3. Schedule virtual meetings with students. To communicate with English-speaking caregivers, consider sending this email or video. To communicate with Spanish-speaking caregivers, consider sending this email or video.
4. Determine how you will handle scenarios where there’s a lag:
Description
Record the meeting
Before the assessment begins, press the recording button on your video conferencing tool.After the virtual meeting, listen to recording and rescore in mCLASS if needed.Pick a decision rule for how to score ambiguous items and be consistent. For example, if you decide that you will give a student the benefit of the doubt and mark ambiguous similar sounding items correct when you can’t quite hear their answer, do this for all students you assess.
Note: Some districts do not allow recording. Please use the option below if you work in one of these districts.
Use a phone
Before the assessment begins, call caregiver’s phone using your phone (type *67 before your number if you want your number to be hidden).
Ask the caregiver to press the speaker button.
Mute yourself and your student on the virtual learning platform.
While you assess:
1. Take the opportunity to connect individually with your students as they experience so much change. Don’t make the session solely about testing, and remind caregivers and students that the assessment is a way to see how you can best tailor instruction.
2. Make student materials visible to your student.
Guidance
DIBELS
Use the share screen feature to display student materials on your screen.
For Maze, choose the model that works best for you:
Students complete Maze online
If your student will complete Maze online during a video conferencing call, put a link to the student assessment site (mclass.amplify.com/student) and the student’s credentials into your chat box (learn how to generate student credentials in this video)
If you student will complete Maze online outside of a video conferencing call, consider providing student credentials and instructions to English-speaking caregivers using this email and video. To provide student credentials and instructions to Spanish-speaking caregivers, consider sending this email and video.
Students use fillable PDFs. Here are steps to find the PDFs and instructions for using them:
Locate the benchmark Maze materials on University of Oregon’s site
Print a copy of the form you need (e.g. BOY) for each student in your class.
Send the form home in a sealed envelope with students, mail the form to caregivers, or have caregivers get forms via school-based pick-up. Provide instructions not to open the envelope until the student is ready to take the assessment.
Provide parents with instructions on how to proctor the assessment for their child. They need to:
Give the form to their child
Sit with their child and read the instructions and practice items
Tell their child to stop when 3 minutes has elapsed
Send screenshots of their child’s work via email or text, or return the completed form to the school in a sealed envelope provided by the school.
Enter results into the mCLASS web reports
RAN
Screening with the Rapid Automatized Naming assessment requires some additional considerations given its widespread use for dyslexia risk screening. RAN is a challenging measure to administer remotely. Here are some recommendations:
If your screening policy allows you to wait until returning in person, we recommend waiting to screen with RAN.
If you screen your students with RAN remotely, consider reassessing students who score within 10 seconds of the cut scores to ensure the data accurately represent student ability to quickly name a series of familiar items on a page.
As always, keep in mind that no one assessment should be used to determine student risk for dyslexia. Interpret students’ RAN results collected in a remote setting with caution, and consider them in the context of all of your literacy screening data (e.g., DIBELS assessment).
If you decide to administer RAN remotely, use the screen share feature to show the assessment on your screen. You will need to log in as your student because the RAN assessment is available on the student-led assessment platform.
3. Score in mCLASS.
4. Consider invalidating a result and retesting with an alternative form if you have trouble scoring accurately due to background noise (e.g. doorbell, dog barking), dropped internet, or inability to see where students are pointing with their cursors.
Student materials:
These materials are provided exclusively for use during school closings or other disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, by students and teachers for whom the corresponding materials have been previously purchased or licensed. Any other distribution or reproduction of these materials is forbidden without written permission from Amplify.
Benchmark Materials
Progress Monitoring Materials
DIBELS 8th Edition
Available for free download on the University of Oregon’s website
DIBELS® is a registered trademark of the University of Oregon.
mCLASS with DIBELS® 8th Edition was created in partnership with The University of Oregon.
