​General Information

1/30/2024

Upcoming Scheduled Maintenance

The next maintenance period for Cambium’s testing systems is scheduled for Saturday Feb. 3, beginning at 9 a.m. and can last up to 24 hours.
 

New Test Window Feature for Readiness Assessments

A new feature is available in TIDE that allows district test coordinators (DTCs) to set windows for when the Readiness Assessments (RA) may be administered in their districts. Use of this feature is optional, but it is recommended to help reduce confusion between the RA and the OST operational tests during OST test windows.
 
The new “Test Windows” task is located in the Preparing for Testing section of TIDE. Test windows define the period in which the selected tests can be administered. Tests are selected by test family (such as “English Language Arts Benchmark”). Multiple windows can be set for a test family. For example, if a district did not want English language arts (ELA) Checkpoints open during its Spring 2024 OST ELA test administration, the ELA Checkpoints could be set from Feb. 1-March 24 and then set again April 23-June 30.

• Following the example above, the ELA Checkpoints could only be administered Feb. 1-March 24 and April 23-June 30.
• Using that same example, the ELA Checkpoints could not be administered before Feb. 1, from March 25 to April 22, and after June 30. In other words, the ELA Checkpoints would not be available during the district’s selected 15-day Spring 2024 OST ELA test window from March 25 to April 22.
• If no test windows are created, RAs can be added to a session anytime within the state’s test administration window.

The system permits creating test windows at the district or school level. However, the Department recommends setting test windows only at the district level for ease of use. The RA test windows can be set manually in the user interface or uploaded in TIDE. Once a RA test window is created, it can also be viewed, edited, or exported. These actions are available to DTCs and district administrators (DAs) starting Feb. 6. Districts utilizing this tool should ensure that test administrators are aware of the established windows.
 

Save the Dates for the 2024 Assessment Conference

The Office of Assessment is happy to announce that it will be conducting its fourth annual Assessment Conference each morning on Sept. 10-12, 2024. The conference will again cover a variety of topics with updates on Ohio’s assessment programs. Detailed agenda and registration information will be available closer to the conference dates.