Thank you for joining us for the MTAS/ALT MCA 2026 administration informational
meeting.
I'm Stacy Stensrud, one of the Alternate Assessment
Specialists here at MDE and we'd like to inform you of some of the updates and
what you will see on the 2026 MTAS and ALT MCA test administration forms.
As an alternate assessment specialist, we work with the alternate MCA and the
MTAS, but also the accommodations for the MCA
and I'm going to pass it over to my co- worker Lauren to get us started.
Thanks, Stacy.
Hi, my name is Lauren Walker and I'm also an
Alternate Assessment Specialist here at MDE.
Before we begin, we like to connect the work we do with
statewide assessments to the 10 Minnesota commitments to Equity.
We prioritize equity as we measure what matters through the statewide assessments.
Our assessments help schools and districts monitor the implementation of
standards and provide data to improve conditions for learning for all students.
Here are the topics we will cover in this presentation.
First, we will start with alternate assessment
updates.
Then we will go over some ALT MCA sample tasks that are available in reading and
math.
After that, we will discuss what to expect this
spring when administering the ALT MCA in science and reading.
We will conclude the presentation with information about how to access the
assessment resources that will help with test administration this spring.
Let's talk about alternate assessment updates.
The result of the revised extended benchmarks is a new alternate assessment,
the ALT MCA.
This table shows the timeline for the move to the ALT MCA for each subject area.
The Science ALT MCA began in spring 2025 and will be followed by reading this
spring in 2026.
Math will be the last subject to transition in spring 2028.
The ALT MCA in Science and Reading will be available in three different formats:
computer-delivered, paper and hybrid, which is a mix of computer and paper.
The Math MTAS test will continue to be available only in a paper based format
and will have field test tasks at the end of the assessment.
The ALT MCA tasks are aligned to updated extended benchmarks which are reduced in
depth, breadth and complexity from the general
benchmarks.
The tasks contain three items of varying levels of complexity and are associated
with a stimulus.
The complexity levels range from low to high complexity to ensure students of
different abilities can access the content being assessed.
For the reading assessment, the stimulus is a reading passage.
For science, it is a phenomenon which is an observable
event that we can use our science knowledge to explain or predict.
For math, it is a scenario which is a situation or
story meant to engage the student. With the transition to the Alt MCA in
reading this spring, math will be the only MTAS test subject
test.
As noted before, Math field test tasks will continue to be
included as they were last year.
Here are the estimated times of administration for each assessment.
Reading is now estimated to take 60 to 90 minutes per one-on-one administration,
which is the same for science since both tests have 45 items.
Math is estimated to take 40 to 60 minutes since it has 15 tasks,
or 27 items total.
MDE uses the LCI to collect data about student needs and supports used,
including assistive technology.
Districts must enter LCI data online and Pearson access next for each student
during the testing window.
Data can be entered up to two weeks before the testing window opens and
anytime during the testing window.
This form must be kept on file in a secure location for one year following
test administration.
Now we will look at the math sample task. ALT MCA sample tasks are now located in
the Minnesota Assessment Hub.
To access the math sample tasks, go to the Assessment Hub website,
then select the drop down for Math Alternate MCA sample tasks.
We will look at a Grade 6 sample task, which is the second option.
In preparation for the Alt MCA
the task format for the math field test tasks is different from standard MTAS
task tasks, as well as how test administrators
indicate student responses.
There is a scenario, which is shown here that will be followed
by three items as part of each overall task.
The scenario here is voting for a class fundraiser.
The extended benchmark that the task is aligned to is compare and explain data
trends observed, pictographs and bar graphs,
and consider cultural perspectives.
The first item of the task is a low complexity item.
It is aligned to access point A, which is listed in the box.
The student will compare data on a bar graph or pictograph depicting up to three
categories.
The access point breaks down the extended benchmark into specific skills that the
item is targeting to assess.
These Access Point A items tend to focus on more simple identification skills and
they are image based and contain reduced language,
so students at this level are able to access the assessment and show their
knowledge.
When administering this item, test administrators would have the
scenario and the item in front of the student.
The administrator would read the text and point to the answer options which are
embedded on the presentation page.
The student would say point, or in other ways show their answer choice.
This is a big change for the ALT MCA.
There are no perforated response option cards.
We do have response option cards available to order for students that need
this response support,
when a subject changes to the ALT MCA. These are available for science and
reading this spring, but not for math yet.
The test administrator would then record the student's response as AB or no
response.
Here is the mid level complexity item which is aligned to access point B.
In the box.
The student will compare data on a bar graph or pictograph depicting up to 4
categories.
These access point B items are aimed at assessing deeper knowledge of the
extended benchmark, but typically only address a portion of
that benchmark.
These items are more complex in language but are still image based in either the
question or answer options.
The presentation would be the same as the low complexity item except the answer
choice options include A, B and C and not just A&B.
All items will also have a no response option.
This is for students who do not give a response with their communication mode,
are distracted, or give an unrelated response such as "I
Want Juice."
Best practice in these situations is to refocus the student on the item and
present the item again.
If a student is still not able to communicate a response,
then the administrator would record the student's response as no response.
Presenting an item again is only allowed if a student has not given a response.
Guessing an answer is allowed on the ALT MCA.
The high complexity item of the task is aligned to Access Point C The student
will explain the data trend on a bar graph or pictograph depicting up to 4
categories.
This is the most complex item of the task set.
It is fully aligned with the extended benchmark.
These items have increased language and are more text based.
Again, presenting an item would be done in the
same way as the previous items as well as recording the student's response.
The required MTAS/ALT MCA trainings address and show the ALT MCA items and
point out the differences in administration.
Now we will look at an ALT MCA reading sample task.
This is a Reading ALT MCA Grade 10 passage.
On the screen is the first paragraph.
The passage is called Biking with Anthony and is a literary text.
The extended benchmark that this Alt MCA reading task is aligned to is explain the
impact of vocabulary on keywords, content, and meaning of literary text.
The basis of how the passage and items are aligned is very similar to the math
task we just looked at.
One difference is that there are three tasks aligned to the passage.
Which results in nine items being associated with each passage instead of
just three as in science and math.
There will be 5 passages with a total of 45 items on the Reading Alt MCA starting
this spring.
We are only showing you one task with three items that are associated with this
passage, but the grade 10 sample task you can find
online contains 9 items associated with this passage and this is true for the
other grade level reading samples as well.
The passages are made-up of text supported by images.
In most cases, each paragraph will be followed by a
picture.
The passages are located in the online form as well as the passages and
scenarios book.
This allows for showing of text and images related to items as you work
through the tasks with students, whether they take the assessment on the
computer, with paper materials, or both.
With a hybrid administration, passages are able to be read to the
student, read with the student, or read independently by the student.
Test administrators will be asked how students access the passages on the test
administrator questions.
At the end of the assessment, some items may refer back to a paragraph
and students will need to use the referenced paragraph while they answer
the associated item.
We will show an example of this in the sample task.
Following tthis passage.
The passages are designed to be read only one time to the student unless a student
requests the passage or paragraph be reread,
there is an item associated with a paragraph,
or the test administrator feels rereading is necessary.
This is the last paragraph of the sample passage.
All passages have multiple paragraphs and word counts vary based on grade level.
Lower grade level passages tend to have lower word counts and higher grade level
passages tend to have higher word counts.
This is the low level complexity item which is aligned to Access point A.
The student will match a word or phrase with multiple meanings from the text to a
picture.
The passage would be visible to the student.
This is the mid level complexity item.
If the students taking the assessment on the computer,
the passage would automatically go to the referenced paragraph,
in this case paragraph three, with the item also visible.
If the student is using paper materials, the test administrator would be directed
to turn to the referenced paragraph in the Passages and Scenarios book,
read the paragraph to the student, and then present the item.
This way, the student is presented the information
from the paragraph right before they answer the item.
This is the highest level complexity item of the task set and it is aligned to
Access Point C.
The student will explain the choice of words or phrases on content, style,
or meaning of the text.
This item would be administered the same way as the previous items.
Thank you, Lauren.
Now we're going to dive into the Alt MCA information discussing the materials and
administration modes.
So now we're going to switch to looking at all the materials for the reading and
science ALT MCAs. Every student assigned an ALT MCA will
provide an online test form and paper materials.
So test administrators have all the materials they need for any
administration mode.
The default is for students to be designed the main online test form.
If a student uses a screen reader, Braille device,
or other assistive technology that interacts with the online test form,
then they need to be assigned an assistive technology form to allow the AT
to work with the online form.
We'll share more details about the AT forms later in the presentation.
The one thing to know is that no matter which form that whether it's the main
online or the assistive technology form kit,
you will get all the paper materials and the online test form that a student needs.
Also, there's supplemental supplemental
materials that can be ordered for students who need specific supports.
Braille materials, visual descriptions which provide alt
text for images that are read aloud to students,
and response option cards for students that need this response for their
communication mode to show their response to items.
Data entry for all administration modes is done in the online test form
in Test NAV. Data should be entered in the online test
form
during online and hybrid administrations. Paper administrations will use the data
collection form to record student responses and then the test administrator
will log into the online test form to enter the student responses at a later
time.
So looking at the paper materials that you will be given,
you will get a task administration manual, which is really your guide for giving all
the items and passages or phenomenon.
You get presentation pages which include the items and the answer options for
students.
You get the passages or phenomena book depending on the subject that has either
the passages or phenomena to read to the students.
And you get a data collection form.
And again, that's only used for paper
administrations only.
The Braille test materials include all of those same materials.
But also an additional items will be the visual descriptions as those are
something that most students with low vision or that are blind need to have
images described to them.
Response option cards that are Braille and tactile graphics.
Also the presentation pages and passages of phenomena book are also Braille.
So the alternate MCA student readiness tool is a great place to become familiar
with the online TestNav form.
In this screenshot that we have here, it shows the Alt SRTs page.
You can see that there is an actual like play button.
So on that spot there's a video.
And this video is about 7 minutes long.
It covers everything about the reading and science alt MCA test platform,
which is TestNav.
It'll help you understand all the embedded online tools.
It'll show you examples of how to do that.
It shows you all of the navigation, how to present things to students,
how to move through the online form, how to enter student responses.
And then below that you can see there are two buttons,
one for the reading online form and one for the science online form.
You can select those to actually go into a sample test NAV form,
which the format and navigation everything will be exactly like on the
actual test NAV form that you would log into for students to use.
And that way you can have lots of, you can understand what the test NAV form
looks like to help you make decisions for students.
So some of the reasons that you'd want to use the student readiness tools,
which again are available for reading and science, ALT, MCA.
The online SRTS can be used by test administrators, IEP teams,
and students to help make assessment decisions for students.
It helps you understand if the Alt MCA is probably the best assessment for a
student.
So your IP team can look at this SRT and help decide during a team meeting.
That way, all your service providers, parents and students can see what it
looks like and actually make informed decisions.
It helps prepare test administrators for administering the online and hybrid
administrations because you can see what what is in that online form and help
decide which students this is the best for and which students maybe use just
papers best for.
You can also, once you've made decisions about its
administration modes, you can prepare students by interacting
with that online platform and tools.
Many of our students with significant cognitive disabilities really need that
repetition.
And if you've been able to go in a couple times and practice the format of how to
navigate and what the items look like, they'll be able to be familiar with that
part enough that then they can actually look at the items in the content of the
assessment and be able to use their be able to show their knowledge when they're
actually taking their assessment.
They're also paper SRTs and those can be again used by the same group and you can
help make assessment decisions for students with these also because if
you're looking at a paper, only you'll know what that looks like and
how it would work.
If you're looking at a hybrid, you can look at the online and the paper
together to look at which materials you would use for a student.
Then you can prepare students by having them interact with those paper materials
or the online and paper together for a hybrid,
and you can plan for accommodations and material preparation for students.
This is how you navigate to the online SRT video and online forms.
It's in the Minnesota Assessment Hub, and when you get there,
you'd want to select the online alternate MCA student readiness tools,
and then that would take you to the screenshot page that I showed you earlier.
There's also an alternate MCA/SRT supplemental information.
This is really an online guide.
So I we recommend that you download this printed and after you've watched the
video that shows you the navigation, this document has screenshots and
explains that navigation.
So while you're actually practicing for administration or giving an
administration, you can have it there to help you know
how to navigate through that online test form.
This is just a nice list of all of the embedded online tools that there are in
the TestNav platform for the Alt MCA and gives kind of a description of what
they're like and who you might use them for.
The paper Alt MCA/SRTs are actually in the same location.
It's just you're going to select the paper and I'm we're showing the reading
ones here.
But if you select that.
Button that shows the paper, Alt MCA student readiness tools.
Then it will show you all the different materials that are listed under that.
So there's a passages book, the presentation pages,
visual descriptions, so you can check those out to see if that
would be helpful for a student.
The response option cards are there, the task administration manual and a data
collection form, and those are all available for science
also.
For paper administration, this is a list of all of the different
materials and kind of how you would use them to present a paper administration
only for a student.
And so no matter what mode you're using, that task administration manual is your
guide.
That's where the scripts and everything are for you to say.
So regardless of what administration mode you're using,
that should be used when administering the assessment to students.
So now we're going to switch and kind of talk about the different administration
modes.
We've talked about and highlighted a few things,
but we're really going to talk about the hybrid part now and give you some
examples to understand what it could look like.
There's lots of different ways that a hybrid administration can be done.
One example is that the test administrator presents the passage and
items to the student using paper materials,
and the student responds on a device such as a tablet with their answers.
Especially students who use like a communication device,
they're used to giving responses that way.
This might be a good way for them to be able to show their responses.
It could also be kind of the opposite of that,
where the test administrator presents and reads the passage from a device showing
the online test form and the paper presentation pages to present the item
and answer options. Then the student circles the response in
the presentation pages to indicate their response.
So if their way of communicating their responses is to circle items,
you can sure do that.
The paper materials can be marked up as much as you need to.
You can cut them apart in case you forgot to order the response option cards and
you feel a student needs that.
We're fine with that as long as you remember they're secure test materials
and make sure you return any materials to Pearson that need to be.
Another way that you could be doing a hybrid administration mode is that the IP
team, when they discussed it, decided that the online test form would
be the best for the student.
But as a test administrator is observing how the student is interacting with that
online test form, they really feel that they need to change
just the paper test materials because maybe they've been distracted or they're
just not engaging with it.
So they can decide part way through testing based on the student's needs to
switch the administration mode.
And in this case, the test administrator continues the
administration with the student using only the paper test materials.
And then later after they've finished testing,
they enter the student responses online.
So even though you maybe use more, you administered more items in a paper
administration mode, this would still be considered a hybrid
because you've used online for part of the test and paper for part of the test.
Another example would be where the test administrator presents and reads the
passage and items from a device showing that online test form,
and then they ordered the student response option cards.
So they're going to use that paper material for the student to give their
responses.
And then another example of how you might switch things up is that the student
began using tests paper test materials cause the IP team felt that was the best.
But the test administrator observes if the student is not engaging when they're
the ones reading the passage.
And so the test administrator changes to present the passage on a tablet using the
text to speech.
So it's a computer generated voice and in this case the student engages better.
And so that test administrator continues using a mix of paper test materials and
the online form to present the items.
So you can see there's a lot in these examples.
There's lots of flexibility.
The reason why we have this hybrid administration mode is from feedback from
the field saying that the students have really unique ways that they're presented
their instruction and how they respond to items.
And so we just want you to be able to have the assessment match the students
typical instruction that they have each day.
So that flexibility and this is a little bit of background in kind of what is
different about the different administration modes.
So for online, a student can either independently
interact with those online test questions and materials,
or the test administrator can guide those interactions and support the students use
of the online test form as much as needed.
So if the student is able to like maybe say a response or point to it,
but they're not able to navigate on a tablet or they can't maneuver the mouse,
the test administrator can do all of the actual student response entry and
navigating through the form. On an online.
all the student responses are entered into the online test form in TestNav and
that can be by either the test administrator and or student.
So depending on how the students giving their responses,
that can be shared responsibility or it can be either the test administrator or
the student.
For paper only administration mode, the test administrator uses only the
paper materials for testing, but then after they've done that,
they would use a data collection form again to record their the students
responses.
They would then use that data collection form to log into the online test form and
TestNav and they would then enter those student responses.
So the test administrator is the one that's entering those.
For hybrid, you're going to be using both paper test
materials and the online test form.
The combination of how you use that is really individual for each student,
and then the student responses are entered into the online test form while
you're giving the assessment, and that again can be either by the test
administrator or the student.
How do you decide which mode is best for a student?
There's kind of two things to really think about when you're going to do
decisions and we suggest that these are IP team decisions that you're planning
for this during an IP team meeting so that the whole group can actually share
and give input.
So the first part to think about is how does the student receive their
instruction?
And then the second part is how do they give responses?
So if a student who maybe would be best to have an online administration mode,
the questions to think about are does the student have daily instruction that's
presented online or technology based?
And can the student communicate responses in a way that can be shown in the online
test form?
And then if those two are yeses, you just really want to think about,
is the student able to independently interact with that online or technology
based content?
Or do they typically need assistance?
And how much is that from the test administrator?
Just so you can plan for that administration and and be prepared to
give those supports.
The one thing to take note of this, even though when we say independently,
that doesn't mean we're going to have a student sit down at a computer or use a
device and do it on their own.
The test administrator, because this is a one-on-one
administration, should be seated right next to the
student and they're there to be helping to watch how the students interacting and
helping 'cause if they need help with text to speech or to navigate through an
item, it might be something that you're going
to notice and you might need to step in and help them with that.
So when you're thinking about paper only administration,
does the student have the majority of their daily instruction presented with
paper materials only?
And does the student communicate responses in a way that needs a paper
material?
And when you're thinking about hybrid, does the student have daily instruction
presented with a combination of paper materials and online or technology based?
And does the student communicate responses in a way that can be shown in
the online test form or with paper materials?
So just thinking about that combination and then deciding which you start with.
The one thing again to remember that this is just a starting place.
If you notice a student after you're starting to administer the assessment and
things are not going well, you are free to adjust the administration
mode and change that to fit a student.
And we understand you can't pull an IP team meeting together.
So it's something that the team when it, when you discuss this in IEP meeting,
you would want to probably talk about that this is our,
this is what we think will be best for the student.
But the test administrator has that flexibility to make those decisions as
they're giving the assessment.
MDE is not going to ask you to, we don't need to know which
administration mode you pick or if you switched.
The only place we're going to ask about it is just for some data to collect and
for be to be able to report to parents.
And we'll talk about that when we get to the test administrator questions that are
part of the TestNav form later in this presentation.
So there's a few online tips and tricks I want to share with you.
So if a student or test administrator when you're in the online form kind of
accidentally maybe selects an answer option,
that answer option can be unselected by just selecting it again because there'll
be a little blue circle that shows next to the answer option letter.
And if that's blue, then you know answer options been
selected.
The biggest place where this would would come into play is that if something was
touched and then the student actually did not give a response and you're going to
record something as a no response, you would want to make sure that the
answer option is unselected so that TestNav recognizes that no response.
Because the way it's set up is that Test av will always record an answer option as
the student's response, even if a, even if a no response has been entered.
So the answer option response is going to be the one that is recorded over a no
response.
So if they're both recorded, that's what it would take.
And if you're using text to speech to read a reading passage to a student,
the text to speech is going.
The audio will keep going because there are page tabs.
That's how the online passages are separated because you'll see a paragraph
and then an image in Page in tab 1, and then in Page Tab 2 it'll go to the
second paragraph.
The text to speech is going to keep going, but you're going to have to know as a
test administrator to advance to page Tab 2 when the audio goes there.
So it's something you might want to practice if you're using the text to
speech ahead of time.
In that SOT, the pages do not automatically advance
with the audio.
So these are the test administrator questions I was referring to before in
both reading and Science Alt MCA.
You will see these after you've given the items to the students.
These will be at the end.
There are three of them.
The first one is the same for both reading and science.
And this is the only place where we talked about,
we're going to ask you about administration mode.
And for this one, we want you to think about the majority
of the administration.
So even though, so if you used hybrid a mix of things,
you probably won't, you would want to pick hybrid.
So you this is really, we're just keeping this for data.
And this also is a place where on the student's individual student report that
is reported to parents and teachers, this information,
this data is pulled to report that on that report.
So parents will see this information, it'll be the only way that they know how
their student interacted with the test materials.
And then question number 2 is different for reading Alt MCA,
this is where the passage access question is.
So again, for the majority of the reading passages,
so three out of five of them, how did the student access the passage
content?
Would was that passage read aloud to the student by the test administrator?
Did the student read along with the test administrator or did the student read the
passage independently?
And again, this data is used to pull into that
student's ISR and is reported to parents.
For the science Alt MCA, the question is about object use.
So were objects or manipulatives used when administering any part of the test
the student And it's just a simple yes or no.
And again, this information is used to report on the
student's ISR to parents.
The last question is not reported to anyone else except for MDE and Pearson.
And this is asking for your feedback, so letting us know what we should
consider in the future to support the administration,
whether it's things that you really liked about the assessment or things that you
think need to be improved.
And this could be paper materials, it could be the online test form.
This is the place to really let us know.
We can't change the format of the test, but things that are in TestNav and how it
functions, how some of the paper materials are
presented or our guidance in the task administration manual,
all those things can be changed.
And your feedback really helps us be able to fine tune the assessment and our
guidance and training.
So if there are things that you think are really needed or things you think are
really good to keep, please let us know that.
So we really thank you for taking the time with the Science Alt MCA.
We had this question and we had lots of teachers or test administrators fill in
the information.
It gave us lots of leverage with Pearson to be able to go and say, hey,
there's some things in TestNav that we need to change to make it easier for test
administrators to administer.
And we were able to make a lot of updates.
So now we're going to go kind of back to those AT Online forms.
And these are actually applicable to Reading and Science Alt MCA and MCA,
what we're going to talk about for this.
So for assistive technology forms, these are actually forms that have a
lower security level so that AT devices can actually interact directly with the
test in that form.
And so these aren't devices that like an AAC device that you're,
that we don't usually enter information into a student would be just giving us a
response on it or a Braille note taker.
Those would be used outside of the at TestNav form.
So those wouldn't require an AT form.
It would be.
So some of the we actually have two different online test forms.
One's a screen reader form and that you're going to use with screen readers
and Braille devices that interact with the TestNav form.
A non screen reader form is for use with other AT devices or programs that
actually are going to interact.
Some examples would be a switch or a head mouse.
A code does need to be indicated by your district assessment coordinator prior to
testing for either MCA or Alt MCA in order to have that correct online test
form assigned to the student.
Otherwise they'll have the main form and the security level be different and it
won't allow the AT device to interact.
You do need to prepare.
You need to verify that the AT device will work with TestNav by checking its
compatibility with the sample test form.
So your District Assessment Coordinator will create a sample test session and
give you a test ticket.
And then you will enter that information by logging into TestNav and checking that
AT device.
Once you've checked it, you also want to have the students to
give them an opportunity to practice using their AT device because sometimes
the functionality and way things work for them and just how they navigate through
that test form are going to be different maybe than what they're used to.
So giving them a chance to practice and making sure everything works the way they
think it should.
There's also a guidelines for Assisted Technology Online Forms document that's
posted in the Minnesota Assessment Hub that has instructions for testing with an
AT device and helps you navigate through that practice example.
This is where you can find an Minnesota assessment hub.
Underneath the student tools and supports you can find that guidelines and also
Pearson Access Next training centers where DAC will set up the testing ticket.
If you have any questions about assistive technology for student,
including specific device or software questions, please contact MDE at mde.
testing@state.mn.us.
In addition, districts must contact MDE to request
approval for the use of a student owned device.
So this is a device that is actually owned by the student or the family.
And the reason why you need to have this approved is that a lot of times there are
memory types of things that are collected in the device that interacts with an AT
form and those have to be cleared and the secure,
the security and settings of a student owned device is going to be something the
family's in charge of rather than the district.
And so you need to work with the family to make sure that you can access those
security settings to be able to delete any memory that was collected from test
items.
So if it's a district owned or bought device,
then the district is the one that has the ability to access those security and
settings and so you would not need approval for those devices,
just ones that are owned by the student or the family.
One thing to note too is that a student may use the Braille test materials with
either AT online form.
So the Braille paper test books and the AT online forms,
whether that's MCA or Alt MCA can be paired together as they have the same
content.
And many students need that extra support of having that Braille material or using
the tactile graphics, especially when you get into more
complicated test content, which is probably more for science than
it is reading.
But they need and they will be prompted to use those tactile graphics when
applicable.
One thing that we have that started last year for the Alt MCA is the early
stopping rule.
And this is a way that students with the most significant cognitive disabilities
who do not have an observable way to communicate,
responsible to participate in assessments are able to only take 6 items and then
they can have their assessments stopped.
So again, this is for just a very small percentage
of students and we know they communicate with you,
but they may not have a communication mode that works well to for you to
understand their response for an assessment.
And so how does it work is that you need to administer the first three items to
the student.
If they give no response for those first three items,
the test administrator would then stop testing.
You would decide if you're going to take a break and continue testing that day.
Or you're going to test on another day.
That's really up to you what you think is best for the student.
And then you would administer another three items.
So you're given and if there is no response for those next three items,
so after a total of 6 items, you had a no response for each of them,
you would be able to stop testing.
You would move to the end of the test, answer those test administrator survey
questions, and then submit the test.
So a student only needs to answer or participate in three or six items and
then you'd be able to stop testing.
This does count as a student participating for your district and gives
them a valid score.
Test now knows that when you have only 6 items entered as no response and then you
submit the test to automatically assign it the code for the early stopping rule.
If you happen to go more than six items but you would like to apply the early
stopping rule, you would need to contact MDE or Pearson
to help you through that.
There are many ways that you can adapt MTAS or Alt MCA materials.
There's no real specific process that you have to go through if there's something
you want to do.
And there's very few restrictions as long as the supports do not invalidate the
test by queuing or cluing the correct answer.
And we talked about a few things where you can cut up the materials,
you could enlarge things, students can circle them in the books,
you can mark them up as much as you like.
And we just offer lots of flexibility for test administrators to adapt the
materials to meet whatever the student needs are.
And remember, it should be something that's provided to
students in their daily instruction, and those are usually allowed.
If you have questions, you can always contact Lauren and I.
We will have our contact information on the last slide of this presentation.
The other thing to note is that object lists may be very helpful.
They can give some guidance.
Some examples would be adding wiki sticks, yarn,
or any texture added to pictures and also using just general objects to represent
answer options or items in the passages or phenomena.
So we're going to end the information on the Alt MCA and we're going to move into
sharing a few assessment resources and some upcoming opportunities.
So we have an Alternate Assessment Testing 1 2 3 Webpage that is kind of a
hub for you to be able to find all of the resources and recordings of past
presentations that we've done.
So some of the things that you'll find there are the Alt MCA Student Readiness
tools link, a link to the Alt MCA Performance Level
Descriptors, the Minnesota Questions Tool link,
and also recordings of this meeting are reading kickoff meeting,
the science kickoff meeting from last year.
There's also a unpacking standards training that shows you how to take any
standard and benchmark and kind of make extended benchmarks and access points for
your students.
The link is here to be able to get to it and it is updated frequently with new
presentations and resources as they're developed.
And this is just a focus on the reading Alternate MCA Kick Off meeting recording.
It is located on that Testing 1 2 3 webpage that I just talked about and this
will give you if you want more information about the Reading Alt MCA
preparation administration.
This is a presentation that we gave this last fall and you can look at that
recording to get more information on details.
As far as indicating accommodations and universal supports,
we have the the time to do the initial indication ended on January 23rd.
