Assessments > Schedule a Test

Schedule a Test

When a test is in the Ready to Schedule test stage, you can schedule the test and select the online test options. Many of these options can be defined ahead of time and the test can be assigned to students at a later date.

Scheduling templates. There are two ways to pre-define scheduling options:

ClosedTo schedule a test
  1. Do one of the following:
    • Teachers: Go to Assessments > Find a test. Search for and click the test you want to schedule, and then click Ready to Schedule and/or Schedule depending on the test stage.
    • Administrators: Go to Assessments > Schedule, and then click the Edit Test Schedule icon for the test you want to schedule. Click Schedule this Test. Optionally, click Link to Test Window to associate the test to a specific test window that has been defined for your school district.
  2. Select the Administration settings, such as the Start Date, End Date, and Score Due Date. For state and district tests, you optionally link to a test window. See the table below for more information.
  3. Select the Assignment settings. The assignments available to you depend on your role and the type of test. Teachers can assign a test to sections or individual students. District and school test creators can Assign to Students (by course), Recommend to Teachers, or Recommend to Schools by clicking the appropriate tab.
    • Click Apply Default Assignment to accept the default assignments. For teachers, this will include your sections that match the test subject.
    • Click Select Assignment to select test assignments. See Assign Tests or Edit Test Assignment.
    • For state users: State users can recommend tests to districts, or directly recommend or assign tests directly to courses in all districts without requiring district-level intervention. When recommending to teachers or assigning to students, a background task will run to perform the assignments, and a notification will appear when the task is complete.
  4. Select the Online Delivery Options. See the table below for more information.
  5. Click Save and Publish to schedule the test and publish it to TestNav. If you modify a test after it is published, you will need to republish it from Test Central or Test Detail. Students cannot take a test, and teachers will not be able to generate answer sheets or access the Score page until after a test is published.

    Do not republish a test while students are currently taking the test online or errors may occur. When republishing a test, a warning will appear if students have pending test sessions, which indicates they may have an active test session. From the warning message, you can export a list of pending students.

ClosedAdministration Settings
Test Setting
Description
Dates

Start Date

Start date must occur within the current school year and before the End Date. When entering or editing a Start Date, an End Date of 1 week later and Score Due Date of 2 weeks later will be applied automatically. To enter different dates, manually each date in order.

End Date

This date must occur before the Score Due Date. When entering or editing an End Date, a Score Due Date of 1 week later will be applied automatically.

Score Due Date

When the date is changed to a future date within the current school year, all current Item Statistics data for questions on this test will be removed and will not be accessible until after the edited Score Due Date.

Link to Test Window

Test window managers can link district tests to a test window (or state tests, where applicable). When a test is linked to a window, the test’s scheduling options are defined by the window’s scheduling options. For tests that are already scheduled, linking it to a window will overwrite the test’s existing dates and scheduling options with the test window’s settings.

After a test is linked to a test window, the test options will become inactive (grayed out) and only the test passcode and assignment can be changed. Save the Click Unlink Test Window to remove the link to a test window. The window settings will be retained but can be edited after unlinking.

See Test Windows for more information.

Apply test options from My Personal Template

If you have saved a personal template, click this option to apply the scheduling options defined in your template. You can modify your template at any time by selecting the Set these options as My Personal Template checkbox at the bottom of the page before saving and publishing a test.

Test Results and Scoring

Share scores with my PowerTeacher Gradebook

This option is available for school districts that have integrated the administration of assessments with PowerTeacher.

Use this option to share test results regardless of test type with the PowerTeacher Gradebook. Test types include My Classroom, Common Classroom, District Benchmark, Region Benchmark, School Benchmark tests. After saving the test, select the sharing category for PowerTeacher Gradebook, then click Share to share the test to PowerTeacher Gradebook. This feature is only available for tests that have been assigned to section(s) and may be selected upon test creation or later. Tests linked to Canvas cannot be shared to Gradebook in Schoolnet. By default, scores will be included in the student's final grade. When sharing, the following data is sent directly to the Gradebook:

  • Test Name entered in Schoolnet upon test creation (must be unique with a maximum of 50 characters).
  • Schoolnet Test ID (numeric), which is system generated, is populated in the Abbreviation field of the Gradebook.
  • Description is a brief summary that describes the test. If no description is entered, the test name is populated in this field of the Gradebook. Changes to this data made by administrators for district tests are synchronous with the Gradebook.
  • Date Assignment Due represents the test end date or the last date that students are able to take the test. Data is synchronous with the Gradebook.
  • Category defines the type of assignment. When you schedule a test that is set to go into Gradebook, you will see a prompt to select the category of the test.
  • Possible Points is the sum of the available points for all the items and passages included on the test. Changes to this data made by administrators for district tests are synchronous with the Gradebook.
  • Scoring Type represents the method that is used to grade the test. The default scoring sent to the Gradebook is Points.
  • Score represents students' test results. Data is synchronous with the Gradebook.
  • Weight all tests weights are equal to 1.00.

When you re-share a test after having stopped sharing, any changes that have been made in the system override changes that have been made in the Gradebook.

Prevent students from accessing the test before the start date or after the end date
Enforces the start and end dates for taking the test.
Prevent students from accessing the test results until after the end date
Prevents students from seeing this test in the Review a Test widget until after the test end date.
Prevent scanning of answer sheets after the Score Due Date
Certain users may limit the date for scanning answer sheets (in ScanIt or the camera answer sheet scanner) to prevent scanning after the due date. This option can be changed at any time.

