Accessibility Supports
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) strives to provide every student with a positive and productive assessment experience, generating results that are a fair and accurate estimate of each student’s achievement. In the process of developing its next-generation assessments to measure students’ knowledge and skills as they progress toward college and career readiness, ODE recognizes that the validity of assessment results depends on each and every student having appropriate accessibility supports (formerly “accommodations”) when needed based on the constructs being measured by the particular statewide assessment. To that end, please consult the
Oregon Accessibility Manual as well as the related resources and links posted on this webpage.
These resources may be made available to all students during testing.
NOTE: Although the ODE-provided resources available below are not secure materials, they contain specific content that must not be altered. TAs may enlarge ODE-provided resources or their parts (e.g., as a poster or wall chart) but must NOT otherwise alter their content or change their presentation.
Oregon’s online ELA, Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences assessments are available to students who use Braille through a Braille interface.
- Accessibility Supports Fact Sheet
This tracking sheet can be used by test administrators to ensure that accessibility supports are properly recorded.
- 2022-23 Accessibility Supports Demonstration Presentation
This presentation includes video demonstrations of the embedded accessibility supports available to students during testing in the online interface. See the presenter notes for the description of the tool and which tests each tool is available for.
- Accessibility Supports and Modification Tracking Sheet
This tracking sheet can be used by test administrators to ensure that accessibility supports are properly recorded.
- Science Scribe Guidelines
The guidelines outline and describe the qualifications, preparation, and valid implementation of this non-embedded accommodation for students with IEPs or 504 plans who have an identified need to respond orally to a human scribe or transcriber in order to participate in the Oregon Statewide Science Assessment. Please see the Oregon Accessibility Manual for all other statewide assessment accessibility supports.
- ELPA Scribe Guidelines
The guidelines outline and describe the qualifications, preparation, and valid implementation of this non-embedded accommodation for students with IEPs or 504 plans who have an identified need to respond orally to a human scribe or transcriber in order to participate in the ELPA assessment.
- Recommendation for New Accessibility Supports Form
The specific universal tools, designated supports, and accommodations approved for Oregon’s statewide assessments may change in the future if additional tools, supports, or accommodations are identified for the assessment based on state experience and research findings. When teams or individuals feel that a strategy not present in the accessibility supports tables deserves further consideration, they are encouraged to complete a description of the support and submit it to ODE for the Accessibility Panel to review.
- OSAS Accessibility Worksheets
Districts may use the worksheets linked below to document accessibility supports for individual student use on the Oregon Statewide Assessment System (OSAS) tests.
Right Assessment for the Right Purpose
The Oregon Department of Education worked with internal and external partners to develop a guidance document aimed at increasing educator assessment literacy within Oregon's Statewide Assessment System (OSAS). External partners included teacher's union representation, district test coordinators, university measurement staff, and national measurement experts in formative, interim, and summative assessment contexts. Internal partners included colleagues from the Office of Student Supports and the Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment. The document provides definitions for critical terms in our OSAS and in other areas where Oregon students are assessed in the areas of academic achievement, behavior, or other areas as part of their instructional programs. The document also addresses current questions and appropriate uses and misuses of statewide summative assessment data. Finally, guidance is provided regarding efficient use of testing time based on an internal study that was conducted. This document does not address any concerns outside of the K-12 student assessment context, nor does it provide the final word on assessment literacy in Oregon. It is published with the intended goal of beginning conversations about assessment literacy, which we know will evolve and increase in accuracy and complexity over time. Please contact
Andrea Lockard, Director of Assessment if you have any questions regarding the guidance document.
Right Assessment for the Right Purpose Guidance Document (Published August 7, 2019)
Promising Practices
- Selecting and Documenting Accessibility Supports
The decision to apply accessibility supports during testing must be based on individual student need. This document contains promising practices that school districts might consider when selecting and documenting appropriate accessibility supports for their students.
- Confirming student log-in information (Updated 3/1/19)
It is essential to both test security and the validity of student scores that all students log into the online assessments using their own SSIDs. This document contains tips that test administrators may use during the student login and verification process to ensure that students log in using the correct SSID.
- Administering the ELPA to newcomer EL students
All English Learner students eligible to receive services under Title III of NCLB are required to annually participate in the English Language Proficiency Assessment, which measures the four domains of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English. Students who are new to learning English may need additional support when taking the speaking domain of ELPA. This document contains tips that test administrators may use when preparing to administer ELPA to a newcomer EL student.
- Visual Barriers as Part of a Secure Test Environment
Districts must ensure that students do not have access to see other students’ work during testing. This document contains tips that TAs may use to create visual barriers between students during testing.
- Maintaining Security of Printed Test Materials (Updated 3/1/19)
Maintaining the security of printed test materials is an important aspect of overall test security. This document contains tips that TAs may use to ensure the security of printed test materials.
- Secure Transmission of Student Data Guidelines
Secure transmission is a vital part of ensuring the confidentiality of student data. This document contains tips for transferring data securely.
- Student Cell Phone Access
Preventing students from accessing cell phones during testing is an important part of ensuring security of the test environment. However, enforcing this rule poses a variety of challenges for districts. This document contains tips that various districts have reported using to prevent student cell phone access during testing.
- Testing Improprieties and Appropriate Practices
This document contains examples of typical testing improprieties that have been reported to ODE. For each testing impropriety listed, there is also an example of an appropriate practice that test administrators could use to avoid the testing impropriety.
- Training Test Administrators
Ensuring that all test administrators are properly trained is vital to maintaining the security and validity of Oregon’s statewide assessment system. To ensure that all test administrators receive the required training, this document contains tips to help districts appropriately identify all staff who are included in the training requirement.
- Avoiding Student Coaching
Avoiding student coaching, whether intentional or inadvertent, verbal, or nonverbal, is essential to ensuring the validity of the assessment and assessment results. This document contains promising practices that school districts can use to help prevent coaching.
DTC Webinars
June 11, 2025
May 14, 2025
April 09, 2025
March 12, 2025
February 12, 2025
January 08, 2025
December 11, 2024
November 13, 2024
October 09, 2024
September 11, 2024
2023
- Session 1 (October 17, 2023)
- Session 2 (November 2, 2023)
- Session 3 (November 28, 2023)
2024
- Spring Learning Session #1: Advanced TIDE Functionality (April 17, 2024)
- Spring Learning Session #2: SEED Survey (April 24, 2024)
- Spring Learning Session #3: Test Record Management in ARUA (May 1, 2024)
- Spring Learning Session #4: ODE Applications (May 22, 2024)
2023-24
June 12, 2024
May 8, 2024
April 10, 2024
March 13, 2024
February 14, 2024
January 10, 2024
December 13, 2023
November 15, 2023
October 11, 2023
September 13, 2023
2022-23
June 14, 2023
May 10, 2023
April 12, 2023
March 8, 2023
February 8, 2023
January 18, 2023
December 14, 2022
November 9, 2022
October 12, 2022
2021-22
June 8, 2022
May 11, 2022
April 13, 2022
March 9, 2022
February 9, 2022
January 12, 2022
December 8, 2021
September 1, 2021
2020-21
April 14, 2021
March 10, 2021
February 10, 2021
January 13, 2021
December 9, 2020
2019-20
June 10, 2020
May 13, 2020
April 8, 2020
March 11, 2020
February 12, 2020
January 8, 2020
December 11, 2019
If you have questions about materials previous to the last 5 years, please contact the ODE Assessment Team.