EL Assessment Update: DRC INSIGHT Software Update and 2019 ACCESS Data Release
| To: | Superintendents, District EL Program Directors, and Educational Technology Director |
| From: | Dan Wiener, Administrator of Inclusive Assessment
Melanie Manares, English Proficiency Assessment Coordinator |
| Date: | August 1, 2019 |
Greeting and happy summer!
This EL Assessment Update includes two topics:
- The timeline for making information available on future student targets for English language proficiency, student growth percentiles for ACCESS (SGPA), and progress indicators. See below for anticipated release dates:
August 12, 2019 — anticipated release date of future student-level progress targets, SGPA, and progress indicators in DropBox
August 26, 2019 — anticipated release date of School and District Summaries (EL327) and Student Rosters (EL627) with future student-level progress targets, SGPA, and progress indicators in Edwin.
- A reminder for Technology Coordinators regarding the need to transition all devices used for ACCESS testing and online WIDA screening from Testing Site Manager (TSM) to the Central Office Service (COS) Service Device. You are receiving this e-mail because after August 30 the current software used to administer the WIDA Online Screener and the ACCESS for ELLs assessments will no longer be available. Currently, only a few devices in each district have made the transition from Testing Site Manager (TSM) to the Central Office Service (COS) Service Device. We request that you make the necessary changes as soon as possible. Continue reading for further information.
DRC has worked over the past year to prepare districts for the transition to Central Office Service (COS) Service Device (DRC's new site management solution) from the TSM. DRC has developed the Tech Bulletin: TSM To COS Service Device, available on the WIDA AMS>All Applications>General Information>Documents page, to assist you in making the transition. On this page, select Technology Coordinator from the Audience dropdown, then click the blue Show Documents button. The Tech Bulletin: TSM To COS Service Device document is the next to the last document listed. The document will take you through the process of installing a COS Service Device and integrating it into an existing configuration using the COS Service Device Toolkit. The last document on the page, Technology Training — Transition to the COS-SD Jun 2019 will also provide helpful information regarding this transition.
Please plan time to migrate devices from TSM to COS Service Device and retire all of your TSM devices. DRC INSIGHT 9.0 and TSM 9.2 will no longer be supported after August 15 and access to TSMs will be blocked beginning on August 30.
Key dates for this transition are as follows:
| Key Date | Event |
|---|
| May 31 | TSM software was removed from the DRC INSIGHT Portal, eDIRECT |
| August 15 | DRC Customer Service will no longer support the TSM and will work with callers to migrate to the COS Service Device |
| August 30 | Use of DRC INSIGHT using a configuration with a TSM will not pass the readiness checks |
Supporting documentation for COS-SD is also available in WIDA AMS and on the Technology Coordinator page of the WIDA Secure Portal. In order to access these resources, you will need to have your WIDA-AMS and WIDA account log-in information.
After August 15, 2019, the only supported configuration is COS-SD 3.0 with DRC INSIGHT 10.0. DRC INSIGHT 9.0 and TSM 9.2 will no longer be supported after August 15, 2019.
Please be aware of the following supported configurations for WIDA Screener Online from June 27, 2019 – August 15, 2019:
Links to recorded webinars on this topic are available on the 2019-20 Q&A WIDA Webinar Schedule and on the WIDA Q&A Webinars 2019-20 for Technology Coordinators schedule (log-in required).
Please contact DRC Customer Support with any questions at WIDA@DataRecognitionCorp.com or 1-855-787-9615.
Last Updated: August 1, 2019