Restrict test access to only approved IP addresses

Restricts test content access (Test Detail/Item Detail/schedule/score/proctor/view/print, etc.) to users with a validated IP address. Even the test creator will be excluded without a validated IP address. This restriction is enforced between the start and end date of the test, from scheduling to completion. This restriction is not enforced during test creation. This option is available only to user with permission to edit test settings.

Valid IP addresses are defined in System > Assessments Settings > Online Testing > IP Filtering.

Export test/item level results for Advanced Item Statistics

State-level and district-level administrators may enable data for select Benchmark Tests to be exported for advanced statistical calculations.

In order to ensure the accuracy of exported data, this option may only be changed prior to the Score End Date.

ClosedOnline Delivery Options
Test Option
Description

Online Test Passcode

Provides the passcode that students will use to access the online test. You can change the generated passcode.

Test Access

Allow educators to link the test to [application]

Allows educators who can access the test to link it to third-party learning management systems, such as Canvas. This option is available only if an LMS is integrated in your system (in System > General > LMS Integration).

Require use of Secure Tester application

Delivers the test in Schoolnet's Secure Tester, an installable application. Students will not be able to access other parts of their computers, such as web browsers, while taking a test. There are versions of Secure Tester for Windows, Mac, and Chromebook.

Important:

  • Any test can be taken in Secure Tester, whether or not the Requires Secure Tester option is selected. If the Requires Secure Tester option is selected, the test can be taken only in Secure Tester.
  • If students encounter issues when using Secure Tester, contact your technical support to make sure that the latest version of Secure Tester or Secure Tester for Chromebook is installed from https://support.schoolnet.com/releases/. See the System Requirements for the latest versions.

Display this test on the 'Take a Test' widget test list on the student home page

Deselecting this option allows you to schedule a test in advance without notifying students.

Display this test on the 'Review a Test' widget test list on the student home page

Deselecting this option prevents students from seeing the test in the Review a Test widget.

Allow only assigned students to take the test

Permits only specific students to access the test.

Restrict test access to specific days and times

Restricts the days of the week and times students have access to the test. The default hours are 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., but any hours can be selected. The time is based on your local time as determined by the server offset time defined in system configuration.

Limit student test access to approved internet addresses

Restricts online test taking to students with a validated IP address. This restriction is enforced between the start and end date of the test, from scheduling to completion. This restriction is not enforced during test creation. This option is only available to user roles with permission to edit test settings.

Valid IP addresses are defined in System > Assessments Settings > Online Testing > IP Filtering.

Disable student section selection

Prevents students from selecting a section on the Take a Test widget. If a student has only one section for which the test is scheduled, then that section will be selected and cannot be changed. If a student has no sections for which the test is scheduled, then the student can select any of their sections. If a student more than one section for which the test is scheduled, then the student can select from these sections.

If this option is not selected, and the student has a section associated with the test, then that test will be selected by default (and the student can change the section).

Item Features

Track and display student response times

Calculates the amount of time each student took to read and answer each test item on an online test. When selected, individual student response times display on Item Analysis reports in Student Performance and on the Student Profile when viewing test results.

All time spent on a question is counted, even if the student goes to another question and returns later to respond or change their response, or if the student does not respond at all. If a test is paused, the paused time is not counted. For tasks, the total time spent on the task is counted.

This option can only be changed before the scheduled start date.

Scramble question order

Enables the random ordering of questions on a test. Test items associated with passages will be kept together though not necessarily in the same order. This option does not change the order of activities within a task.

This option is not available for Answer Key Only tests. This option overrides custom question labels.

Scramble answer choices (applies to specific items)

Scrambles answer choices where applicable. This option applies to the Multiple Choice, True/False, Inline Response, Matching, Gap Match, Drag and Drop, and Checklist item types.

Text to Speech is not supported with the scramble answer choice functionality. This option is not available for Answer Key Only tests.

Student-Facing Features

Timed test

Set a limit on the amount of time students have to take a test. Enter the time in minutes. Students must submit the test within the allotted time. The test clock automatically pauses for items designated as Timer Off. Students will be allowed to pause a timed test if the Allow Students to Pause Test option is selected.

When taking a timed test, students will see the allotted time on the test welcome page and a countdown timer at the top of their screen. A message will appear warning when they have five minutes left, and a notification will appear when their time is up.

When time expires and a test is still in progress, a notification will appear and the student will be prompted to click Continue to go to the summary page, where they must manually click Submit Final Answers.

Allow students to resume a started test

Allows students to resume a test that is paused for any reason, such as an internet interruption or if the pause option (below) is enabled. If this option is not enabled, students will not be able to pause a test by closing their laptop and then restarting the test later.

Allow students to pause the test

Enables the pause feature and permits students to leave and re-enter an online test without submitting the test. This option works on both timed and untimed tests. While the test is paused, the current question will be hidden.

This option is not recommended when using Secure Tester.

Show student scores upon test submission

Select this option to immediately display the student's score when submitting a test in TestNav. If this option is not selected, students will simply see a message that their test has been submitted. Open response questions are scored as 0.
ClosedState-level assignment options

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