Professional Responsibilities

This section describes the professional responsibilities that must be adhered to by all individuals involved in the administration of the OSSLT.

EQAO relies on school administrators in partnership with teachers to ensure all EQAO assessments are administered in accordance with EQAO policies and administration guidelines. The responsibilities of school administrators and all individuals involved in the assessments are outlined in the Professional Responsibilities, which are available in the user guide and are listed below. This section covers information about professional responsibilities for public schools.

The Professional Responsibilities must be attested to in the e-assessment system and followed by all individuals involved in the administration of the test. If a breach of the Professional Responsibilities occurs, the EQAO will investigate with its school board partners. If the results of an investigation determine that the breach impacted the reliability and/or validity of the results, student and/or school results may be withheld from reporting.

Professional Responsibilities of School Administrators

This section outlines the key professional responsibilities of school administrators for the administration of the Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions, the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).

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.
• all technical requirements have been reviewed, agreed to and implemented as required by EQAO.
• all students eligible for the assessments are accounted for in the e-assessment system, including those writing with accommodations or a special provision, 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.
• there is no deviation from EQAO guidelines and instructions without explicit written direction from EQAO.
• any breach or suspected breach of security of an assessment is reported to EQAO immediately.
• students are aware that if a response to a question on an assessment or questionnaire is deemed offensive, the school administrator may be notified.
• all student data is validated in the system after the completion of the administration of the assessments.

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.
• accommodations are provided to students with special education needs, English language learners and students with special circumstances in accordance with the user guide.
• the students work independently of every other student and are supervised at all times during 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).
• responses that were scribed are entered into the e-assessment system (this will be the responsibility of the teacher).
• responses to primary- or junior-division open-response language questions on paper must be scanned and uploaded to the e-assessment system using the steps outlined in the user guide.
• responses to large-print primary- or junior-division open-response language questions must be transcribed in the e-assessment system (not scanned) using the steps outlined in the user guide.

Professional Responsibilities of All Individuals Involved in the Administration of the Assessments

This section outlines the key professional responsibilities of all individuals involved in the administration of the assessments, including school administrators and teachers, before, during and after the administration of the Assessments of Reading, Writing and Mathematics, Primary and Junior Divisions, the Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT).

Before, during and after the assessment:

• 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.
  Before the administration of the assessments:

• Assessment questions and passages must not be accessed prior to the administration of the first assessment session.

During and after the administration of the assessments:

• During 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.
• Scribes may have access to the student’s assessment and the e-assessment system only during the administration of the assessment.
  Students must be 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.
• During the assessments, no one may explain, define, translate or provide examples of reading vocabulary or writing terminology to students, including those with accommodations.
• During 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.
• During or after the administration of the assessments, no one may read, review or correct student responses. This includes copying, rewriting, editing or altering student responses in any way.
• Each session or stage of the assessments must be completed in one sitting. A session or stage may not be interrupted by lunch or by any other school programming. A session or stage may include water, stretch and washroom breaks.
• Any circumstances that may affect the scoring of student responses or may have affected the validity of any student performance (e.g., a discussion between two students during the assessment) must be documented and reported to EQAO through designated mechanisms as outlined in the user guide.