The WebXam Upload Template has changed for the 2019-20 School Year. It can be downloaded at https://www.webxam.org/Content/OCTCA_upload_FY2020.xlsx. There is new column that can optionally completed for the student’s expected graduation year. The purpose of the column is to facilitate better cohort tracking for teachers and administrators.

Released May 8, 2019, the May newsletter featured topics on:

• Post Tests Close May 31
• IT Field Testing Reopening
• WebXam User’s Survey
• Engineering/Manufacturing Validation Coming Soon
• Item-writing for Construction Trades Next Year
• Testimonials – we want to hear from you!
• Reminder – No Pretesting for Engineering & Manufacturing in 2020
• Teaching Professions Clarification on Education Principles Retakes
• Professional Development Offerings

An archived version of this email newsletter is available here.

The Ohio Department of Education has sent the following important communication:

Due to a number of districts not participating in the WebXam testing window for the Information Technology career field, we are making an exception this year and reopening the testing window on Monday, May 6 and closing on Friday, May 31. Students taking the Information Technology end of course exam will be tested on the final forms, which contain only 40 questions.

For information on testing windows and deadlines, please refer to the WebXam Newsletter, Assessments on the Ohio Department of Education website, and the WebXam website. It is beneficial for teachers and administrators to review this material at the start of each school year to ensure that all students participate during the WebXam testing windows. If you have further questions about the WebXam or testing windows, you can refer to the materials listed above or contact the WebXam office at WebXam@osu.edu or (614) 292-4988.

Please share this communication with your associate schools so they can take advantage of this revised testing window.

Any tests that are saved as “in progress” MUST be restarted to maintain test security.

Released April 16, 2019, the April newsletter featured topics on:

• Reminders of various testing windows closing
• The WebXam User’s Survey launch
• Graduation Year Field Now Available
• Engineering/Manufacturing Validation is Coming Soon
• We’re item-writing for Construction Trades Next Year – WE WILL NEED YOU
• Testimonials – we want to hear from you!
• Reminder – No Pretesting for Engineering & Manufacturing in 2020
• Teaching Professions Clarification on Education Principles Retakes

An archived version of this email newsletter is available here.

WebXam staff members have been tracking testing counts carefully, as well as matching them with EMIS-reported pathway headcounts, and will have NO trouble finalizing to 40-item posttests for rescoring to match the 40-item pretests. Our logic for using existing pretests was that we were delayed in communicating that pretests are NOT available during a field testing year (after major revisions due to changes in technical content standards and course outlines).

Our final day of field testing is Friday April 26, and we plan to post student gain and rescored values to instructor accounts on Monday April 29. Local deadlines for reporting student gain are Wednesday May 1, so this allows submission of data.

The current counts for IT field tests, with ODE pathway head counts to the right, are below (green indicates enough test-takers to finalize now). Note that Cybersecurity will have pretests starting next fall.

Field Testing Counts as of 04/11/19

As the school year begins to wind down, WebXam would like to remind you about an important date: April 26th, 2019.

This date is important for two major reasons:

1. The Teacher Effectiveness window closes: this is the last day to give posttests if using pretests for student gain. Students with a pretest/posttest combination that is completed outside of the Teacher Effectiveness window will not receive a student gain score but may still take available tests.
2. The Field Testing window closes: Tests that are in field testing have a shorter window then final posttests. A list of which test are in field testing may be found on the WebXam about the test page.

If you have any questions regarding this information, please contact us.

Released March 14, 2019, the March newsletter featured topics on:

• Last day for submitting student upload files
• April Teacher Test Review
• Last day for Field Tests and Teacher Effectiveness
• Last day for WebXam testing

An archived version of this email newsletter is available here.

• April 5: Student bulk upload window closes
• April 9: Last WebXam Teacher Test Review
• April 26: Field testing and Teacher Effectiveness window closes
• May 31: Post-testing window closes
  

All of the upcoming deadlines may be found on the WebXam Calendar located at: https://news.webxam.org/calendar/

<!– April 27, 2018 is the last day to give field tests (field test list). April 27, 2018 is also the last day to give paired post-tests for calculation of student gain (under WebXam reports) & teacher effectiveness level (districts submit teacher effectiveness level through eTPES). The last day to upload student data in bulk is April 6, 2018. Past this deadline, school district staff will not be able to use the data file processing tool and will have to enter students individually. –>

WebXam, the online testing portal maintained by the CETE Assessment Services Team, launches two one-month long pretesting windows. During the second window, which occurred this January, CTE educators have the option to administer course pretests to their students as part of the Ohio Teacher Evaluation System (OTES). These tests, under Category B use in OTES, support evaluation of teacher effectiveness in terms of gain from pretests to post-tests. Under Category C (local usage) pretests can be utilized with Student Learning Objectives or SLO to tailor courses more closely to standards and competencies that guide those objectives and to demonstrate gain.

During the 2018-19 winter pretesting window from January to February, WebXam once again delivered the highest number of pretests given in this window since inception in 2014. A total of 8,860 pretests were given to 6,888 students. This is an average of 1.3 test per students. Comparing the pretesting totals from last year (48,609) to this year’s numbers (57,423) indicates a 15% increase.

The top five courses for pretests taken in the fall window are as follows:

Why it Matters

While pretesting is currently optional for CTE programs, it is a great way to review knowledge retained by the student from previous courses to help teachers prepare their courses to allow students to be more effective during the current school year. It is a recognized way to document student gain. This documentation of student gain, as previously stated, can allow teachers to better prepare, ultimately improving teacher effectiveness, which is beneficial to the student, the teacher, local programs, and ultimately to Ohio business and industry.

Released February 20, 2019, the February newsletter featured topics on:

• Teacher Review Workshops
• Engineering/Manufacturing Item-Writing Workshops
• Validation for Cybersecurity
• No Pretesting for Engineering and Manufacturing in Winter 2020
• Teaching Professions Clarification on Education Principles Retakes

An archived version of this email newsletter is available here.