During the Assessment

This section provides instructions on how to administer, invigilate and manage the Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions. If you have not scheduled the assessment, refer to instructions in Before the Assessment to schedule your sessions.

Summary of steps during the assessment

• Log in to your account and access your class.
• Click Manage Students for student list, OENs, and accommodations information.
• Set up devices and logins for students. Students require their OEN, the class access code and they will need to enter their last name correctly to complete the log in process.
• Provide the alternative version of the assessment to students who have been registered and approved by EQAO to receive it.
• Have students log in to the e-assessment platform. 
  • If students are using Direct Access, students must select Login on the EQAO website and then select Login under the Student section.
  • If students are using the lockdown browser, unlock the lockdown browser on each device using the SEB or Kiosk password. Students who have accommodations and assistive software that is not compatible with the lockdown browser will use Direct Access.
• If applicable, distribute Assessment Response Sheets to students for the session being completed. Students should be instructed to check their name and session label each time they use a printed response sheet. (Language only)
• Read the appropriate script for the session or stage you are administering.
• Unlock the session or stage for supervised students only. If a student is absent or in an unsupervised setting and you unlocked the entire class, lock the absent student’s session or stage.
• Instruct students to complete the entire session or stage before they click Submit. Each session or stage must be completed in one continuous sitting. If a student forgets to submit, the teacher must lock any unlocked sessions or stage at the end of the continuous sitting. All unsubmitted stages/sessions will be autosubmitted at 5 p.m. daily.
• Ensure students using the Assessment Response Sheets write their answers to the open-response language questions on the sheet provided before submitting the session. Once the students submit the session, they will no longer be able to reference the open-response question.
• If a student accidentally clicks Submit or has to suddenly stop in the middle of a session or stage due to an unexpected event, refer to unsubmitting a session or stage.
• Repeat the steps above for all sessions and stages.
• Collect all paper with rough work. It must be shredded and cannot be copied.
• Collect the paper assessment response sheets (language only) at the end of each session to prepare for the scanning and uploading process. After scanning and uploading, keep these sheets in a secure location at all times until the Individual Student Reports have been issued. Then, they must be shredded.
• Transcribe any student responses into the e-assessment platform for those using the Alternative Version and whose responses were not entered into the e-assessment platform by the student or scribe. Responses for students using large-print Response Sheets must be transcribed in the e-assessment platform by the teacher.
• Click Report an Issue on the invigilation page and record any issues, if there were any that affect the security, validity or reliability of the assessment.
• Ask students to complete the voluntary questionnaire after they have completed all sessions and stages of the assessment.
• Click Submit to EQAO for scoring on the invigilation page to close the assessment for all students. Student responses will now be sent for scoring to EQAO.

TIP
The language component of the assessment includes four sessions and the mathematics component includes four stages. Students must complete each session or stage in the same continuous sitting.

NOTE
If the students are using a lockdown browser for the assessment, you will need the SEB or Kiosk password. Your school administrator will provide this password from the Technical Readiness Checklist. You will need to enter this password on each device before starting.

Step 1 – Reading the script

Please read aloud the language or mathematics script to your class before you unlock the session or stage and begin the assessment.

The sessions and stages must be completed in the order in which they are presented. Refer to the Design of the Assessments section for more information about the suggested duration and order of sessions and stages.

NOTE
A session or stage may include supervised water, stretch and washroom breaks.

If student(s) must stop in the middle of a session or stage (for example, internet issue, fire drill), supervise the student(s) during the break and then have the student(s) continue when they return.

If the student cannot return immediately after, refer to Unsubmitting a session or stage section for guidelines and rules about permitted unsubmissions.

Step 2 – Starting the assessment

IMPORTANT 
Teachers should regularly scan the Invigilation page to actively monitor the administration of the assessment and the progress of the students. 

1. Log in to your teacher account.
2. To open a class, click Select Class.
3. Click Ready to Start.
4. A pop-up asks for confirmation that you are trying to access the operational assessment. Type operational in the box.
5. In the Invigilation page, you will see the important information for invigilating the assessment.
6. Assist students in logging into the operational assessment:
   • If using Direct Access, have students log in on the EQAO website page, select Login and then log in under the Student section. If using the lockdown browser, start the SEB or Kiosk application on each device and enter the password provided by the school administrator.
   • Ask your students to log in using the access code and their OEN.
   • Students must enter their last name to access the assessment.
7. Distribute the assessment response sheets (reading and/or writing) for students using the paper response sheets for open-response questions in the language sessions.

REMINDER
If using the lockdown browser and a student with accommodations is using software that is not compatible with SEB or Kiosk, have the student log in using Direct Access from the EQAO login page. Refer to Direct Access section for more information.

Students, who are completing the assessment on-line but responding to the open-response questions on paper, will receive the following instruction when they reach an open-response question, in order to ensure they are using the correct assessment response sheet. 

