Single App Mode and to release the device when the student logs out of the test.
A. The app is called DRC INSIGHT Online Assessments. This Chromebook application is distributed to all devices under management via the Google Admin console using an App ID provided in the DRC INSIGHT Portal and does not need to be procured directly from the Google App store.
A. Yes, this information is covered in the Technology User Guide. Additionally related information is covered in the Forward Exam Technology Trainings. These training sessions are recorded and are available to those who were unable to attend in person and as a refresher to those in attendance. See the Forward Exam Technology Requirements webpage.
A. ChromeOS updates are not optional since they are pushed automatically by Google to all managed devices according to their settings in the Google Admin Console. DRC mitigates the impact of these updates by running a sophisticated suite of automated tests against releases in the ChromeOS beta and development channels. This allows the entire DRC INSIGHT system (including the Chromebook App) to make any needed adjustments to accommodate changes in Chrome and ChromeOS well before those are released on the stable channel.
A. The DRC INSIGHT Secure App for ChromeOS runs in single app kiosk mode only and is not part of a user-based Chromebook profile. While the DRC INSIGHT app is active, no other Chromebook apps are accessible to the user. Once the user exits the app, they are able to sign in to the Chromebook to use other applications on the Chromebook.
A. There is an informational handout available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. Yes, expectations are clearly defined in the writing prompt (e.g., introduce your topic, use descriptive words and details, state your opinion/claim, write a one-paragraph story, explain your reasoning, include a summary/concluding statement).
A. The writing prompt will include a statement instructing students to write a one-paragraph response. Students will not be penalized for going over one paragraph (e.g., more than one paragraph to accommodate for dialog for narrative style/mode) or for including dialog in the single paragraph.
A. The writing samples should be clear and organized, however spelling errors will not affect the score as long as it is decipherable by the scorers.
A. No, students do not need to provide evidence from the passage. The passage should be used by the student to support their writing or as mentor text, depending on the prompt.
A. No. Students will not be provided with a Writer’s Checklist. Expectations are clearly defined in the writing prompt (e.g., introduce your topic, use descriptive words and details, state your opinion/claim, write a one-paragraph story, explain your reasoning, include a summary/concluding statement).
A. Yes, unless there are extenuating circumstances (e.g., fire drill, illness, need for extra time due to differing abilities). At the end of any test sitting (the time allotted by the school for students to test), students who have not completed and submitted their test session are instructed (via the test administration script) to go back and make any changes or complete flagged questions at that time as they will not be permitted to do so when they log back in to complete the test session. While the test functionally will let students go back to test questions, it will open to the last unfinished question when the student logs in. The Test Administrator is to monitor students to ensure they only work forward from the last question completed during their previous sitting.
A. Wisconsin educators were brought together during the 2023 Forward Exam New Item Review and discussed, reviewed, and edited each of the short write task for their grade-level. During this time, educators were asked to respond to each task from as the students in their classrooms would and how long they believed students would take to respond. Educators agreed that students may take 10-20 minutes to respond per short write task. Younger students may take closer to 15-20 minutes due to processing and keyboarding skills, while older students may finish in closer to 10 minutes.
A. Providing evidence from the passage is not required but students will not be penalized for doing so.
A. No. The 10-12 questions in Session 2 and 3 are in no way related to the short write tasks in those sessions. These questions are stand-alone multiple choice and technology enhanced questions that measure the other ELA writing and language arts standards.
A. Yes. The passage associated with the short write task with passage, will be read by TTS if the student chooses to make use of the TTS.
A. No. Each short write task will instruct the student to write a response in a specific mode (e.g., narrative, opinion/argumentative, informative). There will be different short write tasks/prompts within each grade-level. The prompt in Session 2 may ask for a different mode than the prompt in Session 3. Students are expected to be able to write to the grade-level expectations of ELA writing standards W3.2 and W3.3 in the Wisconsin Academic Standards.
A. The new short write tasks align to the ELA writing standards W3.2 and W3.3 in the Wisconsin Academic Standards for English Language Arts.
A. DRC is currently creating the rubrics for these new item types. OEA will notify DACs as soon as draft rubrics are available and posted to the Forward Exam Resources webpage. Rubrics will not be finalized until the ELA Rangefinding meeting in April.
Student Transfers:
Directions for transferring student are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. You may not transfer a student in the DRC INSIGHT Portal to another district. The district receiving the student must request a transfer of the student via the DRC INSIGHT Portal. If a student left your district, keep the student enrolled in test sessions and apply the not-tested-code (NTC) of "NLE" (No Longer Enrolled). You do not need to transfer a student out of your district. Directions for entering a NTC are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
Directions for requesting a student transfer are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. The school district should update their local student information system (SIS) and transmit the data to DPI through WISEdata. The new student will be assigned a WISEid. The student may then be entered into the testing portal by the district. Students that are transferring from a private school that participate in the Choice program should already have a WISEid and be in the DRC INSIGHT Portal. Those students should be added to your district via the student transfer process available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
Technology:
A. The Technology Readiness Checklist (also called the Site Technology Readiness Checklist) is available on the technology requirements web page.
