Responsibilities of principals
Principals are responsible for ensuring that
- they and the teachers and invigilators administering the assessments, as well as scribes, school staff or any person performing activities related to the administration of the test, have read and will adhere to the guidelines and instructions in the knowledge base for the administration of the assessments (https://eqao-kb-osslt-ps.lswp.vretta.com/).
- student accommodations are consistent with the permitted accommodations in this knowledge base.
- complete and accurate information is provided to EQAO through the e-assessment system for each student eligible to write the assessments including those writing with accommodations or a special provision.
- all technical requirements have been reviewed, agreed to and implemented as required by EQAO.
- they and the teachers, invigilators, school staff, scribes or any person performing activities related to the administration of the test have received training for both administering the test and the use of the e-assessment system prior to administering the assessments.
- the locations and conditions for writing the assessments allow each student to work independently of every other student and comply with the EQAO requirements as defined in the knowledge base for the administration of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test.
- there is no deviation from EQAO guidelines and instructions without explicit written direction from EQAO’s Chief Assessment Officer.
- any breach or suspected breach of security of the test session is reported to EQAO immediately.
- students are aware that if a response to a question on an assessment or questionnaire is deemed offensive, the principal may be notified.
Responsibilities of all school staff and others involved in the administration of the assessments
Before the Administration of the Assessments:
- Test questions must not be accessed prior to the administration of the first test session.
- Only school staff involved in the administration of the test may have access to the computers or devices on which the test will be accessed.
- Scribes may have access to the e-assessment system only during the administration sessions.
- All individuals involved in the activities related to the assessments (e.g., students taking the assessments; teachers, invigilators, school staff, scribes or any person performing activities related to the administration of the test) must not, in whole or in part, copy, save, reproduce, distribute, publish or post to the Internet (including social media), or anywhere else, any assessment materials, including but not limited to photographs of the assessments or descriptions of the assessments’ content (including but not limited to questions, instructions, images and examples).
During and After the Administration of the Assessments:
- Only school staff administering the test may have access to the computers or devices on which the test will be taken.
- Only those individuals directly involved in the administration and testing activities (e.g., teachers, invigilators, school staff, scribes or any person performing activities related to the test administration) may enter the testing room.
- Students must be supervised at all times during the administration of the test. This includes students with accommodations or a special provision and students who are permitted additional time to complete the test.
- No one may use information from the test to provide instruction on any concept or item being tested prior to, during or after the administration of the test.
- During the test, no one may explain, define, translate or provide examples of reading vocabulary or writing terminology to students, including those with accommodations.
- During the test, nothing may be said or done to influence student responses. At no point during or after the test may anything be said or done to encourage or influence students to alter or revise their responses.
- No cellphones, audio- or video-recording devices, or e-mail or text-messaging devices are allowed into the testing room. Exceptions may apply in accordance with EQAO guidelines.
- No one may read, review or correct student work during the administration. This includes copying, rewriting, editing or altering student work in any way.
- Each session must be completed in one continuous time period. A session may not be interrupted by lunch or by any other school programming. A session may include water fountain, stretch and washroom breaks.
- Any circumstances that may affect the scoring of student work or may have affected the validity of any student performance (e.g., a discussion between two students during the test) must be documented and reported to EQAO through the mechanisms in place.