Department to review Dakota STEP administration

As schools across South Dakota administer the 2006 Dakota STEP, the Department of Education will review the process. It’s the first time in the test’s brief history that the department will monitor its administration.

In a memo to school superintendents, Secretary of Education Rick Melmer explained the department’s reason for reviewing the process. “Our goal is not to police the testing process,” he wrote. “Rather, our goal is to work with school districts to be sure that we have effective, uniform procedures in place around the state.”

Staff from the Department of Education will be visiting a number of school districts during the testing window, which is April 3-21. Testing coordinators at each of these schools will be notified at least 24 hours in advance of the visit.

Department staff people will not be going into individual classrooms to observe test taking. Instead, they will meet individually with testing coordinators. They also will try to visit with an administrator and teachers at each site. They will ask questions about the testing process; for example: Where are the testing materials located when not being used? Have you covered up any inappropriate wall displays? The department also hopes to gain valuable feedback from the people that are the closest to the process: the test administrators.   

To review a copy of the monitoring form that department staff will be using, go to http://doe.sd.gov/octa/assessment/dakSTEP/index.asp and click on “Monitoring Form.” At this location, you also will find a link to the Test Coordinator’s Handbook 2006. This handbook outlines all of the important issues related to administration of the Dakota STEP.

For more information, contact Stephanie Weideman, director of the Office of Curriculum, Technology and Assessment, at (605) 773-3783, or Gay Pickner, assessment director, at (605) 773-3247.