But the additional material orders can be placed for any of those supplemental
materials like the Braille, the response option cards,
visual descriptions, those can be placed between February 24th
and April 28th at noon.
And then each month we hold alternate assessment chat and connect.
It's the second Wednesday of each month from 4 to 5 p.m.
We always, we always start out with what questions
do you have or feedback for us?
That's really the whole idea behind these chat and connects is a time,
informal time to come and just share things with us.
Positive things you've seen, things you think should be improved.
Questions you have about accommodations.
It could be for the MCA or Alt MCA because Lauren and I work with both
accommodations for both assessments.
Any administration questions for the Alt MCA or the MTAS?
We do cover a monthly topic that we communicate in the educator edition.
We try to do it in the special education update and also the assessment update
that goes out.
So you can look for the exact topics.
But we always focus on what you bring to us, the participants that come first,
and then if we have time, we dive into the topics we've prepared
for that month.
Universal supports and accommodations resources are places that you can,
the guidance document is a place that you can find details.
It's not meant to be read from front to back.
It's meant to find a certain accommodation that you're or support that
you're looking for and thinking about using for a student.
Read the few paragraphs about it and it will give you information about like who
this might what students it might be best for what exactly the details of what that
accommodation or support is 'cause sometimes when you read just a
description, it may not be exactly what you're
thinking it is.
So reading through that also gives you anything for test administration or codes
or anything you need to be aware of.
The infographic that is shown here is for MCA,
not that a lot of these are available for Alt MCA, but it's really for the MCA.
And this is a great tool to use at your IEP team meetings in order to be able to
go through and look.
And also it's kind of like a shopping list of all of the supports and
accommodations available.
And that's where you can look for certain students when you're planning.
You can look at those titles, but then go into the guidance document
that I talked about and actually find the description of them to make sure that is
what is truly best for the student to have for their assessment.
Also, here's the decision making process for
Minnesota Alternate Assessments, which in order to be able to take an
altered assessment, students need to fit these guidelines.
And so this is a tool for IEP teams to be able to work through to make sure you're
using that when you're making decisions about what assessment is best for a
student.
And then educator review committees are something that we hold every summer.
Most of them are online.
And so it's a great whether if it's for MCA or Alt MCA,
it's a chance for you really to be able to get involved.
Some of the reasons why you might want to join and what the two different
committees are like.
We have a committee that's called an educator new Item Review Committee and
that looks at Test questions, passages, phenomenon or scenarios for math,
whatever the subject is.
And you help judge the appropriateness of the content, the cognitive complexity,
and ensure like the language, the images, the content of all that is appropriate
for the students in the grade level that it's that it's made for.
You get to give input and help us change those items before they become field test
items.
The second committee is a data review committee,
where once the items have been field tested,
then the data from how students answered those items is looked at,
and this committee helps decide if those items are going to be accepted or
rejected.
And if they're accepted, then they'll become part of the pool for
an operational test.
Some of the benefits for you are that you gain lots of insight as to how
assessments are actually developed.
There's a lot that goes into it that when I was a teacher did not realize all that.
It gives you networking opportunities to learn from other educators from around
the state.
These are virtual, so you can be just where you're at.
So we get lots of representation from all over the state.
You're also paid an honorarium as long as you're not actively teaching.
If you are actively teaching, you will get a substitute reimbursement
to your district for those days.
And you also earn continuing education credits and there's quite a few of them
because the committees are are our alt ones are a day and 1/2.
So if you'd like to be a part of that, just go ahead and register.
The links that we put on the slide before this are we'll take you to a link with
Pearson to be able to register for the database.
So it doesn't mean you're going to be automatically included in a committee.
It means you're in the database to be invited to a committee.
And then these slides are just links and of the resources that we talked about
today.
1 And I just want to really thank you for taking the time to listen to this
recording of the informational meeting and our information,
contact information is listed here.
You can always e-mail us at alt assessment dot mde at state dot MN dot US.
And this phone number rings right to my phone.
So if you have questions about anything related to MTAS, ALT,
MCA or supports an accommodation for the MCA, please feel free to reach out for us.
Thank you and we wish you a great testing season.