Plan and Manage Testing Option

The Plan and Manage Testing option allows for monitoring students’ test progress by generating customized Completion Status reports to determine which students have completed testing, as well as which students have yet to begin or complete a test opportunity. Data displays according to the parameters selected. If no students are listed, it means that no students currently match the specified report criteria.

The Plan and Manage Testing option can generate reports by LEA, school, or test administrator or test examiner within an LEA or school. It can be generated by first selecting the Plan and Manage Testing option from either the Completion Status home page or the Completion Status Reports drop-down list (indicated in figure 1).

Completion Status Reports drop-down list with the Plan and Manage Testing option indicated.

Figure 1. Plan and Manage Testing option in the Completion Status Reports drop-down list

Generate a Plan and Manage Testing Report

The Plan and Manage Testing Report is available through the Plan and Manage Testing screen. Take these steps once this option has been selected.

Report parameters are selected on the Plan and Manage Testing screen. These steps enable the user to specify the type of report to generate, the entity for which to generate the report, and the type of data to be viewed.

The report data can be requested using either a basic search or an advanced search. A basic search allows searching of only full groups of students by school or schools, assessment, and test administration. An advanced search allows the user to select additional options including a prior-year enrolled grade, demographic student groups, and test administrator or test examiner name.

Take these steps to run the basic search and generate a report based on this data.

Step 1. Students

  1. Define a student group to begin by selecting the LEA and school(s) from the District and School drop-down lists that are indicated in figure 2.

    Plan and Manage Testing screen showing Students options with the District and School drop-down lists and Next Step button indicated.

    Figure 2. Basic Student options

  2. Select the [Next Step] button to continue (also indicated in figure 2).

Step 2. Information

  1. Set the focus of the report to continue by selecting one radio button from either the “Group Testing Overview” or “Tests with Potential Issues” list. Options are as follows:
    • Group Testing Overview
      • Students who have not started assigned tests
      • Students who have started but not completed assigned tests
      • Students who have not completed assigned tests
      • Students who have completed an assigned test
    • Tests with Potential Issues
      • Students with tests in a paused status
      • Students with current tests expiring within 7 days

  2. The Information options step, which also shows the options selected in the previous step, is presented in figure 3.

    Plan and Manage Testing screen showing Information options described in the previous numbered list with the Next Step button indicated.

    Figure 3. Basic Information options

  3. Select the [Next Step] button to continue (indicated in figure 3).

Step 3. Tests

  1. Select the assessments and test administration and then select the [Search] button to create the report. Only the current test administration can be selected from a basic search. When selecting the test type from the Test Instrument drop-down list, the available assessments may include the following:
    • CAA (for ELA and mathematics)
    • CAA Science
    • CAST
    • CAST Interims
    • CSA
    • ELPAC Interims
    • Initial Alternate ELPAC
    • Initial ELPAC
    • Smarter ELA (for the summative assessment)
    • Smarter IAB (for the interim assessment)
    • Smarter ICA (for the interim assessment)
    • Smarter Math (for the summative assessment)
    • Summative Alternate ELPAC
    • Summative ELPAC
  2. Once a selection is made from the Test Instrument list, one or all of the test names for a grade level, domain, or test type can be selected (for example, select Initial ELPAC Kindergarten Listening Test to generate data for just this domain-level assessment, or All selected (#) for all assessments within that type).

  3. The Tests options step, which also shows the options selected in the previous step, is presented in figure 4.

    Plan and Manage Testing screen showing Test options with the Next Step button indicated.

    Figure 4. Basic Test options

  4. When the report includes results for 21 or more schools within an LEA, the Secure File Center information box appears because the report will default to a separate file. Select a file type—either Excel or CSV—from the Export to Secure File Center drop-down list to complete the process of report generation (figure 5) or select [Modify Search] to change the search criteria.

    Secure File Center box with the Export to Secure File Center drop-down list showing Excel and CSV options.

    Figure 5. Secure File Center information box

  5. To generate a report with different options, select the [Adjust Search Settings] button on the right in the Summary screen to clear the parameters entered (figure 6).

    Plan and Manage Testing screen showing the Search Summary with the Adjust Search Settings button indicated.

    Figure 6. Basic Search Summary

After selecting the [Advanced Search] tab on the Plan and Management Testing screen, take these steps to set parameters for an advanced search and generate a report based on this data.

