Purpose: The Wapello Community School District is committed to ensuring the integrity of the information obtained from the use of educational assessments, ensuring security of test content and upholding professional ethics. This policy is intended to apply to all Federal, State, and District mandated assessments, including but not limited to: Dynamic Learning Maps Alternate Assessment (DLM), English Language Proficiencies for the 21st Century (ELPA21), Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP), National assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), NWEA Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), all District designated Early Literacy Assessments (e.g. FAST), and GOLD.
This policy is to identify test security practices and administration procedures that align to ESSA and Iowa Code that can ensure assessment results are truly representative of the achievement of students in our district. Everyone who is involved in student testing is responsible for test security. This includes but is not limited to district administrators, school administrators, school assessment coordinators, teachers, test administrators, proctors, students, and parents. It is also our intent to create awareness of potential negative impact that inappropriate assessment practices might produce, to outline processes to be followed, and to identify the potential consequences of violating the policy. If test scores become questionable because of inappropriate practice in either preparing students or in administering tests, the meaning of the scores will be distorted and their value for their original purpose will be diminished or lost.
This policy is to be communicated annually to all staff involved in testing administration as well as a student honor code shared with students engaging in testing.
District Test Coordinators
Each Federal and State assessment will have a district-appointed District Test Coordinator. Responsibility for testing-related functions can be delegated by the District Test Coordinator to one or more Building Test Coordinators. The District Test Coordinator is responsible for developing: rules for storage and test security measures, rules for administration, rules for monitoring, rules for reporting, and the requirements for protecting student personal information (FERPA).
Handling Testing Materials
Each Federal and State assessment has materials handling procedures specific to the assessment. It is the responsibility of the District Test Coordinator to develop procedures congruent to test type based on the test developer's or vendor's test administration manual. Only personnel identified and unauthorized in District procedures will have access to the tests or testing system before, during, and after the identified testing window. All district personnel will be expected to follow the same test handling procedures.
Test Preparation
As a function of educating students, staff may prepare students for assessments by providing instruction in the content areas to be assessed. Staff may also prepare students for assessments by teaching general test-taking skills that are applicable to any test or test format.
Staff shall only conduct reviews or drills that use the supplied online practice test supplied by testing companies or vendors. Staff shall not develop their own "practice" test items to mimic those supplied by the testing company or vendor.
Security Violations
In the administration of Federal or State standardized tests, it is a violation of test security to do any of the following:
- Provide inappropriate test preparation such as the following:
- Copy, screenshot, reproduce, or use in any manner any portion of any secure test, for any reason.
- Share an actual test instrument in any form.
- Use test preparation materials or strategies that do not comply with Federal, State, and/or District guidelines
- Deviate from the test administration procedures specified in the test examiner's manual
- Provide inappropriate assistant to students during the test administration
- Make test answers available to students.
- Change or fill in answers on student answer documents.
- Provide inaccurate data on student answer documents.
- Engage in any practice to artificially raise student scores without actually improving underlying student achievement.
- Participate in, direct, aid, counsel, assist, encourage, or fail to report any of the acts prohibited in this policy.
Policy Violation Consequences
If a violation of this policy occurs, as determined by the superintendent following an investigation of allegations of irregularities, the superintendent shall determine whether the integrity of the testing program has been jeopardized, whether some or all of the test results are invalidated, and whether a teacher or administrator has violated the Code of Ethics of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners as found at 282-Iowa Administrative Code Chapter 25.
Reports of students cheating on assessments shall be submitted to the building principal for investigation and disciplinary procedures.
A staff member found to have committed testing irregularities shall be subject to discipline in accordance with law and board policy. If the staff member is a licensee of the Board of Educational Examiners, the superintendent shall make a timely report to that Board.
If the superintendent believes that assessment results are invalid, the superintendent shall make a timely report to the Iowa Department of Education.
Approved: 5/8/19
Reviewed: 12/14/22
Revised: