Handling Secure Materials

Using Print-on-Demand Materials

For those students whose IEP or Section 504 plan identifies the print-on-demand non-embedded accommodation for a paper copy of passages or items or for students who are assigned color contrast as a designated support with the print-on-demand accommodation, the LEA CAASPP coordinator must assign this resource for each student in TOMS. This support is provided at the test-site level and is coordinated and delivered by a TA or TE.

Note the following about the non-embedded print-on-demand accommodation:

  • Identification of the print-on-demand accommodation must be made on an individual student basis and is available only for students with an IEP or Section 504 plan.
  • A very small percentage of students should need this accommodation.
  • The use of this accommodation may result in the student needing additional time to complete the assessment.

Once a student is approved and assigned to receive the printing of test items or passages for Smarter Balanced assessments, the CAST, or the CSA, that student may send a print request to the TA during testing by selecting the [Print] icon on the screen. For the CAAs, the TE may select this icon. This request needs to be made for each individual item.

A TA or TE should follow these guidelines when using the print-on-demand accommodation:

  1. A TA or TE approves and processes individual student print requests during test administration.
  2. Because content is printed individually for each test item, using the print-on-demand functionality does not allow a printed version of the computer-based test to be created prior to testing, especially given the adaptive nature of the Smarter Balanced assessments.
  3. Before the TA or TE approves the student’s request to print a test item or stimulus, the TA or TE must ensure that the printer is on and is monitored by staff who have been trained and have signed the CAASPP Test Security Affidavit.
  4. Immediately after printing a print-on-demand request, the file should be securely deleted from the TA’s or TE’s device in such a way that the file does not remain in a temporary storage file where it can be undeleted. Refer to the Destroying Electronic Files subsection for additional instructions.
  5. The TA or TE must collect the previously printed item from the student after the next item’s print request or, if no request was made, after administering the next item.
  6. Printed items must be securely stored and then securely destroyed after the test session. Do not keep printed test items or passages for future test sessions.

Destroying Secure Printed Materials

All test materials must remain secure at all times.

Printed materials from the print-on-demand accommodation, CAA DFAs, answer-recording documents, and scratch paper must be kept in a securely locked room or locked cabinet that can be opened only with a key or keycard by staff who are responsible for test administration and who have signed a CAASPP Test Security Affidavit.

Printed test items or passages, including embossed braille printouts and scratch paper, must be collected and inventoried at the end of each test session and then immediately destroyed securely according to LEA and CAASPP policies or procedures.

CAA DFAs that were printed for TEs after being downloaded from the password-protected TOMS website must be kept in a securely locked room or locked cabinet when not in use. Once testing is completed, these must be immediately securely destroyed according to LEA policies and procedures, California policies and procedures, or policies and procedures from both sources.

Answer-recording documents used to complete second scoring for the CAA for ELA must be kept securely during testing and then destroyed securely after scores are entered into the DEI.

Using and Securely Destroying Scratch Paper

  • The only exception to the requirement governing the immediate destruction of printed materials and scratch paper is when students take notes or draft responses to ELA, mathematics, or science PTs.
  • Note the following about global notes:
    • During the Smarter Balanced ELA PT, the notes on the embedded universal tool, global notes, are retained from Part 1 to Part 2 so that the student may return to the notes even though the student is not able to go back to specific items in Part 1. Use of the embedded global notes is the preferred mode for notetaking during the Smarter Balanced ELA PT.
    • For the CSA, the global notes are retained throughout all segments (the survey questions section and both test questions sections).
  • Students may also use scratch paper to make notes or develop draft responses. To maintain the security of scratch paper used for notes on the ELA or mathematics PTs, or CAST, CAA, or CSA questions, TAs or TEs must direct students to write their names (or some appropriate identifying information) on their scratch paper, and then collect and inventory the scratch paper at the end of each test session, as well as upon completion of the test to maintain test security. The retention of scratch paper (including graph paper) is allowed for the PTs, CAST, CAAs, and CSA.
  • Do not keep printed test items or passages or scratch paper for future test sessions except as noted for PTs.

Destroying Electronic Files

Immediately after printing a print-on-demand request or making a printed copy of a DFA for the CAAs, the file produced by the process should be securely deleted from the location on which it was stored. Users should confirm that the file is removed from all places on the device, including a Downloaded folder and any cloud storage.

All files must be deleted in such a way that the file does not remain in a temporary storage location such as Windows’ Recycle Bin, where it can be undeleted. TAs, TEs, and site CAASPP coordinators should use the school’s or LEA’s preferred method of secure file deletion.

While there are many ways to permanently delete a file, including using a “shredding” tool that might be part of a virus scanning tool, what follows are basic ways to remove a file from a Windows or Macintosh system:

  • Windows—Hold the [Shift] key when deleting the file or empty the Recycle Bin after deleting.
  • Macintosh and Macintosh equivalent devices using OS X or macOS—Press the [Command] + [Delete] keys with any file or folder selected to send a file to the Trash and then press the [Shift] + [Command] + [Delete] keys or open the Finder menu and then select “Secure Empty Trash” to immediately empty the Trash.