Your monthly update on all things assessment

Overhauling MS-CPAS

At this point in the year, I would normally remind everyone about deadlines for uploading student rosters since we would have just finished our test coordinator training events.

Because we previously moved these events to the fall, that is no longer a concern. We believe those changes enabled all districts to upload their students into our system and prepare for the testing season by now. One of the main reasons we changed these dates was the need for our staff to get accurate counts for the purchasing of all the national certification tests our students need for the coming months.

Changes to test coordinator training are not the only wholesale changes our team made.

As many of you are now aware, this will be the last year that students take the Mississippi Career Planning and Assessment System (MS-CPAS) tests associated with their career and technical education courses. Our team worked diligently for two years to construct a new MS-CPAS offering you an improved method of measuring program quality within CTE.

As part of the state task force responsible for rewriting the state’s CTE plan, we asked some districts for feedback regarding this work and have spoken extensively about the system changes throughout the process. We recently met with the Mississippi Association for Career and Technical Education (MS ACTE) Board of Directors for input as well. We are piloting this web-based tool with almost 40 school districts from across the state to refine and finalize it so we can formally launch it for all programs in August.

I will not burden you with further explanation in our small newsletter. Rest assured our team will begin offering training on this system at the MS ACTE Summer Conference in July. We continue looking forward to working with all of you. Together, we can ensure that our work benefits the students we are charged with assisting.

Thanks,

Ben Alexander

Assessment Manager

If your CTE center has a new director or 

testing coordinator for the 2021-2022 school year, please 

let us know by submitting a Help Desk ticket with the

name and contact information of this new hire.

Important Dates

To view a full calendar, visit the MS-CPAS resources page and log in to the RCU website.

MS-CPAS

The MS-CPAS practice testing window opened Feb. 22 and will close March 24. Students in programs with available MS-CPAS practice tests can take two practice tests during this window. We suggest taking the first practice test early within the practice test window so instructors have time to analyze class reports and provide remediation before offering the second practice test. For a list of available practice tests, navigate to Assessment > MS-CPAS > MS-CPAS Resources > 2021-2022 Practice Test List on the RCU website. Instructions for practice tests, as well as a script to use in administering practice tests, are available in the CTE Testing Manual.

Practice test reports will be available for test coordinators to access and share with teachers 24 hours after a class takes a practice test. Class practice test reports, located by navigating to Assessment > Reports on the RCU website, provide both class unit averages and individual student unit averages and are helpful as teachers plan remediation before the MS-CPAS is taken in April.

The MS-CPAS testing window opens April 1 and closes April 28. As you prepare for the testing season, remember that the RCU website has many helpful tools to assist you. On the MS-CPAS page, the Supplementary Materials Manual provides a collection of resources that needs to be printed for students to use while testing. Be sure to check the Supplementary Materials Manual’s table of contents for a list of programs that require these resources. The MS-CPAS page also contains the 2021-2022 Information for Test Administrators and Proctors, a condensed version of the CTE manual that can be printed for test administrators and proctors to use while testing. 

National Certifications

Test coordinators may begin national certification testing on March 21, and the window for national certification testing closes May 13. If you have national certification pathways, you should locate the survival guides for each certification and complete any additional steps that may be required for each company. You can find these survival guides on the RCU website by navigating to Assessment > Student Certification > Certification Tools. 

ASE

ASE vouchers have been purchased. If you have not submitted a Help Desk ticket to receive the purchase order information, please do so immediately.

Certiport

If your students will take a Certiport exam (ACU or ESB), you should have received practice test vouchers by now. If you have not received these vouchers, please submit a Help Desk ticket immediately.

Early Childhood (Pre-PAC)

Pre-PAC vouchers are ready. The testing coordinator should follow the instructions in the survival guide to prepare for testing. Vouchers have already been loaded into your accounts.

Health Science and Sports Medicine

All vouchers have been purchased. Please follow the survival guide instructions to create accounts and prepare for testing.

NCCER

More NCCER proctor training will occur at the MS ACTE Summer Conference. Be on the lookout to sign up for these trainings later in the semester.

Beginning March 16, only the test coordinator will be allowed access to assign module testing. Please remind your NCCER instructors of this change. Module testing can occur throughout the rest of the year, and the instructor is still allowed to give the module test. The instructor is not allowed to be involved in end-of-year testing. Loading of NCCER end-of-year tests begins on March 16 if the district has submitted the NCCER Import Template, NCCER Accommodation Form and has loaded their students into the correct end-of-year group in NCCER. These steps should be completed as soon as possible.

To help with read-aloud accommodations for both module testing and end-of-year testing, NCCER has provided options that can be accessed here. If your district has another tool used for read-aloud accommodations, that is permissible as well.

NIMS

NIMS schools have been contacted with information and instructions to follow. If you are the testing coordinator and have not been contacted, please submit a Help Desk ticket immediately.

ServSafe

If you have a Culinary Year 2 program, the testing coordinator should send in a Help Desk ticket requesting ServSafe vouchers as soon as possible. The distribution of ServSafe vouchers begins in early March, so please have student accounts created by then. You can follow the survival guide for help with this process.

SolidWorks

Details for taking SolidWorks CSWA Practice Exams are found on page 4 of the SolidWorks Academic Certification Provider Program found on the Student Certification page of the RCU website. Exam vouchers will be available for scheduling beginning March 16.

TestOut

If you need any assistance with TestOut, please submit a Help Desk ticket.

As always, if you have a question or need assistance, reach out to us by sending a Help Desk ticket or by calling 662.325.2510.

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