EQAO relies on school administrators in partnership with teachers to ensure all EQAO assessments are administered in accordance with EQAO policies and administration guidelines as described in the EQAO user guide and this section. This section outlines the key professional responsibilities of all individuals, including school administrators and teachers, in private and First Nations schools who are involved before, during and after the administration of the EQAO Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions, the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).
The Professional Responsibilities must be attested to in the e-assessment system and followed by all individuals involved in the administration of the assessment.
During and after the administration of the assessment, any circumstances that may affect the scoring of student responses or may have affected the validity of any student’s performance must be documented and reported to EQAO through designated mechanisms as outlined in the user guide, including but not limited to accessing AI or the Internet, copying another student’s responses, or not administering within a continuous sitting.
If a breach of Professional Responsibilities occurs, EQAO will investigate. Where an investigation determines that the breach has affected the reliability and/or validity of assessment results, student and/or school results may be withheld from reporting. Depending on the nature and severity of the matter, and where required or appropriate, the matter may also be reported to the Ontario College of Teachers.
Requirements and Training
School administrators 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 assessments, have read and will adhere to the guidelines and instructions in the user guide.
- they and the teachers, invigilators, scribes, school staff and individuals performing any activities related to the administration of the assessments have received training for both administering the assessments and using the e-assessment system prior to administering the assessments.
- they access EQAO’s webinars.
- all technical requirements have been reviewed, agreed to and implemented as required by EQAO.
- there is no deviation from EQAO guidelines and instructions without explicit written direction from EQAO.
Planning and Preparation
School administrators are responsible for ensuring that
- all students eligible for the assessments are accounted for in the e-assessment system, including those writing with accommodations or special considerations, and those deferred or exempted.
- complete and accurate information for each student eligible to participate in the assessments is provided to EQAO through the e-assessment system.
- the locations and conditions for the administration of the assessments allow each student to work independently of every other student and comply with the EQAO requirements set out in the user guide.
- students are aware that if a response to a question on an assessment or questionnaire is deemed offensive, the school administrator may be notified.
School administrators, in partnership with teachers, are responsible for ensuring that
- the schedule, locations and other details for the administration of the assessments, including the plan and requirements for students receiving additional time, are determined prior to the administration of the assessments.
- for the primary- or junior-division open-response language questions, a paper or an online response format is selected for each student based on that student’s needs (this will be the responsibility of the teacher). Note: The system default response format for all Grade 3 students is paper, and the system default response format for all Grade 6 students is online. The format should be selected prior to the operational assessment starting. If paper is selected, the Assessment Response Sheets should be printed prior to the student starting the assessment.
Accommodations and Special Provisions
School administrators, in partnership with teachers, are responsible for ensuring that
- accommodations are provided to students with special education needs, English language learners and students with special circumstances, in accordance with the user guide.
- responses that were scribed are entered into the e-assessment system (this will be the responsibility of the teacher).
- the steps in the user guide are followed and responses to primary- or junior-division open-response language questions on
- the Assessment Response Sheets are scanned and uploaded to the e-assessment system.
- large-print Assessment Response Sheets are transcribed in the e-assessment system (not scanned).
During and after the administration of the assessments
- scribes may only have access to the section of the student’s assessment for which scribing is required during the administration of the assessment.
Security and Confidentiality
Before, during and after the administration of the assessments,
- all individuals involved in 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 assessments) 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 or questionnaire (including but not limited to questions, instructions, images and examples).
- no one may use information from an assessment to provide instruction on any concept or item tested.
- all printed and electronic copies of the alternative version of the assessment must remain secure and confidential before, during and after the assessment. All paper response sheets must be stored in a locked, access-controlled location from the time they are collected until their destruction. Access should be limited to designated assessment staff.
- assessment questions and reading selections must remain confidential and secure at all times and must not be accessed or reviewed prior to, during or after the administration of any assessment session or stage.
School administrators are responsible for ensuring that
- any breach or suspected breach of security of an assessment is reported to EQAO immediately.
- no cellphones, smart watches, glasses or recording devices are allowed into the assessment room.
- only individuals involved in the administration of the assessment may have access to the computers or devices on which the assessment will be taken.
Administration Integrity
School administrators, in partnership with teachers, are responsible for ensuring that
- students are supervised at all times during the administration of the assessments. This includes students with accommodations and students who are permitted additional time to complete an assessment.
- the students work independently of every other student and are supervised at all times during the administration of the assessments.
Before the administration of the assessments,
- teachers and/or invigilators review the assessment administration procedures with students, including device requirements and information from the teacher script.
During the administration of the assessments,
- only individuals directly involved in their administration (e.g., teachers, invigilators, school staff, scribes or any person performing activities related to the administration of the assessments) may enter the assessment room and have access to the computers or devices that are being used for the assessment.
- a session or stage of the assessment must be completed on the same day in one continuous sitting within the testing environment. A session or a stage may not be interrupted by lunch, nutrition breaks, recess, or by any other school programming.
- a session or stage must only be paused for a class or group if an emergency situation arises, including fire alarm, lockdown or disruption in the room.
- no one may explain, define, translate or provide examples of reading vocabulary or writing terminology to students, including those with accommodations.
During and after the administration of the assessments,
- nothing may be said or done to influence student responses. At no point during or after the assessments may anything be said or done to encourage or influence students to alter or revise their responses.
- no one may read, review or correct student responses. This includes copying, rewriting, editing or altering student responses in any way.
Post-Administration Procedures
School administrators are responsible for ensuring that
- all student data is validated in the system after the completion of the administration of the assessments.
After the administration of the assessments,
- to ensure test security, all paper or electronic copies of the alternative version of the assessment must be shredded or deleted immediately after the administration of the assessment. School staff must ensure no residual copies remain on local devices, shared drives, or school printers or scanners.
- Assessment Response Sheets used for open-response questions for the primary- and junior-division assessments must remain secure and confidential at all times and must be shredded within 10 business days of the issuance of the Individual Student Reports (ISRs).
- Braille formats of the assessment (not student responses) must be returned to EQAO according to the instructions included with the assessments.