USBE trains LEA staff on STAMP test tech, proctoring, accommodations and reporting

Elise Fry, test administration and formative assessment specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, led a virtual training for local education agency staff and vendors on administering the STAMP language proficiency test provided by Avant. The session covered technical requirements, proctoring and security, accommodations, test structure and reporting procedures for Utah dual language immersion students in grades 3 through 9.

The training mattered because the STAMP test is the state’s standard assessment for dual language immersion programs and can be used to qualify students for the seal of biliteracy. "The STAMP test evaluates a language learner's skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking," Fry said, and USBE staff emphasized consistent administration, technology readiness and ethical proctoring to protect score validity.

Fry reviewed test structure and scheduling details: students in grades 3–8 will take two skill components and ninth graders will take all four; Utah will use both STAMP 4S and STAMP 4SE forms (the latter is targeted to elementary-age learners). The testing window for the year covered in the training opens October 20 and closes December 12, and individual test sessions must be completed within 90 days of their start date. Fry told participants that the last week of the window should be reserved for makeup testing and encouraged LEAs to test early to allow time for retakes if needed.

Technical requirements and common issues were a major focus. Fry said tests require a headset and microphone, and recommended an LEA technical representative run Avant’s technology check for each device. Avant recommends roughly 200 kilobits per second of bandwidth per test taker and the vendor provides a whitelist of domain names to avoid being blocked by firewalls, proxies or filters. Fry warned that some Chrome OS and iPad configurations have limitations (for example, microphone sensitivity cannot be adjusted on Chrome devices and iPads may be constrained by mobile device management or screen-time settings) and advised testing sample sessions on devices ahead of test day.

Fry explained test sequencing rules: reading must be completed before writing and listening must be completed before speaking. Writing prompts allow up to about 2,500 characters (roughly 400–600 words) and students may hear writing prompts up to two times; speaking prompts allow roughly three minutes per response, a visual microphone-strength gauge, playback of the recorded response, one rerecord per prompt and an option to add to — but not entirely replace — a recorded response. Sample tests are unlimited and are intended to build student familiarity with the interface.

On proctoring and test security, Fry said proctors must complete USBE’s testing ethics training, must not be a parent, guardian or relative of the test taker, and must actively monitor students during testing. The vendor’s platform disables common functions such as right-click and copy/paste while a student is testing; off-page clicks are logged. Fry warned that tests graded as a zero (0) indicate disallowed content or a rules violation and cannot be reset; by contrast, a "not ratable" (NR) result can be reset by Avant with the student’s SSID and the original test code so long as retesting occurs within the state window.

Accommodations are handled locally and must be documented in the student’s IEP; Avant’s platform does not automatically load accommodations. Fry directed LEAs to consult Jessica Wilhelm, USBE special education specialist, for specific accommodations or for paper/accessible formats. For NR resets and technical account issues, Fry said LEAs should contact Avant support directly rather than routing resets through USBE.

Reporting access, Fry said, requires the specific test session code and password. Reading and listening components show immediate scoring, while writing and speaking typically take seven to ten business days to be scored. Group and individual reports are available on Avant’s site; individual reports include level descriptions, suggested practice activities and, for writing and speaking, the student’s submitted response audio or text. Fry noted the vendor produces annual averages reports for languages with sufficient data, published in November for the previous school year.

Fry also touched on remote proctoring: it is available only for students older than 13 who receive 100% of their instruction remotely and requires Avant’s remote proctoring service to be ordered and configured. LEAs should confirm eligibility before selecting remote administration. The training concluded with Fry noting that the session recording, slide deck and other resources will be posted to USBE’s assessment YouTube channel and in Midas for registered participants, and she provided contact names for rostering, testing ethics, accommodations and technical support.

Contacts and resource links cited during the session included Avant support, Maureen Rushing for rostering, Jessica Wilhelm for accommodations, Scott Ross Kelly for testing ethics, and Carl Bowman for dual language immersion questions. Fry encouraged LEAs to run sample tests with students and to distribute the technical guides to network administrators and device managers to reduce on-day issues.