Student Login Issue

TIP
Student OENs can be found next to their names by clicking the Show OEN button.

Process if student not entering correct last name:

1. OEN and class code entered by student.
2. Three opportunities provided for student to type their last name correctly. Their last name must match the one shown on the screen.
3. Student Login Issue message sent to the teacher invigilation page if the student fails to enter their last name correctly. A red exclamation point will appear beside the student’s OEN.
4. Verify student is using the correct OEN.
5. Click on the red exclamation point to view the name entered by the student.
6. If a student is attempting to enter an incorrect OEN, click Deny, then assist the student to log in properly.
7. Click Approve if you have verified that that correct student is attempting to login with the correct OEN.

NOTE
The system will recognize a student’s last name with or without any special characters, including apostrophes, hyphens, and accents. The spelling must match the name in the e-assessment system.

Step 3 – Invigilating the assessment

In the Invigilation page, you can:

• find the access code (pink box on top right)
• view your students and their OENs
• unlock or lock sessions or stages (individually or for all students)
• monitor for notifications (e.g. student login issues, students navigating away from the assessment)
• monitor the progress of your students
• pause the session or stage
• report an issue
• unsubmit a session or stage
• automatically submit
• submit the responses to EQAO for scoring
• view or edit the response format (paper or online) for each student
• print, scan, upload Assessment Response Sheets (open response Language)

TIP
Monitor the invigilation screen regularly during the administration of the assessment for system notifications indicating students are attempting to navigate away from the assessment if using Direct Access, and for new messages that may be sent by EQAO through the Message Centre. 

Locking or unlocking a session or stage

On the Invigilation page:

1. To unlock the entire class:
   • click the lock icon at the top of the list for the session or stage you wish to unlock.
   • click the lock icon beside the name of any absent students to lock them again to prevent them from accessing a session without supervision.
2. To unlock individual students:
   • click the lock icon by the student’s name for the session or stage you wish to unlock.
3. Ensure sessions or stages are unlocked only for students who are supervised and actively completing the assessment.
4. If you have a sample test session still open, a pop-up will appear giving you the choice to Go Back or Pause Other Test to allow the scheduled operational assessment to be unlocked. This will pause the sample test until you return to it again.
5. Use the lock/unlock function by a student’s name for any student requiring a supervised break or who has an unexpected event and stops completing a session or stage.

IMPORTANT
Teachers must lock any unlocked assessment sessions once the scheduled continuous sitting is finished. This is important as students who have not submitted may be able to re-enter that session from a different computer while unsupervised if it is not locked. 

Pausing and resuming

You can pause or resume the assessment for all student(s) for:

• a supervised break
• an unexpected event, such as a fire alarm (supervise students during an event)

When resuming the session, the student will return to the assessment.

TIP
If the student accidentally submitted the session before they were finished the session, refer to the section Unsubmitting a session or stage.

Switching between the sample test and operational assessment 

If you are in either the sample test or operational assessment and you wish to switch to the other, follow these steps:

1. Confirm you have scheduled the other assessment. Refer to Scheduling the operational assessment section.
2. Select the Sample Test or Operational Assessment from the main screen.
3. A pop-up will appear giving you the choice to Go Back or Pause Other Test.
4. Select Pause Other Test. 

You will not lose student data if you switch from the operational assessment back to the sample test or vice versa.

IMPORTANT
All the students in your class can only be in either the sample test or operational assessment at one time. You cannot have some students in one and some in the other. 

Reporting issues

School administrators and teachers must report issues to EQAO that may affect the security, validity or reliability of the assessment. Refer to Professional Responsibilities. 

All issues in any category should be reported through the teacher Invigilation page using the Report an Issue button. An EQAO issues resolution team reviews reported issues. 

1. On the Invigilation page, click Report an Issue. 
2. Click OK. 
3. Select the issue category: Technical Support, Student Response Issue or Administration Anomaly or Academic Dishonesty 
4. Describe the issue in detail. 
5. Select the affected student(s). 
6. Click Report. 

Categories for reporting issues

Technical Support 

Any system issue that affects the ability of the student to continue the assessment. For example, inability to: 

• log in 
• continue
• proceed to the next question
• access assistive technology
• submit the assessment
• upload scans

NOTE
Any technical issue that is preventing a student from beginning or accessing the assessment that requires immediate help, please call 1-888-327-7377 to be directed to the technical support team. 

Student Response Issue  

Any issue that a student reports that may have affected their ability to answer a particular question but did not prevent them from proceeding with the assessment.  

Administration Anomaly or Academic Dishonesty 

Any issue that a teacher and/or school administrator determines that may affect the validity and reliability of the student’s results (answers copied from others or outside sources, unsupervised setting, wrong OEN, assessment security). Student results may be withheld. 

