The final step of submitting the ISAT-Alt portfolios is to fill in an online data form. Do not begin this final step data form until all data for every student has been uploaded and all data for complexity, independence and accuracy levels has been entered. Then print out the quick guide, follow the directions and complete this final online form. It is very simple with drop down menus. Thank you for everything you have done this year for your students and for your patience as we created this brand new way of assessment for students with cognitive disabilities! We can’t wait to share the wonderful ideas you have developed state-wide you’re your fellow educators. We plan to use examples for a library which can be accessed statewide!

The deadline has been extended to submit ISAT-Alt data into I-PASS until June 7th due to the many technical problems which users have experienced.

We want to reassure all users of I-PASS that over the past couple of days all of the servers were reconfigured, but that did not work, so new servers were brought in and are up and running as of this morning.

Today programmers are reprogramming the system to operate much faster for upload, so most, if not all issues, such as error messages, inordinate amounts of time to upload, as well as over all slowness, and capacity has been increased dramatically. All issues thus far have been resolved.  These changes will take effect this afternoon and I-PASS will be fully functional after 4 PM.

We apologize for the problems you have encountered and are working diligently to make the system fast and easy to use. I am certain you will find that this afternoon you can upload and move files quickly and easily.

Hopefully the deadline extension has lessened your anxiety. We appreciate your patience. Next year educators will have all year to submit data as the system will be available on the first day of school. We intended to release the system in March but technical issues prevented us from doing so.

We are almost there and are looking forward to sharing in the wonderful work you have accomplished this year and the amazing things your students have learned due to your expertise and devotion!

Announcement regarding the Alternate Assessment for the IRI for all teachers who have students in grades K-2 with significant cognitive disabilities who are designated to take the Alternate Assessment for the IRI.

The Assessment Division reviewed the appropriateness of the former teacher rating scale and it was deemed inappropriate because it does not directly measure beginning reading skills adequately. The decision process involved  the SDE Reading Coordinator, Jenny Fisk,  consultant Dr. Shawnee Wakeman as well as Assessment Division staff have led to the decision to substitute the Core Phonics Assessment as the alternate for the IRI.

Teachers may use any augmentative communication device or technique as well as assistive technology to enable the student to participate. The testing directions are included but the teacher may utilize adaptations such as making individual letter cards, enlarging the print or having the student point or use eye gaze to indicate the correct answers. If you have any specific administration questions do not hesitate to email. This assessment does not provide for fluency assessment but it will provide a basic evaluation of pre-reading and beginning phonics skills which will in turn provide useful information for teachers to help these students with significant cognitive disabilities access beginning reading goals and objectives.

IMPORTANT – Please write the Name of the District, School and Teacher at the top of the Record Form as well as any accomodations used.

Teachers should administer the Core Phonics, make one district copy to file with the students records and mail the original by June 5th to:

Carol Scholz, M.Ed.
Division of Assessment
650 W. State Street
Boise, ID 83720

All written or digital student work should be prescored or graded by the teacher with the number correct or percentage visible on the page for submission.

1. The SDE is in the process of giving access to districts to I-PASS. If you cannot log on, please call your testing coordinator and make sure that they have submitted the required excel with student and teacher data.

2. The Quick Start Guide to I-PASS is now available for download on the AA Documents page to give step-by-step pictures for submitting data to I-PASS. Please download and print in color.

3. An "I-PASS Guide" audio training is available on the AA Trainings page.

In order for teachers and administrators to access the I-PASS system, the SDE IT department needs to create classes, associate EDUIDs of students, teachers, tests, administrators and test coordinators so that appropriate employees have permission and teachers can view their student folders. The former excel did not  provide enough information, and so our IT department has updated the required data excel with grade level, principal, special ed. administrator and consulting teacher fields and it has been sent on Friday, April 2nd. 

Testing Coordinators are responsible for working with district administrators and teachers to provide all data on this excel and return it ASAP to the SDE by Friday, April 9th. Teachers can not log in until this data sheet has been returned and classes are created. Teachers and Administrators will be able to log in within 3-4 working days of receipt of this excel by the SDE. 

The deadline for submitting the excel is Friday April 9th. Teachers should be able to log in and submit data April 12-May 22nd. 

