ESU 10 Assessment Updates

Updates

REPORTS for spring 2023: The NSCAS Growth RIT will be added to the MAP Growth reports this spring. For schools who administer both the NSCAS Growth and MAP Growth, the student's RIT score with the lowest standard error of measurement (SEM) will be reported in the MAP Growth reports.
NEW! Approved Reading Assessments (Districts only)
Per the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, the NDE provides an updated list of approved screeners and their threshold levels by March 1st of each calendar year. The list of approved assessments for SY 2023-2024 are posted on the NebraskaREADS website. Please visit the Approved Reading Assessments page for more information
NSCAS Growth 2023-2023: NSCAS Growth will be optional for fall and winter of 2023 but will still be required for spring 2024.
MAP GROWTH: The NDE will also provide the option for districts to use MAP Growth K-10 free of charge for the 2023-2024 school year. (Grades K-2 and 9-10 are part of the negotiated agreement for in-kind services in exchange for use of test items.)
NEW! NSCAS 22-23 FAQ: The updated NSCAS 22-23 FAQ is now available to help answer any questions from the training that were not answered.
NEW! Science Item Type Samplers: The Science Item Type Samplers are updated on the Portal to reflect the 2022-2023 test administration.

NSCAS Growth Training

New! Spring 2022 Training Webinar (Districts and External Programs)

Recording
PowerPoint: Spring Training

Reminder! Proctor Training PowerPoint (Districts and External Programs)

On the NDE website, under NSCAS Overview – NSCAS Administration, there is a PowerPoint called 2022-2023 NSCAS Test Administration Orientation
You may use this to train your proctors this spring.
It includes security information, testing environment, and FAQs.
Reminder! Text-to-Speech (TTS) for NSCAS Growth (Districts and External Programs)
- TTS is now available in both English and Spanish.
- TTS is now a universal accommodation for Math and Science. It does not need to be on a student’s IEP/504. However, this should only be used on rare, case by case circumstances where the student(s) is receiving this accommodation in daily instruction.
- TTS for ELA does need to be on the IEP/504 or a current EL student. TTS will not read the Reading passages, but there are instances on the test that a passage is associated with a writing standard. TTS can/will read a passage for this standard, but not for reading.
- Please refer to pages 9 and 49-52 to the NSCAS Accessibility Manual for more guidance.

NSCAS Growth Resources

NEW! NSCAS Growth Scheduling Guidance: The NSCAS Growth Scheduling Guidance is intended to support districts and schools in scheduling the online administration of the NSCAS Growth assessment.

NSCAS Growth Retest Guidelines

TABLE OF SPECIFICATIONS:
NSCAS Growth English Language Arts Table of Specifications
NSCAS Growth Math Table of Specifications

The Achievement Level Explorer is a public facing website for state partners to share content standards with their educators. Each partner's content standards are defined by grade-level content blueprints and organized by achievement levels. Review the Achievement Level Explorer Overview here.

The Achievement Level Explorer and Learning Continuum Comparison is a table that breaks down the similarities and differences between the Achievement Level Explorer and Learning Continuum.

The NSCAS Online and Paper Item Type Samplers are now available on the Nebraska Portal.

NSCAS FAQ: The NSCAS FAQ is available from the questions asked during the 2022-2023 NSCAS Growth Training Administration Training.

NSCAS Interpretive Guide for Parents: The NSCAS Interpretive Guide for Parents provides information needed for Parents/Guardians for the NSCAS Spring 2022 assessments.

NSCAS Growth Readiness Checklist:The NSCAS Growth Readiness Checklist contains all major testing activities that take place before, during, and after testing.

NSCAS Growth Assessment Coordinator Guide: The NSCAS Assessment Coordinator Guide is for planning testing, setting up testing sessions, policy overview, and important dates.

NSCAS System Technology Guide- The NSCAS System Technology Guide has been updated to include information needed for the Spring 2022 test administration.

NSCAS Growth User and Student Management Guide- The NSCAS Growth User and Student Management guide is used to assist with navigating the platform, managing users, uploading student registrations, and viewing and modifying students.

System Requirement Guide: The System Requirement Guide provides needed information on the new requirements for 2022-2023.

How to Video’s- The following videos show How to Assign NTCs, How to Assign Accommodations and How to Print Test Tickets.

The Online Student Tutorial: The Online Student Tutorial is a video for students showing them how they will sign in and take the test.

All Alternate Assessment Training Resources: https://www.education.ne.gov/assessment/nscas-alternate-summative-assessment/

NSCAS Growth Accessibility Manual

NSCAS Accessibility Manual – Updated 8.15.22
– Accessibility Tools 1-3 short form – Updated 8.15.22

NSCAS Alternate ELA Extended Indicators

Draft Extended Indicators for the 2021 ELA Standards are available. Please distribute to your special education staff. Staff that work with student with significant cognitive disabilities will need these as the NSCAS Alternate will be aligned to these indicators.
English Language Arts Extended Indicators (Draft)

ELPA21 & ALT ELPA

Dates and Deadlines

Alt ELPA test window: 2/1/23 – 3/31/23
NEW! The ELPA21 summative test window has been extended by one week: 2/6/23 – 3/24/23.

Updated Guidance following US Dept. of Education Monitoring Visit

Foreign exchange students follow the same standardized entrance procedures for identification of English Learners, including the completion of a Home Language Survey and if warranted, screening for eligibility as English Learners.