The Plan and Manage Testing screen offers the “Go to section” bar on the far left (figure 7). The bar allows the user to quickly access a section of the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Go to section bar on the left side of the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Figure 7. “Go to section” bar

This bar contains the numbers 1, 2, and 3, which correspond with the following sections of the Plan and Manage Testing screen:

  1. Search Students
  2. Tests
  3. Information

Selecting a number jumps to that section of the screen. Hovering over a number shows the name of the section.

Step 1. Search Students

The “Search Students” section of the Plan and Manage Testing screen, shown in figure 8, allows for the generation of a report for a specific LEA and school and can include specific students or grade levels.

Advanced Search Students options on the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Figure 8. Advanced Search Students options

The constituent fields in the “Search Students” section are as follows:

  • District: This option is only applicable for users who are associated with more than one LEA. For most users, the LEA with which the user is associated in TOMS will already be selected. This field, which is indicated by an asterisk, is required.
  • School: This is only applicable for users, such as LEA-level users, who are associated with more than one school. For most users, the school with which the user is associated in TOMS will already be selected. Users associated with multiple schools will have additional values (i.e., schools) from which to select. Users can filter results by typing part of or the complete school name or school ID in the Search field. This field, which is indicated by an asterisk, is required.
  • Group: This field enables the generation of a report for a specific test administrator or test examiner. It appears when a single school has been selected. The drop-down list contains all of the assigned test administrators and test examiners associated with the selected school. When it does appear, it is defaulted to All.
  • Last Name
  • First Name
  • SSID
  • Grade Level When Assessed
  • Prior Year Enrolled Grade

A user can also make an advanced search for a status or additional information, including by ELPAC form or whether a specified embedded or any non-embedded designated support or accommodation was associated with a student or students during testing, by selecting a status from the Search Fields drop-down list (figure 9) that applies to the student or students. Depending on the selected criteria, an additional search drop-down list may appear. These fields can be reset by selecting the [Remove All] or [Remove Selected] button.

Advanced Search options in the Search Students section, including a list of student demographic characteristics that can be selected as criteria, of the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Figure 9. Advanced Search options

Provide additional information or criteria if prompted.

Step 2. Tests

The “Tests” section of the Plan and Manage Testing screen, shown in figure 10, provides the fields used to generate a report based on specific tests.

Choose What options on the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Figure 10. Advanced Tests options

The essential fields in the “Tests” section are as follows:

  • Test Instrument: Select the test type from the Test Instrument drop-down list, which displays available tests and may include the following:
    • CAA (for ELA and mathematics)
    • CAA Science
    • CAST
    • CAST Interims
    • CSA
    • ELPAC Interims
    • Initial Alternate ELPAC
    • Initial ELPAC
    • Smarter ELA (for the summative assessment)
    • Smarter IAB (for the interim assessment)
    • Smarter ICA (for the interim assessment)
    • Smarter Math (for the summative assessment)
    • Summative Alternate ELPAC
    • Summative ELPAC
  • Administration: This option allows for the selection of the current test administration year, which is the only option.
  • Test Name: This option enables the selection of one or all of the test names from which to generate a report.

Step 3. Information

This section, shown in figure 11, provides a choice of filters that best match the data a user wants to view. Each filter generates a report containing students whose information matches the selected parameters.

Get Specific options on the Plan and Manage Testing screen.

Figure 11. Advanced Information options

To select the parameters in this section, complete the following steps:

  1. Select the radio button for the row that has the desired parameters.
  2. Specify the required values for the parameters in the selected row.

The report filter options are listed next. The report can be filtered by a number of criteria, including grade level, test, school, group, and test statuses, such as students who have started tests and who have started within the test administration window. The values in [brackets] represent the parameter values available for selection. The options are:

  • Test Progress: Students who [have completed, have not completed, have started, or have not started] [Any opportunity or opportunity 1]
    • Note the following about the report produced by this filter:
      • Determine which students have or have not completed testing and which students have or have not started testing—results are not based on status.
      • If the test instrument was a summative assessment, the opportunity options are Any and 1.
      • “Any opportunity” is not the same as all opportunities.
      • Refer to table 1 in the Plan and Manage Testing and Participation by SSID Reports section for additional information about test opportunities.
  • Test Status: Students on [any opportunity or opportunity 1] with a status of [student test status]
  • Test Expiration: Students with opportunities expiring [in exactly or within] [##] days
    • Note the following about the report produced by this filter:
      • Determine which of the students currently testing have at least one test that will expire shortly. For example, enter “2” days to determine who needs to complete testing by the end of the next day.
      • Use in exactly for a certain day and within to search for a range of days.
  • Students’ most recent [Session ID or TA Name] was [Session ID (optional)] from [start date] to [end date]
    • Note the following about the report produced by this filter:
      • Search for students who were in a specific session and view the current test status.
      • To view this report, enter the test administrator or test examiner’s Session ID or enter the test administrator or test examiner’s name, and then select a Session ID associated with the test administrator or test examiner. It is necessary to select the Date fields to enter the time frame associated with the test administration.
      • This report will return the most recent completion status data for students who have taken the selected test. The Session ID and TA Name fields are optional. These fields may be left blank, and the user can simply search for completion information within a particular date range. If the Session ID or TA Name is not specified, the date range is limited to 15 days.

Step 4. Generate Report

Refer to the Column Definitions subsection in the Plan and Manage Testing and Participation by SSID Reports section for a description of the columns in the on-screen and Excel or CSV reports.

  1. Select the [Generate Report] button on the bottom of the Plan and Manage Testing screen to view the results of the selected parameters on the screen. For an LEA, a report where 20 or fewer schools are selected appears on-screen; if there are 21 or more schools, the report goes directly to the Secure File Center as an Excel spreadsheet or CSV file. A test site (school) has the option to view the report on the screen by selecting [Generate Report] or to download the report by selecting the [Export Report] button. These buttons are shown in figure 12.

    Generate Report button and Export Report button.

    Figure 12. Report buttons

    1. When the report includes results for 21 or more schools within an LEA, the Secure File Center information box appears because the report will default to a separate file (figure 13).

      Secure File Center box with the Export to Secure File Center drop-down list showing Excel and CSV options.

      Figure 13. Export to Secure File Center dialog box

    2. Select a file type—either Excel or CSV—from the Export to Secure File Center drop-down list to complete the process of report generation (figure 13) or select [Modify Search] to change the search criteria.
    3. Retrieve the report by selecting the [Secure File Center] button at the top of the Home Page Dashboard. Refer to the Secure File Center section for a description of this feature.

  2. Update the report using different criteria by following the previous steps. A sample screen showing different criteria being selected is presented in figure 14.

    An online report with Initial Alternate ELPAC selected from the Test Instrument drop-down list.

    Figure 14. Update Plan and Manage Testing Report parameters

  3. Show or hide columns by selecting the [Show/Hide Columns] list-plus and down arrow icon [List-plus and down arrow icon.] in the top-right corner of the table.

Test Administrator Reports

Refer to the Column Definitions subsection in the Plan and Manage Testing and Participation by SSID Reports section for a description of the columns in the on-screen and Excel or CSV reports.

The Test Administrator Report provides information about the test sessions that match the search parameters, the name of the test administrator or test examiner for the sessions as selected from the Group drop-down list, and the number of students associated with each of those sessions. For the Test Administrator Report, the date range is a required field.

Similar to the Plan and Manage Testing Report, the Test Administrator Report allows columns to be hidden or shown, data to be sorted, and the general tools available on the screen to be used.

Follow the steps to generate the Plan and Manage Testing Report, and then take these additional steps to access the Test Administrator Report:

  1. In the “Search Students” section, select at least one school and either a test administrator or test examiner’s name or All from the Group drop-down list, as indicated in figure 15.

    Search Students on the Plan and Manage Testing screen with the School and Group drop-down lists indicated.

    Figure 15. Advanced Search Students options for creating a Test Administrator Report

  2. Select the Session ID or TA Name radio button, TA Name from the first drop-down list, optionally enter the test administrator’s or test examiner’s name, and then enter a specific date range (figure 16).

    Information on the Plan and Manage Testing screen with the Session ID or TA Name selected.

    Figure 16. Advanced Information options for creating a Test Administrator Report

  3. Select the [Generate Report] or [Export Report] button (figure 16).

The report generated, either on-screen or exported to a spreadsheet, contains the same data as the Plan and Manage Testing Report.