Frequently Asked Questions

No. Second Scorers will not be needed. 

The Spring 2019 WY-ALT is a fully online, item-based assessment. The student will take the test using a computer with the Secure Browser installed. The Test Administrator will use a separate computer with a browser to start and monitor the test session via the Test Administrator Interface.

WY-TOPP stands for Wyoming’s Test of Proficiency and Progress. WY-TOPP, like PAWS, will continue to assess students on Wyoming Content and Performance Standards. However, WY-TOPP will be administered online with a computer adaptive assessment, will be administered later in the school year, and will include more than just the end-of-year summative assessment. Teachers will be able to give interim assessments and modular assessments (end-of-unit) to their students.

Wyoming’s Alternate Assessment for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities (WY-ALT) will be administered for the fourth time in Spring 2019. The WY-ALT is aligned to the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards (WYCPS) and designed to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in an appropriately rigorous assessment.

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 by grade band (3-5, 6-8, 9-10). All students will be assessed in English language arts and mathematics. Students in grades 4, 8, and 10 will also be assessed in science.

Schools have a five-week window during which they will have the opportunity to administer the WY-ALT: March 11 – April 24, 2019. 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 the assessment at any point.

The student will take the WY-ALT using a device (computer or tablet) with the Secure Browser installed. The Secure Browser can be downloaded from the Portal and is the same browser used for the WY-TOPP assessment. The Technology Coordinator is responsible for installing the Secure Browser on all devices used to administer the WY-ALT to the student.

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

All Test Administrators 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 an in-person Spring 2019 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, the 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.

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

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 the user. 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, and 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 2019 Test Administrators must attend an in-person WY-ALT training, even if they administered the test in 2018.

Test Administrators must also take the online TA Certification Course. 

Monday, January 7, in Powell, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Monday, January 7, in Powell, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 9, in Gillette, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Wednesday, January 9, in Gillette, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 10, in Casper, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 10, in Casper, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Friday, January 11, Rock Springs, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Friday, January 11, Rock Springs, 1 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Tuesday, January 22, Cheyenne, 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, January 31, Cheyenne, 4 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

No. Training locations have limited capacities, so Test Administrators may only register for one date. Duplicate registrations will be deleted.

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

The TA Interface can be accessed through the Portal and the Student Interface can be accessed through the Secure Browser. The Technology Coordinator will first need to download the Secure Browser from the Portal and install it on all devices the student 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, response options and additional images or text for reading passages are easy to read).

The Test Delivery System will read the test aloud to the student with Human Voice Audio. Human Voice Audio replaces the role of the paper WY-ALT scribe. If a TA has a student who may not react well to the computer audio, the TA can listen to the Human Voice Audio and then repeat it aloud for the student.

No. TAs will need to listen to the audio, because some response options will have “hidden text,” meaning there is more audio text included with a response option. For example, you may see a response option that contains a picsym for "happy," but Human Voice Audio will say "The girl is happy." You 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 the computer audio voice, 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 can use paper accommodations.

The IFT will have switch capability and eye gaze capability. Please ensure that Permissive Mode is turned on under Test Settings in the Student Interface.

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 TA 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. 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-ALT initial orders for any paper-accommodated test materials will arrive in schools February 25, 2019.