August 22, 2012
Administration of 9th & 10th Grade EXPLORE/PLAN - Fall 2012
Introduction
We are pleased to announce the availability of EXPLORE/PLAN for all 9th and 10th grade students as we work to further our reform agenda and move toward a growth model of accountability. As a first step, in January 2012 ISBE approved the use of a value table model to calculate growth. Additionally, we are taking steps to ensure our continuous system of assessments align to college and career ready benchmarks. The new high school assessment plan will provide schools and districts a complete picture of student progress from grades 3 through 11 and provide data for the calculation of student growth.
The opportunity to participate in these assessments will be the only state-funded path to administer the EXPLORE/PLAN for the 2012-2013 school year. The information provided below will outline this opportunity for high schools.
Opportunity
High schools are encouraged to complete registration to administer EXPLORE in grade 9 and PLAN in grade 10. The ordering window is August 22nd through September 28th and the administration window is November 5-16. The state is able to pay only for the administration of EXPLORE at grade 9 and PLAN at grade 10.
Schools and districts will receive copies of student-level reports, school-level reports, and district-level reports. These reports will include academic achievement data in English, Mathematics, Reading and Science, as well as data on students’ career aspirations. These data will be valuable in planning programs for individual and groups of students. School- and district-level data will include student performance broken down by subgroups as well as comparisons of students’ curricula and performance on the EXPLORE or PLAN test.
These assessments:
- provide data to help pinpoint student strengths and weaknesses, aligned to college and career ready expectations,
- provide data regarding student preferences for post-high school activities,
- provide the school with information on program effectiveness,
- provide valid and reliable data on student achievement at grades not currently assessed by PSAE.
Schedule of Activities
To take advantage of this opportunity, school districts will agree to administer EXPLORE and PLAN between November 5-16, 2012, to all 9th and 10th graders.
Timeline:
ACT is accepting orders from the school districts beginning August 22nd.
- September 28, 2012: ISBE sends ACT the Pre-ID file – In order to receive pre-ID labels for 9th and 10th grade students, staff will need to update student demographic information to the Student Information System (SIS) before this date.
- September 30, 2012: 11:59 PM CST deadline to order -- ACT closes order window and begins processing materials.
- October 29, 2012: Secure and Non-secure materials arrive at testing sites (no later than this date).
- November 5-16, 2012: Testing window for 9th grade EXPLORE and 10th grade PLAN.
- November 21, 2012: Last day to ship materials to ACT for processing.
- December 11, 2012: School reports ship from ACT (no later than this date).
- December 28, 2012: District reports ship from ACT (no later than this date).
- February 1, 2013: District/school reports available through SIS.
Process for Ordering Materials
The Web link below will provide information on how to order material.
