Announcements

  • To slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Washington state, Governor Jay Inslee announced on March 13 that all public and private K–12 school facilities will be closed and prohibited from providing traditional in-person instructional activities through April 24. On April 6, he extended his directive and closed schools through the remainder of the 2019–20 school year. Because school buildings will be closed for the remainder of the year, Smarter Balanced summative assessments will not be available for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

    Students in the Class of 2020 who have not yet met the graduation pathway requirement may be eligible for the Expedited Assessment Appeal, which may be used to waive the pathway requirement.

    Added April 14, 2020

  • To slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Washington, Governor Inslee announced on March 13 that all public and private K–12 school facilities in the state will be closed and prohibited from providing traditional in-person instructional activities through April 24.

    As schools, families, and communities plan for closures, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) is committed to providing ongoing guidance and resources as we sort through this unprecedented situation together.

    This bulletin is part of a series of guidance since the Governor’s announcement of statewide school closures. Previous guidance is located on OSPI’s COVID-19 webpage. Please note, if a topic is included in multiple rounds of guidance, the most current guidance will supersede prior guidance.

    Per OSPI Bulletin NO. 019-20 published Friday, March 13, 2020:

    As of March 13, state assessments are canceled statewide for the remainder of the 2020 school year. These include: Smarter Balanced Assessments (English Language Arts and Math) for grades 3–8 and 10; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) English Language Arts and Math for grades 3–8 and 10; English Language Proficiency Assessment (ELPA21); Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; Washington Access to Instruction and Measurement (WA-AIM) Science for grades 5, 8, and 11; WIDA Alternate ACCESS for English learners; and WaKIDS for Transitional Kindergarten.

    In the subsequent OSPI Bulletin NO. 022-20 published Friday, March 20, 2020, additional guidance included:

    Per previous OSPI guidance in Bulletin NO. 019-20, the SBA will not be administered statewide for grades 3–8 or 10, but high schools may consider giving the SBA to seniors (and/or juniors) within current social distancing and safety guidelines if the SBA is determined to be a viable graduation pathway for those students.

    Assuming school facilities reopen in early May, OSPI plans to ensure the online test administration platform for the SBA will be open through Friday, June 5*.

    Following the statewide school closure, this year’s limited testing window will allow districts to provide:

    • An option for seniors (Class of 2020) to (re-)take the English language arts (ELA) and/or math SBA to meet a graduation pathway.
    • An option for seniors (classes of 2017–19) to (re)take the ELA and/or math SBA in order to earn a CAA or CIA, or access established graduation alternatives.
    •  An option for seniors wanting to take the ELA summative assessment for their Seal of Biliteracy.

    School staff can access preliminary SBA scores within 7–10 days after administering the SBA to determine if seniors have met the graduation score.

    *As of March 23, OSPI has removed all summative tests from the Test Administration system; summative tests cannot be administered to students while school facilities remain closed. Assuming school facilities reopen in early May, OSPI plans to ensure the online test administration platform for the SBA will be open through Friday, June 5.

    Added March 26, 2020

    Added April 3, 2020

  • March 12, 2020 — Test Delivery System Available on April 10 and May 1
    OSPI and Cambium Assessment Inc. (CAI) have worked together to eliminate the need for the Friday April 10 and Friday May 1 Test Delivery System (TDS) downtimes for deployment of the science tests. Districts may use these two days for administering the Training and Practice tests, the Interim assessments, or the Summative assessments, if desired.

    Added March 12, 2020

  • February 27, 2020 – Secure Browser Support for Chrome OS 79 and iOS/iPadOS 13.3

    Updates have been made to the WCAP Portal Secure Browser page that lists the supported operating systems for secure testing. Notable additions include iOS/iPadOS 13.2-13.3 and Chrome OS through version 79. Additionally, Chrome OS version 80 is currently under review and will be added once approved for secure testing.

    Added February 28, 2020

  • December 2, 2019 – Apple iPad OS 13 is Now Supported

    Apple iPad OS 13 is now supported for online testing. Please ensure devices are updated to the latest version before testing to avoid issues encountered that were fixed by Apple in iPad OS 13.2.2+. Also, Apple recently introduced a new feature called Voice Control that must be disabled before testing. This feature is turned off by default. Guidance on how to disable this feature, if enabled, will be made available in the Technical Information folder under the Technology Coordinators card. 

    Added December 2, 2019