Thank you so much for your patience as the SDE rolls out two distinct processes - the EDUID and the I-PASS systems.

*Reminder - The deadline for submitting data into I-PASS is May 22nd.

An error has been discovered and corrected in the ISAT-Alt Assessment Handbook on the assessed content area objective number 5 in Reading for grade 10. The handbook has been reposted on the AA Documents page, but please make sure that you have replaced this extended content objective #5 for Reading grade 10.

The State Department of Education Information Technology Division has reviewed its procedures outlined in the I-PASS Testing Coordinator Handbook regarding test coordinator responsibilities to manually associate students, teachers, classes and assessments. Please put your Testing Coordinator Handbook for I-PASS directions on hold to be used at a later date.

In an effort to lighten testing coordinator work load, the Division of Information Technology has created a more streamlined automatic process which will allow the SDE to do the initial association set up for districts. 

Test coordinators will manage the classes by adding, deleting or moving a student or two in response to their own teacher requests at a later date.

Now in order for the IT department to associate individual students with teachers and the applicable ISAT-Alt assessments, testing coordinators will need to work with their special education director or designee to fill in all appropriate fields on the I-PASS Teacher/Student Upload Excel spreadsheet and return to the SDE as soon as possible.  Please do not leave any fields blank.

We appreciate  your patience and are working hard to streamline the process as much as possible.

The State Department of Education has carefully evaluated the provision of state mandated alternate assessments including the; DWA, DMA and IRI for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and have finalized plans for the administration of these assessments during the 2009-2010 school year as follows.

Alternate Assessment for the DWA - The ISAT-Alt assessment in the area of Language Usage for all applicable grade levels,  will be used as the alternate, as in its revised format it provides for a performance based measure of the objectives which correspond to those assessed by this state mandated assessment. No additional materials will be disseminated or collected. Teachers are to provide the ISAT-Alt requested artifacts as the performance measures for this assessment.

Alternate Assessment for the DMA - The ISAT-Alt assessment in the area of Mathematics for all applicable grade levels, will be used as the alternate, as in its revised format it provides for a performance based measure of the objectives which correspond to those assessed by this state mandated assessment. No additional materials will be disseminated or collected. Teachers are to provide the ISAT-Alt requested artifacts as the performance measures for this assessment.

Alternate Assessment for the Spring IRI – District Special Education Directors will receive a paper copy of the former online teacher rating scale used to document progress on the extended standards for the former IAA. Teachers will use this one page paper version of the IAA Reading rating scale to document performance for the Alternate IRI. This paper form will be mailed early in April and teachers will be requested to return the rating scale via snail mail to the SDE. No evidence or submitted student work other than this one page rating scale will be required this school year for the IAA - IRI.

Please print this Contact Sheet for support contact information (email & phone) for the I-PASS, ISAT-Alt and BI-Care applications.

How can you decrease the time required for the upload of video?  Please access the directions on the Caring Technologies website to learn how to compress your video files so that they do not take 3 hours for a 3 minute video to upload into I-PASS.  Here is the link to the directions:
http://knowledgebase.caringtechnologies.com/article-114.html

The State Department of Education, Division of Special Education has purchased 120 BI-Capture units which (composed of a camera and software worn around the neck) which enable a teacher to record student behavior at the click of a button into a secure online system. The recording has the capability of selecting a time period and capturing behavior that has already occurred allowing a behavior intervention specialist or psychologist to provide support to the classroom teacher remotely. The use of this system maximizes their time and facilitates better communication.

Because all participants in the process will need initial training and continued support, the SDE has determined that the best time to deploy the implementation of a project of this scale is during the Summer and or Fall of 2010. The summer months can then be used to thoroughly train teachers in the classroom application and also provide state-wide training for existing support personnel who will be trained to use the online system to provide behavioral consults.

We have received an overwhelming response to the request for volunteer classrooms and we are excited to be able to provide this state of the art technology! We want to assure project success and that all stakeholders are well trained and comfortable prior to implementation.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm. You will receive notification regarding information and training sessions to be held during the Summer and or Fall, which are planned throughout the state via our IEN network as well as webinars available on the Idaho Training Clearinghouse.

Question:  Do teachers score the student work on the front prior to submission to I-PASS and should the score be visible?

