Instructional Coach Resources (Acadience)
Benchmark Assessment Windows for 24-25 School Year
Beginning of Year: September 3-30, 2024
Middle of Year: January 2-31, 2025
Q&A sessions will be held virtually on January 6, 2025 from 3:30-4:00pm and January 8, 2025 from 1:30-2:00pm.
Join via Google Meet at meet.google.com/wda-jobw-scv
End of Year: April 15-May 16, 2025
Supporting Documents
Use the form below to inform the Assessment Department when a NEW teacher, Acadience Aide or Testing Aide needs to be added to the ALO platform.
Use the form below to inform the Assessment Department if you have a STUDENT MISSING in the ALO platform.
Use the form below to inform the Assessment Department if you have a student MISSING DATA that were tested in the ALO platform. Please include the assessors name along with the date the student was tested.
UTREx Special Codes
Once testing is complete and entered into ALO, the data will be uploaded into PowerSchool.
Administrators and Instructional Coaches will then work together to correctly code the students needing special coding.
The system will code students with a score with either a "Y" or "N" based on their score.
Students without a score, will need to be manually coded with a special code.
Special Coding Deadlines:
Benchmark 1 (BOY): October 31, 2024
Benchmark 2 (MOY): February 28, 2025
Benchmark 3 (EOY): May 23, 2025
Benchmark Invalidations
If an error or emergency occurs during benchmark testing and cannot be corrected, then an invalidation may be necessary. Refer to the guidance below for Invalidations. If you find that it meets the requirements to invalidate, use the provided document to report the invalidations.
24-25 Benchmark 1 (BOY) Invalidations
24-25 Benchmark 2 (MOY) Invalidations
24-25 Benchmark 3 (EOY) Invalidations
If a digitally administered measure needs to be invalidated, the system will reassign a progress monitoring probe to the Assessment Tab, and will be recorded as a Benchmark score. The Assessment Tab will show which PM probe has been assigned. You will want to pay attention to that information, so you have the necessary student materials ready. (usually the first PM probe for that measure)
In the case of a student that was tested under the wrong name, and has already seen the Benchmark materials, you would need to run a false test on the assessment tab for their Benchmark assessment, invalidate the assessment, and digitally administer the PM probe that the system will assign to the student. **There is no manual entry option for digitally administered BENCHMARK measures**
Record the invalidation on the document linked above.
If a paper/pencil administered measure needs to be invalidated, use a PM probe and manually enter that score for the Benchmark Assessment. Record the invalidation on the document linked above.
Question: When is invalidation acceptable?
Answer: The following reasons are acceptable for invalidating an Acadience Reading or Acadience Math assessment:
if Incorrect student was tested.
if Incorrect student materials were provided to an individual student.
if Administration or scoring errors occurred that cannot be corrected without retesting the student.
if The assessment was interrupted due to extenuating circumstances (e.g., fire drill, internet issue).
Question: If I invalidate the assessment, what are my next steps?
Answer: Reassess the student as soon as possible using progress monitoring materials.
Question: What if the student refuses to participate?
Answer: Stop the assessment without scoring. Try to assess on another day, time, or with a different assesso
Question: Should I test a student without their glasses/hearing aids?
Answer: It is not best practice to test a student without his/her required glasses or hearing aids, or a student who seems ill. Test that student on another day/time.
Question: If my class or a student was accidentally tested on the benchmark assessment rather than the progress monitoring, Can I invalidate the benchmark assessment?
Answer: No. As stated in the USBE’s Testing Ethics Policy, the assessor must ensure students are provided with the correct testing materials and/or logged into the correct test (e.g., Daze).
Assessment Resources
Standardization is a priority. Anyone administering ANY of the Acadience measures wil need to complete the training for the measure(s) being assesed. This includes but is not limited to testing aides and classroom teachers.
Once a Year Trainings
Whole Group Measures (completed BOY, MOY & EOY)
1:1 Measures
First Sound Fluency(FSF) Module (Reading)
Letter Naming Fluency(LNF) Module (Reading)
Phoneme Segmentation Fluency(PSF) module (Reading)
Nonsense Word Fluency(NWF) module (Reading)
Oral Reading Fluency(ORF) module (Reading)
Three Person Practice Activity Materials (Reading)
Beginning Quantity Discrimination(BQD) Module (Math)
Assessment Materials
Parent Notification and Vision Letters
Test items or copies of Acadience assessments are considered secure test items and should never be sent home with parents. Instead use the Parent Report located on the ALO platform when sharing results with parents/guardians.
Along with the assessment results, Parent Notification Letters are required to be sent home for students in grades 1-3 for each Benchmark (BOY, MOY, EOY). School Administrators may also choose to send notifications for additional grades.
Every student recieves the same Parent Notification Letter
The school may choose to print for the whole school, or each teacher may print the letters on their own. It is up to each indiidual school on how the letters are printed.
Benchmark Levels are base on the composite score
Red=Well Below
Yellow=Below
Green=On Benchmark
Blue=Above Benchmark
Grade Level Cut Scores for Reading & Math
Teachers fill out a letter for each student
Letters are given out during Parent Teacher Conferences (BOY & MOY), and sent home with students (EOY)
Letters are attached to the Parent Report (Reading & Math) located on the ALO platform.
Vision Letters
For student in grades 1st-3rd who score below or well below benchmark at BOY.
If a student continues to score below or well below benchmark for MOY, they do not need a new vision letter at MOY.
If a student scores at/above benchmark at BOY, but scored below or well below benchmark for MOY, the student would need a vision letter sent home.
Any new students who score below or well below benchmark for MOY would need a vision letter sent home.
Vision letters are not completed for EOY.
Identify students using the ALO platform.
Refer to the composite score when determining the below/well below students.
Teacher can fill out form, or they can ask parents to fill it out during conferences, and leave with the teacher.
Completed forms are turned into the school nurse.
Progress Monitoring Resources
Whenever possible, progress monitoring should be done by the classroom teacher. Under special circumstances, the progress monitoring can be completed using additional resources.
Keep in mind that these items are secure test items. Test items or copies of the Acadience assessments should never be used for student instruction or practice in the classroom or at home. Instead, focus on teaching students' skills.
Non-academic rewards for state assessment are not permitted. Since progress monitoring is part of the early literacy assessment process, it would NOT be appropriate to reward with non-academic rewards. Instead focus on helping students celebrate in intrinsic ways.
Testing ethics should be followed when accessing and utilizing these materials.
SB127 requires that schools progress monitor at the recommended frequency rates. Progress monitoring is required for reading and recommended for math.
Recommended Frequency Rates:
Red: every 2 weeks
Yellow: every 3 weeks
Green/Blue: every 4 weeks
NOTE: MAZE should only be administered once a month for students who are on grade level for fluency and accuracy. It is also not timely enough to show change more than once a month, which is why the authors of the assessment recommend that once a month is the most often you woud ever progress monitor a student on MAZE. You should NOT administer the MAZE to all students, since the purpose of progress monitoring is to ensure that below level students are making adequate progress towards their goals.