PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF NORTH CAROLINA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION IDEA ®...

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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

IDEA® English Language Proficiency Tests (IPT)

North Carolina Policy and Procedural Information

Fall 2005 Administrations

NC IPT Testing Policy and Procedure

The new IPT will be administered in grades 2-12 for the 2005-06 school year.

• The new IPT for kindergarten and grade 1 students will be available during the spring 2006 annual testing window.

• For fall 2005 initially enrolled kindergarten and grade 1 students will be administered the green IPT K-6 Oral test (Form F).

Kindergarten and grade 1 students are the ONLY students who will be administered the old version of the IPT during fall 2005 test administrations.

For Kindergarten and grade 1 test administrations use the

-purple North Carolina Test Administrator’s Guide (TAG) published July 2004

-purple student scannable sheet (used spring 2005)

Answer Documents for Grades 2-12

• Answer documents for the new grade 2 IPT test will be in the form of a booklet. For fall 2005, the answer sheet, however, can be pre-coded.

• The grades 3-12 answer sheets may be pre-coded

• Page 1 request student demographic information.

• Page 2 is the answer sheet for the listening, speaking, reading, and writing conventions portions of the test.

• Pages 3 and 4 provide space for the student to complete the writing test.

A NCDPI processing guide has been made available to assist test administrators in the completion of the answer documents for fall 2005 test administrations.

Examiner Manuals for Grades 2-12

North Carolina test administration policy and procedure information has been incorporated into each of the four grade-span IPT Examiner’s Manuals.

Examiner Manuals for Grades 2-12

Test administrator’s MUST use the grades 6-8 IPT Examiner’s Manual when administering the new test to students in the sixth grade.

Initial Testing – Reminders

• According to federal and state policy the home language survey (HLS) must be administered to all students upon initial enrollment.

• All language-minority students in grades 2-12 must be administered all four subtests of the new IPT.

Initial Testing – Reminders

All language minority kindergarten and grade 1 students must be administered the Oral test of the IPT within the first 30 days of enrollment for the fall 2005.

Reminder:

A student must score Superior on all four subtests of the IPT during the same test administration to exit LEP identification.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing

The North Carolina cut score chart for the IPT (State Board of Education (SBE) policy HSP-A-011) has been updated to include score information for the new tests.

If the home language survey is completed and any question is answered “other than English” the student is considered a language minority student.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing School systems will be provided information for securely

recycling the old versions of the IPT with the exception of the following four items:

1. The green K-6 oral test (Form F – the administration form for kindergarten and first grade students for the fall 2005),

2. The green K-6 oral test (Form E the misadministration form for kindergarten and first grade students for the fall 2005),

Recycle Exceptions (continued)

3. The purple IPT North Carolina Test Administrator’s Guide (TAG) (published July 2004), and

4. Purple scannable sheets used for the administration of the test to kindergarten and first grade students.

• The green IPT K-6 Oral test (Form F) will be used for kindergarten and grade 1 students.

• Neither the old or new IPT can be used for any other purpose including the retesting of students for diagnostic purposes in determining continued placement, level of services, or instruction.

According to state policy school systems are reminded that students and parents/guardians must be advised of district-wide and state-mandated tests (including the IPT) that the student is required to take during the school year.

• School personnel are reminded that

TEST SECURITY must be maintained at all times.

• All individuals who administer the test must read the Testing Code of Ethics located in the Examiner’s Manual prior to the test administration.

Continued cooperation and collaboration between testing personnel and LEP/ESL personnel is essential to the success of the new IPT in North Carolina.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing• Test coordinators should provide notification to students

and parents/guardians of testing.

• LEP coordinators should coordinate the identification of language-minority students.

• Test coordinators and LEP coordinators should work collaboratively to ensure appropriate staff are trained on the new IPT.

• Test administrators must follow the grade appropriate/designated Examiner’s Manual as it is written for each grade span test.

• Sixth grade students in NC will take the grades 6-8 tests.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing - Proctors

Initial Testing

• A proctor is required in the administration of the reading, writing, and listening subtests for five or more students.

Annual Testing

• A proctor is required in the administration of ALL reading, writing, and listening subtests.

• A proctor is not required for the Speaking subtest administration.

A proctor is NOT required during the administration of the green IPT K-6 Oral test (Form F).

If student social security numbers are used, the school system test coordinator must establish policies to ensure that these numbers are kept confidential.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing• If a student does not participate in the IPT, the

parent/guardian must be notified.

• If the parent/guardian refuses to allow his or her child to be assessed on the IPT the decision must be documented.

• Refusal of the IPT means refusal of ESL services, testing accommodations, and participation in the alternate assessment unless the student is identified with a disability and has appropriate documentation.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing – Transfer Students

• IPT scores must be transferred with the student’s cumulative records.

• The new school has up to 30 days to obtain initial scores on the IPT for testing decisions.

• If scores are not received and the HLS indicates that the student is language-minority the school system must determine if the administration of the IPT is necessary.

Updates for 2005-06 Testing – Transfer Students (continued)

• If scores are sent, the receiving school must use the scores received to determine the student’s LEP status.

Form A must be used again in the event of a misadministration of the new IPT because it is the only new form of the test that is currently available for grades 2-12.

Form E must be used in the event of a misadministration of the green IPT K-6 Oral test.

Designated Test Forms for the Fall 2005 Administration

Grades Forms

K-1 F (old test)

2-12 A (new test)

Q: How many students can be tested during the group administrations of the IPT?

A: The recommendation by both the publisher and NCDPI is 30 students. NCDPI understands that some LEAs are larger and will need to test larger groups. Guidelines must be followed for a proper administration.

Q: What if an LEA needs to order additional forms of the old green K-6 Oral test?

A: LEAs may order additional copies of these test materials through the TOPS Ordering System.

Q: What if a test administrator needs access to the IPT test materials prior to giving the test to practice administering the test?

A: For the fall administration LEA test coordinators may allow test administrators ample time to review test materials (to practice pausing the CDs, work with picture books, etc.) under SECURE conditions.

Q: Should I use the raw score conversion chart for determining a student’s proficiency level?

A: Yes. The raw score conversion chart has been updated and should be used in determining a student’s proficiency level. This is the same chart that was passed by the SBE, only the SBE chart shows scale scores.

Q: Can a teacher administering the Speaking subtest create a checklist or audio recording of the student during the administration?

A: No. A checklist or recording cannot be generated.

Q: What happens if a student is unable to understand the directions for a part of the test?

A: The student should sit quietly until the other students are ready to move on to the next part of the test if this occurs during any group administered subtest. Once the group is ready to move on, encourage the student to try to answer questions in the next part of the test.

Q: What if the student’s English proficiency is so low that he or she cannot understand the test administrator’s instructions?

A: The test administrator may ask the student in whichever language he or she understands whether he or she wants to stop working on the test. If the student wants to stop collect all test materials from the student.

Q: May a student use blank paper for outlining during the writing portion of the test?

A: Yes. The student may use blank paper during the writing subtest for outlining/planning but the students final writing responses must be written on the answer sheet. Students are not to double stack their responses. Only responses written on the answer sheet will be scored.

Additional information may be forthcoming.

Q: Which form of the test is given to a student who enrolls after January 1?

A: The initial form, Form A. This will serve as both the initial and annual administration.

Q: Does NCDPI suggest an order for which the IPT subtests are administered?

A: For the fall administration LEAs may administer the IPT subtests in any order. However, it should be kept in mind that students who are administered the Speaking subtest first will later have access to those responses. For the annual administration the Writing subtest must be given first.