Answer:  Yes, teachers should score the student papers with the number correct out of the total rather than a letter grade prior to submitting to I-PASS. No student names, teacher or school should be visible, but the grade should be visible, to save the raters time when figuring out the official ISAT-Alt score.

Please download and print the ISAT-Alt & I-PASS Testing Coordinator Handbook in preparation for the statewide launch of I-PASS over the next two week period. Teachers please do not log in until notified that your district account has been activated as your testing coordinator must manually create and confirm your class lists. Thank you for your patience.

Teachers please download and carefully read the ISAT-Alt & I-PASS Submission Handbook regarding the log in and submission of student artifacts into I-PASS. Please do not log in until your district has notified you that their account is activated. Testing coordinators will be creating and confirming class lists, and until this has been accomplished you will not be able to see your class rosters. Thank you for your patience!

Ninth grade students are to be assessed on the ISAT-Alt using the same rubrics, goals and objectives as the 10th grade in the handbook.  For more information, go to the AA FAQ page and search for the category of "9th Grade ISAT-Alt."

Revised ISAT-Alt Portfolio Collection Handbook – Please download and read through this revised handbook as it reflects the changes to:

1. Schedule, page 9
2. Forms Requirements (see table on pages 21-22 as well as revised appendix)
3. Contact Info, page 28

Important Announcement – No Forms Required for Submitting the ISAT-Alt – Please read the posted announcement regarding changes in the forms required for submission.

Attention Testing Coordinators:  Special instructions need to be followed in order for the ISAT-Alt to be given and students to be tested this year.

I-PASS Account Creation Instructions (MS Word)
Teacher of Record Demographic Data Needed (MS Excel)

The Idaho State Department of Education legal department has reviewed the protocol for photo/video of students for our I-PASS longitudinal data system and has determined that a State Department of Education permission form is unnecessary. Please discard this permission form and do not submit with your student portfolio into the I-PASS system. That makes one less piece of paperwork for you to complete and submit!

Please have all aides watch the ISAT-Alt overview webinar if they will be assisting you in the instruction of students, and in the collection of artifacts and data on the extended content area objectives being assessed.

The final step of submitting the ISAT-Alt portfolios is to fill in an online data form. Do not begin this final step data form until all data for every student has been uploaded and all data for complexity, independence and accuracy levels has been entered. Then print out the quick guide, follow the directions and complete this final online form. It is very simple with drop down menus. Thank you for everything you have done this year for your students and for your patience as we created this brand new way of assessment for students with cognitive disabilities! We can’t wait to share the wonderful ideas you have developed state-wide you’re your fellow educators. We plan to use examples for a library which can be accessed statewide!

The deadline has been extended to submit ISAT-Alt data into I-PASS until June 7th due to the many technical problems which users have experienced.

We want to reassure all users of I-PASS that over the past couple of days all of the servers were reconfigured, but that did not work, so new servers were brought in and are up and running as of this morning.

Today programmers are reprogramming the system to operate much faster for upload, so most, if not all issues, such as error messages, inordinate amounts of time to upload, as well as over all slowness, and capacity has been increased dramatically. All issues thus far have been resolved.  These changes will take effect this afternoon and I-PASS will be fully functional after 4 PM.

We apologize for the problems you have encountered and are working diligently to make the system fast and easy to use. I am certain you will find that this afternoon you can upload and move files quickly and easily.

Hopefully the deadline extension has lessened your anxiety. We appreciate your patience. Next year educators will have all year to submit data as the system will be available on the first day of school. We intended to release the system in March but technical issues prevented us from doing so.

We are almost there and are looking forward to sharing in the wonderful work you have accomplished this year and the amazing things your students have learned due to your expertise and devotion!

Announcement regarding the Alternate Assessment for the IRI for all teachers who have students in grades K-2 with significant cognitive disabilities who are designated to take the Alternate Assessment for the IRI.

The Assessment Division reviewed the appropriateness of the former teacher rating scale and it was deemed inappropriate because it does not directly measure beginning reading skills adequately. The decision process involved  the SDE Reading Coordinator, Jenny Fisk,  consultant Dr. Shawnee Wakeman as well as Assessment Division staff have led to the decision to substitute the Core Phonics Assessment as the alternate for the IRI.

Teachers may use any augmentative communication device or technique as well as assistive technology to enable the student to participate. The testing directions are included but the teacher may utilize adaptations such as making individual letter cards, enlarging the print or having the student point or use eye gaze to indicate the correct answers. If you have any specific administration questions do not hesitate to email. This assessment does not provide for fluency assessment but it will provide a basic evaluation of pre-reading and beginning phonics skills which will in turn provide useful information for teachers to help these students with significant cognitive disabilities access beginning reading goals and objectives.

IMPORTANT – Please write the Name of the District, School and Teacher at the top of the Record Form as well as any accomodations used.

Teachers should administer the Core Phonics, make one district copy to file with the students records and mail the original by June 5th to:

Carol Scholz, M.Ed.
Division of Assessment
650 W. State Street
Boise, ID 83720

All written or digital student work should be prescored or graded by the teacher with the number correct or percentage visible on the page for submission.

1. The SDE is in the process of giving access to districts to I-PASS. If you cannot log on, please call your testing coordinator and make sure that they have submitted the required excel with student and teacher data.

2. The Quick Start Guide to I-PASS is now available for download on the AA Documents page to give step-by-step pictures for submitting data to I-PASS. Please download and print in color.

3. An "I-PASS Guide" audio training is available on the AA Trainings page.

In order for teachers and administrators to access the I-PASS system, the SDE IT department needs to create classes, associate EDUIDs of students, teachers, tests, administrators and test coordinators so that appropriate employees have permission and teachers can view their student folders. The former excel did not  provide enough information, and so our IT department has updated the required data excel with grade level, principal, special ed. administrator and consulting teacher fields and it has been sent on Friday, April 2nd. 

Testing Coordinators are responsible for working with district administrators and teachers to provide all data on this excel and return it ASAP to the SDE by Friday, April 9th. Teachers can not log in until this data sheet has been returned and classes are created. Teachers and Administrators will be able to log in within 3-4 working days of receipt of this excel by the SDE. 

The deadline for submitting the excel is Friday April 9th. Teachers should be able to log in and submit data April 12-May 22nd. 

Thank you so much for your patience as the SDE rolls out two distinct processes - the EDUID and the I-PASS systems.

*Reminder - The deadline for submitting data into I-PASS is May 22nd.

An error has been discovered and corrected in the ISAT-Alt Assessment Handbook on the assessed content area objective number 5 in Reading for grade 10. The handbook has been reposted on the AA Documents page, but please make sure that you have replaced this extended content objective #5 for Reading grade 10.

The State Department of Education Information Technology Division has reviewed its procedures outlined in the I-PASS Testing Coordinator Handbook regarding test coordinator responsibilities to manually associate students, teachers, classes and assessments. Please put your Testing Coordinator Handbook for I-PASS directions on hold to be used at a later date.

In an effort to lighten testing coordinator work load, the Division of Information Technology has created a more streamlined automatic process which will allow the SDE to do the initial association set up for districts. 

Test coordinators will manage the classes by adding, deleting or moving a student or two in response to their own teacher requests at a later date.

Now in order for the IT department to associate individual students with teachers and the applicable ISAT-Alt assessments, testing coordinators will need to work with their special education director or designee to fill in all appropriate fields on the I-PASS Teacher/Student Upload Excel spreadsheet and return to the SDE as soon as possible.  Please do not leave any fields blank.

We appreciate  your patience and are working hard to streamline the process as much as possible.

The State Department of Education has carefully evaluated the provision of state mandated alternate assessments including the; DWA, DMA and IRI for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities and have finalized plans for the administration of these assessments during the 2009-2010 school year as follows.

Alternate Assessment for the DWA - The ISAT-Alt assessment in the area of Language Usage for all applicable grade levels,  will be used as the alternate, as in its revised format it provides for a performance based measure of the objectives which correspond to those assessed by this state mandated assessment. No additional materials will be disseminated or collected. Teachers are to provide the ISAT-Alt requested artifacts as the performance measures for this assessment.

Alternate Assessment for the DMA - The ISAT-Alt assessment in the area of Mathematics for all applicable grade levels, will be used as the alternate, as in its revised format it provides for a performance based measure of the objectives which correspond to those assessed by this state mandated assessment. No additional materials will be disseminated or collected. Teachers are to provide the ISAT-Alt requested artifacts as the performance measures for this assessment.