A. Contact the specific assessment’s helpdesk for information about technology set up. The Forward Exam has put out guidance for alternate site testing available on the Forward Exam Technology Resources webpage.
Test Administration:
A. The Forward Exam is not a timed test. Information on test times is available at the Forward Exam resources web page.
A. Test administration timing can be found on the Forward Resources web page. The Forward Exam is an untimed test. These are suggested testing times provided by DRC to be used only as guidance to assist with scheduling for the Forward Exam. It is important to remember that students may take more time or less time to complete the test based on effort and ability levels. Students should be provided as much time as necessary (within reason) to complete testing.
A. Yes. A student may exit without submitting their session and come back at a later time to complete that session. In the meantime that student may move forward with their class to another session within that same content area or to a session in a different content area.
A. A qualified test administrator/proctor (TA) for the Forward Exam is an employed district staff member (including administrators, teachers, and paraprofessionals) who has been trained in test administration, test security, and appropriate use of test accommodations. This may also include student teachers who normally have responsibility for supervising students. Parent volunteers should not be allowed to proctor the examination. School personnel who are parents or guardians are not permitted to proctor their own children.
A. The content areas and the sessions within the content areas may be given in any order that works with the school's scheduling.
A. Yes. All staff involved in the testing process must sign hard copy DPI confidentiality forms. The DAC, SAC, DTC, STC, and TA, District and school staff confidentiality forms are available on the Forward Exam Test Security web page. Any district/school staff who have access to the DRC INSIGHT Portal, to the test, or to reports (providing accommodations, setting up tests etc.) must complete and submit the form to their DAC/SAC. This also applies to the CESA staff who have access to any testing materials or data.
A. An embedded calculator is available for the items that allow calculator use for grades 6-8. There are no calculators permitted in grades 3-5.
A. DPI determines a testing window each year for the Forward Exam (see Forward Exam Calendar webpage for testing window dates). Districts decide locally when their schools will test their students within the allowed window. There are many factors that influence administration schedules such as the number of devices available, grades to be tested, spring breaks, allowing for make-ups, etc. If it is possible within your district, you can break the window down into specific grade levels or specific schools testing during smaller windows within the eight weeks. It is not recommended to wait until the last couple weeks of the window to schedule your testing. It is strongly recommended that the last couple weeks be reserved for make-ups.
A. Students should be seated in a way that does not allow them to view other students’ monitors or they should be provided with table partitions, privacy screens or some other form of way to block the line of sight.
A. Suggested testing times and sample testing schedules are available on the Forward Exam resources web page.
A. Graph paper is optional for the Forward Exam. There is no need for a consistent requirement in graph paper size. However, the recommendation is 1/4 inch graph paper. The graph paper should be plain graph paper and must also be free of axis lines, points, numbers, and/or letters. Graph paper is provided for students to create organized sketches of points, lines, and/or shapes to solve problems in grades 6-8.
A. It is not necessary at those grade levels but may be provided. The graph paper should be plain graph paper and must also be free of axis lines, points, numbers, and/or letters.
A. Yes. Scratch paper should be provided. Please shred the scratch paper immediately after testing each day.
Test Design:
A. As part of the reading and listening passage development process, a passage’s text complexity is analyzed so that an appropriate grade‑level placement for each passage can be made. Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) uses a process that measures (1) the quantitative evaluation of the text and (2) the qualitative evaluation of the text, which is reported out on a passage placemat. Passages along with their respective placemats may be submitted to DPI during initial passage reviews. In addition, a third component, matching reader/listener to text and task, is also taken into consideration during passage evaluation and teacher committee reviews.
Q. How many questions are on the Forward Exam?|
Grade Level
|
ELA
|
Mathematics
|
Science
|
Social Studies
|
|
3
|
47
|
52
|
x
|
x
|
|
4
|
47
|
56
|
45
|
48
|
|
5
|
49
|
56
|
x
|
x
|
|
6
|
49
|
56
|
x
|
x
|
|
7
|
49
|
56
|
x
|
x
|
|
8
|
49
|
56
|
45
|
48
|
|
10
|
x
|
x
|
x
|
50
|
|
Math
|
Non-Calculator
|
Calculator
|
|
6
|
26
|
30
|
|
7
|
19
|
37
|
|
8
|
12
|
44
|
A. The Technical Manual is released and posted annually on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. Information about the Standard Setting is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. Forward Exam Blueprints are available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
A. Forward Exam test design information is available on the Forward Exam Resources webpage.
Test Security:
A. Yes. All staff involved in the testing process must sign hard copy DPI confidentiality forms. The DAC, SAC, DTC, STC, TA, and District and school staff confidentiality forms are available on the Forward Exam Test Security web page. Any district/school staff who have access to the DRC INSIGHT Portal, to the test/test materials/test tickets, or to reports (providing accommodations, setting up tests etc.) must complete and submit the form to their DAC/SAC. This also applies to the CESA staff who have access to any testing materials or data.
A. Yes. Anyone who has access to the test must sign the confidentiality agreement. Any district/school staff who have access to the test or to reports (providing accommodations, setting up tests etc.) must sign a hard copy confidentiality form and submit the form to their DAC /SAC.
A. No. Students are not allowed to review previous years’ tests. Forward Exam Practice Tests are provided for practice purposes.
A. No one is allowed to have access to the Forward Exam prior to administration. No one should be viewing the Forward Exam items unless working with a student who has a particular designated support or accommodation which requires it.
NOTE-No one may log into a testing session other than the student for whom it was created. To do so is a test security violation.
A. No. Any form of reproducing any part of the test is a security violation and is a violation of copyright laws. Districts and schools are not allowed to make copies of student writing prompts, or test items used in any test administration year. It is also not acceptable to modify a test item and use it for practice. There are Forward Exam Practice Tests available on the department’s website for practice purposes. These may also be used for showing members of the public the format and types of items on the test.
A. All test security violations must be immediately reported to the Department of Public Instruction. Violations may be reported by the school faculty, students, their parents or other family members, and persons in the community. For more information about test security violations refer to the Test security manual.
A. No. No one should be viewing the Forward Exam items unless working with a student who has a particular designated support or accommodation which requires it.
A. No. Taking photos of items is a test security violation. Any form of reproducing any part of the test is a security violation and is a violation of copyright laws. Districts and schools are not allowed to make copies of student writing prompts, or test items used in any test administration year.
Test Tickets:
A. Test tickets must be printed ahead of time. The directions for printing test tickets are in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. Students first need to be placed in test sessions (done by DRC with the exception of any new students added after the add accommodations features window) and assigned any accommodations or designated supports. Once these two steps are completed, test tickets may be printed by school, session, or individual student. More details are available in the DRC INSIGHT Portal Guide.
A. Districts do not have to retain tickets beyond the completion of the test window. Test tickets are considered secure test materials and should be treated as such.
Trainings:
A. The Test Administrator Training is a recorded presentation/video that is required for all educators/test administrators prior to administration. The training is available on the Forward Exam Trainings webpage (see Forward Exam Calendar webpage for availability date).
A. There is an Accessibility Training Video available on the Forward Exam Accommodations and Supports webpage.
A. Yes. The DAC training will be posted on the Forward Exam Trainings webpage. (see Forward Exam Calendar webpage for availability date) This training covers all aspects of administration management of the Forward Exam from start to finish including training, set-up, preparation, administration, reporting and any updates/changes.
A. The Forward Exam Test Security Training is a video targeted for educators/test administrators which is available on the Forward Exam Trainings webpage.
Virtual School Testing
A. Yes, state and federal law require the administration of statewide assessments. This includes schools whose current instruction is 100% virtual. Virtual schools still need to safely provide an in-person, school proctored testing environment (e.g., schools or an alternate community setting). Remote (virtual) testing options are not available for statewide assessments.
A. There is no remote (virtual) option for statewide assessments.
Q. What is the difference between a “single-district virtual school” and a “multi-district charter virtual school”?A. Single-district virtual schools are based in only one district. These schools may have students attending under open enrollment from other districts as well as from their own district.
Virtual multi-district charter (MDC) schools are consortium charter schools where a district-authorized charter school partners with other school districts to provide instruction to the students from the partner districts. A version of the MDC is included in each partnering district.
- The Resident/Partnering District is the district that is sending its own students to another district’s virtual MDC.
- The Authorizing District is the district who enters into a contract with a governance board to create and oversee the virtual charter school. The authorizing district would also enter into contracts with one or more partnering districts to provide instruction to those districts’ virtual students.
- The Consortium Districts refers to all of the districts, i.e., the authorizing and partnering districts, that are parties to the consortium agreement
A. For the Forward Exam, single-district virtual schools are responsible for ensuring all students enrolled in their school in grades 3-8 and 10 take the Forward Exam. Virtual schools are responsible for setting up physical testing arrangements for their students. Testing may be done in the district that is responsible for the single-district virtual school, or with district staff at another secure site with sufficient internet bandwidth. Virtual school students should be tested by a trained proctor in a secure setting with an internet connection on a district owned device with the secure browser installed. Districts are not responsible for testing virtual school students who live in their attendance area but attend a single-district virtual school in another district.
A. Virtual multi-district charter (MDC) schools are consortium charter schools where a district-authorized charter school partners with other school districts to provide instruction to students from the partner districts as well as their own students. The virtual MDC school of the authorizing district is responsible for testing and must work with the partnering districts to ensure all students enrolled in the MDC are tested, unless otherwise specified in the Consortium Agreement / s. 66.0301 Contract.
For state accountability, the authorizing district of the virtual MDC school receives a school-level report card that includes all students enrolled in the MDC from all consortium districts.
The district report card for a partnering district includes all students in that district, i.e., it will include the students attending the MDC school from their district. The students from participating districts are included in their district’s report card.
For federal accountability, students attending a MDC are included in the test participation rate of their resident district.