Testing Students with Accessibility Resources

Creating a Test Session for Practice and Summative Testing

This section provides a brief overview of the processes required for proctoring test sessions, which include verifying students’ test settings for testing, creating a test session, approving students to enter the session, and viewing embossing and enlarged-text requests.

It is important that a student who is taking an assessment with one or more universal tools, designated supports, or accommodations has adequate time in advance of test administration to practice navigating the assessment platform with the screen reader. Familiarization with the testing environment, navigation quick keys, as well as item types encountered on the assessment can be addressed by using the practice and training tests.

The practice and training tests can be used as a “guest” without logon credentials or in a secure browser environment approved by a test administrator or test examiner. Student sign-in and test administrator or test examiner logon credentials are required for the student to access a practice or training test in the secure browser environment to be able to access an accessibility resource, such as speech-to-text, that is not available when the student logs on as a guest. These must be set in TOMS before they become available to a student.

Step 1. Test Administrator, Test Examiner, LEA Coordinator, or Test Site Coordinator: Review the student’s test settings in TOMS.

  1. Access TOMS by following the instructions in the Log On to TOMS subsection from the TOMS User Guide.
  2. Access the [Students] top navigation tab and open the View & Edit Students screen.
  3. Search for and select a student by following the instructions in the Search for a Student subsection from the TOMS User Guide.
  4. Review and, if needed, edit a student’s test settings by following the instructions in either the Edit CAASPP Test Settings for a Specific Student subsection or the Edit ELPAC Test Settings for a Specific Student subsection from the TOMS User Guide.
  5. Select [Update] to save changes, and then log off using the [Log Off] button when finished reviewing the test settings in TOMS.

Step 2: Test Administrator or Test Examiner: Log on to the Test Administrator Interface.

  1. Access either the Test Administrator Interface or the Test Administrator and Test Examiner Practice and Training Site.
  2. Log on using the process described in a CAASPP Directions for Administration script or How to Start an ELPAC Test Session PDF available on the Administer a Test Session web page on the CAASPP & ELPAC Website.

Step 3: Test Administrator or Test Examiner: Start a test session.

  1. Start a test session using the process described in a CAASPP Directions for Administration script or How to Start an ELPAC Test Session PDF available on the Administer a Test Session web page on the CAASPP & ELPAC Website.
  2. Make a note of the session ID, in case either the test administrator, test examiner, or student is exited and needs it to reenter the test session.

Step 4: Test Administrator or Test Examiner: Approve student for operational or training testing.

  1. Review a student’s test settings in the Test Administrator Interface by following the instructions in a CAASPP Directions for Administration script or How to Start an ELPAC Test Session PDF available on the Administer a Test Session web page on the CAASPP & ELPAC Website.

  2. Verify that all other test settings are correct (refer to step 1). Contact the site CAASPP coordinator, site ELPAC coordinator, or LEA CAASPP coordinator or LEA ELPAC coordinator to have them set if they are not.
  3. After verifying the student’s test settings are correct, approve the student by selecting [Approve], following the instructions in a CAASPP Directions for Administration script or How to Start an ELPAC Test Session PDF available on the Administer a Test Session web page on the CAASPP & ELPAC Website.