USBE training outlines Utah Aspire Plus changes, ADAM rostering, accommodations and remote proctoring

Elise Fry, test administration and formative assessment specialist with the Utah State Board of Education, led a recorded webinar for local education agency (LEA) staff that reviewed Utah Aspire Plus administration, ADAM (the assessment delivery management system), TestNav, accommodations, remote proctoring and reporting procedures.

The training covered logistics for the 2025 administration, including the state testing window (March 3 through May 9), grade coverage (9th and 10th grades), the assessment’s composition (reading, math and science subtests), and the removal of the English component for 2025. Fry said, “This training is being recorded and it will be posted to the assessment YouTube channel in the coming days.”

Why it matters: The session addressed operational steps and constraints that directly affect how schools schedule tests, assign proctors, apply student accommodations and handle reporting. LEA assessment directors and school testing staff are responsible for rostering, creating certain ADAM accounts and ensuring secure handling of testing materials.

Test content and timing The Utah Aspire Plus is a hybrid assessment composed of ACT Aspire items and Utah test-bank items and provides grade-level proficiency scores and a predictive ACT score. Fry told attendees that English is no longer assessed in 2025 and noted that “the state's window for testing this year is March 3rd through May 9th.” Removing English shortens the total testing time by 45 minutes. Standard timing is enforced by the system; students with IEP, 504 or English learner plans who are eligible for extended time must have that accommodation selected in ADAM before testing. Fry explained that if a form-based accommodation (for example, an adaptive Spanish form) is applied after a student starts a form-based test, that test generally must be invalidated and a new form issued.

ADAM roles, rostering and test tickets Fry reviewed ADAM account types and responsibilities: the LEA assessment director holds the district administrator role (the account is created from information provided to USBE), district-level users can create school administrator accounts, and school administrators can create other administrators for their schools. Teachers and students are loaded through the state roster feed (referred to in the training as Utrek/Utrexx), and cannot be manually created in ADAM. Fry said plainly, “Anyone proctoring Utah Aspire Plus does not log in to ADAM.” Proctors do not need ADAM accounts to start sessions; they use a test code and proctor password.

The training demonstrated two approaches to proctoring: (1) pre-creating proctor groups (recommended for remote testing) so each group has a persistent test code and tickets, and (2) creating live sessions on the day of testing (similar to RISE), where proctors generate a code at session start and students provide name and SSID to join. Testing tickets — which include a student’s name and SSID and, for pre-created groups, the test code — are secure materials and must be collected and destroyed after the session. Fry also reviewed printing layout options and grouping/stacking choices used to organize tickets for distribution.

Accommodations and rostering details Fry walked through ADAM’s accommodations screens and the three accommodation categories: form-based (which change the test form issued), Pearson-provided (timing and similar settings) and local accommodations (human reader, human scribe, supervised breaks, translation, etc.). She repeatedly advised applying accommodations before preparing and starting sessions and recommended using the TAM (Test Administration Manual) and the USBE Accessibility, Accommodations and Assessment resources for policy details. Bulk uploads for accommodations are supported using CSV templates; Fry emphasized that to apply an accommodation to all subjects, a “1” must be entered in each subject column as well as the apply-all field.

Participation codes and post-test actions The default accountability code is 200 (standard participation) and is applied automatically. Fry showed two methods to apply other participation codes (for example, 204 for parental exclusion and 214 to invalidate tests when a parental exclusion is applied after testing). When a parental-exclusion code that requires invalidation is applied, Pearson will mark the test appropriately rather than requiring local staff to manually invalidate it.

Remote proctoring rules and technical requirements Fry explained remote proctoring limits and technical expectations: remote administration is available only to students who receive all instruction online (one in-person class makes a student ineligible), sessions are limited to a maximum of 10 students, and each remote session requires two proctors in the same physical room. Remote groups must be marked with the remote proctoring checkbox in ADAM so that video/chat functionality is enabled. Students and proctors must use TestNav (the secure browser); students must have working camera, microphone and speakers and complete at least one secure question sampler before remote testing. Fry warned that monitoring remote sessions is resource-intensive and advised smaller session sizes (for some schools 8 students fit better on a proctor’s screen).

During testing and session management Fry demonstrated the proctor dashboard functions: approving waiting students, reseating interrupted sessions, monitoring progress (statuses such as not started, needs attention, in progress, no activity, submitted), and checking accommodations applied to each student. She reminded proctors that the system enforces timing and that scratch paper is secure testing material and must be collected. For interruptions such as a school evacuation, Fry advised contacting the Pearson help desk immediately and following TAM guidance for irregularities.

Reporting and archived materials Reporting features in ADAM include performance reports, standard performance breakdowns by standard, program-level reports and class-level drilldowns. Archived reports and prior-year ISRs (individual student reports) are available in the report assets area. Fry noted that previously submitted English tests remain available in reporting archives, though English is not in the 2025 administration. She said standard-performance data typically updates within 24 hours once scores are processed.

Contacts and resources Fry closed by pointing attendees to the Utah Aspire Plus Resource Center, the updated TAM, and the Pearson help desk (available extended hours during the testing window). She provided contact names cited in the training for specific topics: Sydney McCarty (testing ethics and policies), Jessica Wilhelm (special education/accommodations for Utah Aspire Plus), Maureen Rushing (assessment data and rostering), and the Pearson/Utah Aspire Plus account manager, Tyler Hicks. The webinar recording and slides will be posted to USBE channels for later reference.

Ending note: Fry encouraged LEAs to use the secure question samplers and to contact Pearson or USBE for immediate assistance during live testing. She reiterated that slides and the recording will be posted and that staff can reach out to the help desk or the named USBE specialists for follow-up questions.