Administration Guidelines
Equipment
In addition to the testing materials, each assessor will need the following tools to administer Acadience Math:
- Pen or pencil
- Clipboard
- Stopwatch or timer
The timer used for Acadience Math testing should: (a) be small enough to hold in the palm of the hand or attach to the clipboard; (b) track time accurately within one-hundredth of a second; and (c) be simple to operate. The timer may function as a stopwatch or as a countdown timer. A countdown timer should be one that makes a quiet, unobtrusive beep at the end of the countdown. A stopwatch should either be silent or make quiet, unobtrusive beeps when starting or stopping the timing.
Testing Environment
Acadience Math Early Numeracy assessments are best conducted at a small table or student desk in a relatively quiet location and at a time with minimal disruptions and noise. For example, if Acadience Math Early Numeracy assessments are being conducted in the classroom, it is best to use a corner of the classroom with partitions to minimize distractions and to conduct the assessment at a time when the other students are engaged in seatwork or similar quiet activities.
The assessor should be positioned in order to see the student’s face and should sit near enough to the student to clearly hear what the student says. When using a desk or small table, the assessor and student might sit across from each other, and with a larger table the assessor and student might sit around the corner from each other. The assessor should hold the clipboard in such a way that the student cannot see what is being written. The Acadience Math Computation and Concepts and Applications assessments are conducted in a whole-group setting. They may be administered individually to students, as well.
Timing
It is important to time each measure according to the administration and scoring procedures for that measure. Timing allows the assessor to capture not only a student’s knowledge and ability with the math skills, but also the student’s fluency on and confidence with the skills.
Encouragement and Reinforcement
The Acadience Math measures are standardized assessments. What the assessor can say during testing is in bold italics in the administration procedures given in this manual. No other comments or prompts should be provided to the student as part of the testing situation. In particular, the administration scripts do not allow the assessor to tell students if they are right or wrong on an item during or after the assessment; however, it is appropriate for the assessor to provide general encouragement to students between measures (for example, between the BQD and NIF measures). It is best to reinforce the student’s effort with general, non-specific statements such as, “You are working really hard.”
Modeling and Practice Items
Most of the Acadience Math measures begin with the assessor modeling the activity. Modeling is intended to clearly communicate to the student what is expected on the task, and must be presented exactly as it is stated in the administration procedures. After the model, most Acadience Math measures then have practice items to let students try the task, with corrective feedback to ensure they understand it. The practice items and responses must be delivered exactly as they are stated in the administration procedures. The practice items and corrective feedback are intended to ensure the student understands the nature of the task and what is expected. They are not intended to teach the skill to students who have not learned the skill.
Repeating Directions or Items
If you judge that the student did not hear or understand the directions, a practice item, or a test item, you may repeat the directions or the item. If the timer is already running, the timer should continue to run while you are repeating the item. It is your responsibility as the assessor to articulate clearly and loudly enough for the student to hear. You are also responsible for ensuring that the testing environment is not too noisy or distracting, and that the student is attending adequately to the directions and items. If the student continually asks you to repeat items even when these issues have been adequately addressed, the student’s hearing may need to be evaluated.
Discontinuing an Assessment
Each of the individually administered Acadience Math measures includes a discontinue rule as discussed previously for students who are unable to perform the task. When following the discontinue rule, stop the measure and record a score of zero.
Invalidating an Assessment
If an error was made in administering or scoring a measure, and that error cannot be corrected without retesting the student, then the score should be discarded as invalid. Reassess the student as soon as possible using an alternate form of the measure from the progress monitoring materials. If a student refuses to participate in the testing, do not record a score. Stop the assessment and try again on another day, perhaps with an assessor who is more familiar to the student. When you are able to determine that students are not able to give their best performance at that time, then do not test them, or if testing has already begun, then stop the assessment. For example, a student may not be wearing glasses or a hearing aid, seems ill or particularly nervous, or an interruption occurs such as a fire drill or an announcement. Under these circumstances, do not record a score. Reassess the student(s) at another time using an alternate form from the progress monitoring materials.
For more information please see the Assessment Manual located on the