IMPORTANT
EQAO may require an investigation for Student Response Issues, Administration Anomaly and Academic Dishonesty issues. 

Do NOT report  these situations as issues as they do NOT affect the validity or reliability of the assessment:

• the internet shuts down, but the invigilators are still supervising during this time and the students continue when the internet reconnects
• a student appears to be offline but is actually completing the assessment or accessing a permitted application or calculator (refer to Supports for all students)
• if a device stops working, but another device is available and the student can log on and continue
• a student uses a device that was not part of the assessment (e.g., student’s personal phone that was not permitted), but the teacher and/or school administrator determines it was not used to influence student responses (e.g., teacher noticed as soon as the student took the phone out and there was no time to access it). 
• a student is absent or ill (Reminder: have student complete upon their return if assessment window is still open)
• a student response appears not to be saved (student responses are automatically saved at regular intervals in the system)

Note: Above video demonstrates process for OSSLT, but the process is the same for all assessments.

Unsubmitting a session or stage

A teacher is permitted to unsubmit a student’s session or stage immediately ONLY if:

• the student submitted before completing a session or stage, in the same continuous sitting
• the student’s session or stage was interrupted by an unexpected event (for example, illness) and the teacher will supervise to ensure the student completes only unanswered questions upon their return
• you need to transcribe a student response with a recorded accommodation (e.g., student used large-print assessment response sheet for open-response questions).

NOTE
An unsubmission request that does not meet the above criteria may be requested as Other. This unsubmission will NOT take effect immediately as it requires EQAO approval. Check your Message Centre for notifications.

A session or stage can only be unsubmitted if the student responses have not been submitted to EQAO for scoring by the teacher.

If you have already clicked  Submit to EQAO for scoring, a new operational assessment will need to be scheduled and started  before a student’s session or stage can be unsubmitted. In these circumstance, teachers are responsible for ensuring that students do NOT review or change answers to questions they have previously completed.

IMPORTANT
When a mathematics stage is unsubmitted, questions will appear in a different order than the first time it was accessed.

If Stage 1 or Stage 3 is unsubmitted and the student had completed some work in the next stage (Stage 2 or Stage 4 respectively), they must complete the next stage again, as they may be routed differently based on their responses in Stage 1 or Stage 3.

Steps to unsubmitting a session or stage

NOTE
If a student is not logged out, a message will appear at the top of the Invigilator page which will not allow you to unsubmit the session.

1. The student must log out. Check that the student’s status on the Invigilation page is listed as Offline.
2. Click the Show Unsubmit Session Button at the top of the page. 
3. Notice the title on the button changed to Hide Unsubmit Session Button and an unsubmit icon (a rectangle with an x) appears next to each student’s submitted session. 

4. Click the unsubmit icon for the session or stage:
   • Select the reason: student accidentally submitted session or stage before they completed all the questions in that session or stage, or you need to input a response on behalf of a student who requires an accommodation or other (provide details).
   • Confirm the action by typing yes.
   • Click OK.
5. Notice the lock icon now appears beside the student name. Click to unlock and allow the student to continue where they left off. 

IMPORTANT
Unsubmitting a session will not clear student responses to questions they have already answered; student responses will remain saved.   

Note: Above video demonstrates process for OSSLT, but the process is the same for all assessments.

Autosubmission of sessions or stages

A student should click Submit once they complete each session or stage. This automatically locks the session or stage.

If a student did not submit their session or stage, the teacher should lock all open sessions and stages after the continuous sitting is completed. Any student who did not submit their responses, will have their session or stage automatically submitted by the system at 5:00 p.m. (ET) to prevent student sessions or stages from remaining open when not in use.

1. Verify if students have submitted completed sessions or stages on the Invigilation page:
   • a green checkmark indicates the student has submitted their responses for the session or stage. 
2. If you are actively invigilating at the time of autosubmission, you will receive a warning message on the Invigilation page. Make a choice to:
   • extend the time to allow a student to complete;
   • proceed with the scheduled autosubmission if the student has completed the session or stage.

Step 4 – Submitting to EQAO for scoring 

1. Once all students have completed all sessions, all stages and the student questionnaire, click Submit to EQAO for scoring.
2. Type Yes to confirm the submission.
3. Click OK. 

NOTE
If a student is absent and is missing sessions, stages, and/or the questionnaire, you can still submit student work to EQAO. If the student returns, you can schedule a new session for the student for them to complete unfinished sessions or stages.

Administering the assessment to a student after a scheduled assessment session is completed

Scenario 1 

If you have not clicked Submit to EQAO for scoring, the assessment can still be administered and accessed by the students who have not completed it. Unlock the session or stage the student needs to begin.  

Scenario 2  

If you have clicked Submit to EQAO for scoring, a new assessment session will need to be scheduled for the student who needs to begin.