Frequently Asked Questions

WY-TOPP stands for Wyoming’s Test of Proficiency and Progress. WY-TOPP is a computer-adaptive assessment system, administered online, which is aligned to Wyoming Content and Performance Standards in English language arts, Mathematics, and Science. WY-TOPP includes Interim, Modular, and Summative assessments which are administered during a series of test windows scheduled during the school year to gauge student progress toward proficiency on grade-level, state standards.

Wyoming’s Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (WY-ALT) will be administered for the fifth time in Spring 2020. The WY-ALT is an assessment aligned to the Wyoming Extended Content and Performance Standards which allows students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an appropriately rigorous assessment. Students in grades 3-10 are tested in English language arts and Mathematics. Additionally, students in grades 4, 8, and 10 are tested in Science.

The student’s IEP team determines whether a student will participate in the WY-ALT using the criteria for participation guidelines.

The WY-ALT is administered to students on grade-level in grades 3-10. All students are assessed in English language arts and Mathematics. Students in grades 4, 8, and 10 are also assessed in Science.

Schools have a seven-week window during which they will have the opportunity to administer the WY-ALT: March 3 – April 22, 2020. This window was chosen to provide schools ample time to assess all eligible students at their own pace. There are no time restrictions inherent to the assessment itself, and students may stop and resume a test at any point within the test window.

The test is provided online and administered one-on-one, Test Administrator (TA) to student. The student will take the WY-ALT using a device (computer or tablet) with the Secure Browser installed.

The TA will use a separate device (computer or tablet) to start and monitor the test session via the Test Administrator Interface. Throughout test administration, the TA can assist the student in navigating and entering responses.

All Test Administrators (TA) who administer the WY-ALT must be an employee of a district, hold a license/certificate/permit issued by the PTSB, take the online TA Certification Course, and attend a Spring 2020 WY-ALT TA Training.

The decision about a student’s participation in the WY-ALT must NOT be made on the basis of the student’s “perceived probability” of poor achievement on the general assessment. As many students as possible should participate in the general assessment.

No. Opting-out of state tests required by law is not allowed. In the Spring of 2014, WDE requested an opinion from the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office regarding parent opt-outs from state-mandated testing (e.g. WY-ALT, WY-TOPP). The following is part of the AG’s response:

“In summary, the State Board of Education is authorized to establish the statewide accountability system pursuant to state law, including the Wyoming Accountability in Education Act. It has promulgated rules that require districts to administer the relevant assessments to all students in the appropriate grade levels. These requirements are within the authority granted to the board by the legislature. Consequently, districts may not allow students or their parents to opt them out of the assessments provided by law.”

No. All students are required by federal and state law to participate in statewide testing.

No. If a student can participate in any part of the general assessment, then he or she should take the entire general assessment with accommodations, as needed. As many students as possible should participate in the general assessment.

If you need to change a user’s role, you must delete and then re-add that user with the new role. Use the View/Edit Users page to search for and delete users. Next, use the Add User or Upload Users page to re-add the user with the new role. For additional information, refer to the TIDE User Guide.

Yes. You can compose a list of users in an Excel file, then upload that file to TIDE. You can add users only to those districts or schools with which you are associated. (For example, if you are associated with School A, then you can add users only to School A, not to School B.) The TIDE User Guide contains instructions for composing the upload file.

Yes. Personnel who administer assessments to students in multiple schools must have an account associated with each school. In addition, a user may be associated with multiple schools and have a different role for each school. For example, John Smith with username jsmith@email.com may have a View Only role in School A and a Building Coordinator role in School B. You can use the same username (email address) to associate the user with multiple schools. Use the Add User task to re-add that user to TIDE with the same (or a different) role for each school needed. Alternatively, use the Upload Users task to add a user to multiple schools; include a row in the upload file for each school to which you want to add the user. For additional information, refer to the TIDE User Guide.

You can use the View/Edit Students task to search for student records and export the list of results. The TIDE User Guide contains instructions for exporting student records.

This year, all Spring 2020 Test Administrators must attend a WY-ALT training, even if they administered the test in 2019.

Test Administrators must also take the online TA Certification Course. 

First-time Test Administrator Training:

• Afton – December 10, 9 am – 12 pm
• Afton – December 10, 1 pm – 4 pm
• Riverton – December 12, 9 am – 12 pm
• Riverton – December 12, 1 pm – 4pm
• Lusk – December 13, 9 am – 12 pm
• Lusk – December 13, 1 pm – 4 pm

Online Refresher Training:

January 23, 2020- An online refresher training will be provided for test administrators who have previously administered the WY-ALT.

No. Training locations have limited capacities; Test Administrators may only register for one training session. Duplicate registrations will be deleted.

Check your spam or junk mail folder. If you still cannot find your confirmation email, contact the Wyoming Help Desk at wyohelpdesk@air.org.

The Test Administrator Interface can be accessed through the Portal and the Student Interface can be accessed through the Secure Browser. The district’s Technology Coordinator will first need to download the Secure Browser from the Wyoming Assessment Portal and install it on all devices students will use for testing.

Yes. The Secure Browser used for the WY-ALT is the same Secure Browser used for the WY-TOPP. The WY-TOPP is administered through the same test delivery system as the WY-ALT.

Any kind of tablet, including non-Apple products, can be used for the WY-ALT. Be aware that iPad minis should not be used, because these screens do not display the test well (images are compressed, i.e., response options, additional images, or text for reading passages are difficult to see/read).

The Test Delivery System will read the test aloud to the student using Human Voice Audio. Human Voice Audio provides correct pronunciation, appropriate pauses, and clear vocal pacing which is an improvement over many computer voice packs. If a TA has a student who may not react well to the provided Human Voice Audio, the Test Administrator may listen to the Human Voice Audio and then repeat it aloud for the student.

No. Test Administrators (TAs) will need to listen to the complete audio provided for each test item. Some response options will have “hidden text,” meaning there is more audio text included with a response option than may be provided visually on-screen. For example, the TA may see a response option that contains a PicSym for "happy," but Human Voice Audio will say "The girl is happy." The TA will need to hear the full response-option text in order for students to make an appropriate response selection.

If a student does not react well to Human Voice Audio, TAs are welcome to listen to the Human Voice Audio using headphones and repeat what was said aloud to the student.

Students who are not able to interact with the technology may use paper accommodations, per their IEP. For information on ordering paper materials, please contact the Wyoming Help Desk (1-888-897-8024 or wyohelpdesk@air.org)

To return to a previous item in the Student Interface, click on the gray box in the top left corner of the screen and type in the password, which is the student’s first name. The global menu will appear. The global menu includes navigation buttons allowing the Test Administrator and student to return to previous items.

Click the gray box at the top left corner of the screen in the Student Interface and type in the password, which is the student’s first name as it appears in TIDE. The global menu will appear. If you have navigated through all items on the test, the “End Test” button will appear in the global menu. Select the “End Test” button.

The global menu password is not case-sensitive.

WY-TOPP initial orders for any paper-accommodated test materials will arrive in schools April 14, 2020

WY-ALT initial orders for any paper-accommodated test materials will arrive in schools February 25, 2020.