Important Things to Know and Anticipated Questions

The Student Readiness Tool is designed to prepare students for testing and moves away from traditional test samples...

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Setting Up the SRT for Success

The Student Readiness Tool (SRT) is designed to prepare students for online testing in TestNav. Unlike traditional test samples, which are heavier on content review, the SRT focuses on student understanding of the specific tools and question types they may interact with during high-stakes testing.





All Students:

  • The SRT video lessons have play settings as needed. Students can pause, rewind, and adjust the speed (Playback Rate) of the narration on each video.
  • Each SRT video lesson has the option for closed captions, including CC settings for adjusting the appearance and size of the text.
  • Each lesson has a text-to-speech (TTS) player
  • Some programs may disable TTS to mirror their specific test settings
  • Teachers should review lessons labelled New! in the SRT. This alerts students that there is a new tool or question type for that year.


Younger Students:

  • Navigation videos are best presented to the whole class, ensuring optimal understanding.
  • Teacher supervision is needed throughout the lessons to make sure students are accessing the assigned tutorial(s).
  • Explain what a state mandated test is and what the test will be measuring.
  • Teachers can lessen test anxiety by clearly stating when the test is taking place, reminding students that the SRT is a practice tool and NOT scored.
  • Careful consideration must be made to keep lessons light and short. The SRT is not meant to be used for more than 30 minutes per sitting.

Differentiation

There are several ways to differentiate content for students in the SRT. Make sure students know that they can:

  • Listen to Try-It! sections using the TTS player.
  • Pause and replay video lessons as needed.
  • Expand either pane to interact with the video or Try-It! section separately.
  • Interact with both sections in tandem.

Pacing

The SRT is not meant to be completely consumed in one sitting. Instead, the SRT is a tool which can be consumed in small chunks as students prepare for testing. We recommend keeping SRT instruction within 20-30 minutes depending on grade level and the content being reviewed. We recommend that Navigation lessons (Getting Started) are reviewed altogether, whereas Question Types lessons may be split into several sessions, as it is usually the largest category.

Anticipated Questions

This is a misconception that has been studied throughout the years. Students will perform at a higher level when they completely understand the test format, tools that they have at their disposal, the types of questions they will see, and supports that are available to them. Once students have mastered these things, their performance will be a truer indicator of knowledge and gaps.

Achievement testing is an important part of the school experience; moreover, when students are anxious and worried, their performance is not optimal. The SRT is designed to engage students and mimic digital platforms that this generation of digital natives are used to. After engaging in content that is light with no stakes, the student is prepared to get serious and do their best on the test.

The beauty of the SRT is in its flexibility. Students can interact with the SRT in a variety of ways such as: muting the video and reading closed captions, pausing and rewinding to review content, and watching the video lessons several times. Remind students that there is no “wrong way” to use their SRT.

The SRT is not meant to be watched in one setting. For younger students, it is recommended that tutorials are limited to no more than 1-3 videos per sitting. It is not recommended that students engage with the SRT for longer than 30 minutes. It is best utilized in bite-size scenarios.

Yes, the SRT has closed captions available on all video lessons. The Try-It! sections do not require sound, with the exception of the Audio Player, Audio Recorder, and Listen Button lessons.

The Submit Answers video is made from the lens of the linear test. Students are encouraged to carefully Follow Directions in the video which will support their understanding of adaptive tests and other test configurations.

Known Issues

SRTs accessed through a browser are considered non-secure tests. Please review the following troubleshooting recommendations concerning non-secure tests. If none of the below applies to your situation, please reach out to your school or district administrators to report the issue.

  • Non-secure tests using Dynamic Text to Speech (DTTS) must be taken using Chrome, Edge, or Firefox browser on Windows.
  • DynamicTTS (DTTS), Audio Recorder, and Read&Write are not supported on Linux.
  • Web extensions on non-secure tests are supported only on Chrome browser.
  • You can use TestNav on Android only for practice/non-secure tests.