Alternate Assessment for the Spring IRI – District Special Education Directors will receive a paper copy of the former online teacher rating scale used to document progress on the extended standards for the former IAA. Teachers will use this one page paper version of the IAA Reading rating scale to document performance for the Alternate IRI. This paper form will be mailed early in April and teachers will be requested to return the rating scale via snail mail to the SDE. No evidence or submitted student work other than this one page rating scale will be required this school year for the IAA - IRI.

Please print this Contact Sheet for support contact information (email & phone) for the I-PASS, ISAT-Alt and BI-Care applications.

How can you decrease the time required for the upload of video?  Please access the directions on the Caring Technologies website to learn how to compress your video files so that they do not take 3 hours for a 3 minute video to upload into I-PASS.  Here is the link to the directions:
http://knowledgebase.caringtechnologies.com/article-114.html

The State Department of Education, Division of Special Education has purchased 120 BI-Capture units which (composed of a camera and software worn around the neck) which enable a teacher to record student behavior at the click of a button into a secure online system. The recording has the capability of selecting a time period and capturing behavior that has already occurred allowing a behavior intervention specialist or psychologist to provide support to the classroom teacher remotely. The use of this system maximizes their time and facilitates better communication.

Because all participants in the process will need initial training and continued support, the SDE has determined that the best time to deploy the implementation of a project of this scale is during the Summer and or Fall of 2010. The summer months can then be used to thoroughly train teachers in the classroom application and also provide state-wide training for existing support personnel who will be trained to use the online system to provide behavioral consults.

We have received an overwhelming response to the request for volunteer classrooms and we are excited to be able to provide this state of the art technology! We want to assure project success and that all stakeholders are well trained and comfortable prior to implementation.

We appreciate your support and enthusiasm. You will receive notification regarding information and training sessions to be held during the Summer and or Fall, which are planned throughout the state via our IEN network as well as webinars available on the Idaho Training Clearinghouse.

Question:  Do teachers score the student work on the front prior to submission to I-PASS and should the score be visible?

Answer:  Yes, teachers should score the student papers with the number correct out of the total rather than a letter grade prior to submitting to I-PASS. No student names, teacher or school should be visible, but the grade should be visible, to save the raters time when figuring out the official ISAT-Alt score.

Please download and print the ISAT-Alt & I-PASS Testing Coordinator Handbook in preparation for the statewide launch of I-PASS over the next two week period. Teachers please do not log in until notified that your district account has been activated as your testing coordinator must manually create and confirm your class lists. Thank you for your patience.

Teachers please download and carefully read the ISAT-Alt & I-PASS Submission Handbook regarding the log in and submission of student artifacts into I-PASS. Please do not log in until your district has notified you that their account is activated. Testing coordinators will be creating and confirming class lists, and until this has been accomplished you will not be able to see your class rosters. Thank you for your patience!

Ninth grade students are to be assessed on the ISAT-Alt using the same rubrics, goals and objectives as the 10th grade in the handbook.  For more information, go to the AA FAQ page and search for the category of "9th Grade ISAT-Alt."

Revised ISAT-Alt Portfolio Collection Handbook – Please download and read through this revised handbook as it reflects the changes to:

1. Schedule, page 9
2. Forms Requirements (see table on pages 21-22 as well as revised appendix)
3. Contact Info, page 28

Important Announcement – No Forms Required for Submitting the ISAT-Alt – Please read the posted announcement regarding changes in the forms required for submission.

Attention Testing Coordinators:  Special instructions need to be followed in order for the ISAT-Alt to be given and students to be tested this year.

I-PASS Account Creation Instructions (MS Word)
Teacher of Record Demographic Data Needed (MS Excel)

The Idaho State Department of Education legal department has reviewed the protocol for photo/video of students for our I-PASS longitudinal data system and has determined that a State Department of Education permission form is unnecessary. Please discard this permission form and do not submit with your student portfolio into the I-PASS system. That makes one less piece of paperwork for you to complete and submit!

Please have all aides watch the ISAT-Alt overview webinar if they will be assisting you in the instruction of students, and in the collection of artifacts and data on the extended content area objectives being assessed.