(Note: Do not develop global placement tests until you have upgraded to the 2009 version).
Follow these steps:
1. In Admin, add a new user in Teacher Setup with a username of Placement Testing.
2. Login to the new Placement Testing account. All custom courses are automatically listed under the username of the course creator.
3. From the Teacher homepage, navigate to Curriculum Setup. (Classroom → Curriculum Setup)
4. Choose Create.
5. Choose Create New Subject.
6. Title the test with short titles. Example: LA Placement 0800. Use a zero placeholder, so each test is in numerical order by grade.
7. First-time students should complete the grade-appropriate demonstration lesson to become familiar with SOS functionality before commencing with any placement testing. Drag across the demonstration unit, dropping it into the subject title.
8. Except in the case of an at-risk student, testing normally begins two grade levels below the student's chronological grade level. Since this is an 8th grade level test, drag across to the 6th and 7th grade language arts tests. If you have advanced students who are functioning above grade level or have taken advanced courses in their previous grade, consider dragging across the 8th grade level. Tip: Use the Shift-Click Windows function to select all three levels at once. Click on the 6th level, press and hold the Shift key, and click on the 8th level. When all three are highlighted, click once on the blue area, hold down the left button on the mouse, and drag them as a group into the subject title.
9. Block the first quiz on the 7th level because the student's 6th level score should be evaluated before starting the 7th to see if a lower level is necessary. Then, block the 8th in case the student does not require testing past the 7th level.
Continue creating language arts tests for each grade level. Create math tests in the same manner with the exception that the demonstration unit is not necessary, as long as the student starts with language arts.
All teachers now have access and can assign any test. Retaining the completed tests for future reference without access to the student is easy. First, add each student to a "Placement Testing" class (along with the teacher) before assigning the tests. Upon completion, do not remove the student from the class because it will delete their work! Instead, put a "z" in front of the student's username in Admin Student Setup. Then, add the student's standard login again. The student's testing login will now be listed at the bottom of the teacher's student list. Assign subjects to the student's standard login. The teacher can be removed from the "Placement Testing" class in Class Setup by un-checking the box. If necessary in the future, re-check the teacher's name to give access to the tests.
Only the Placement Testing login can be used to modify or remove them. To use the same tests during the 2010-2011 school year, self-hosted schools must retain the 2009 placement test curriculum files on their server. AOP-hosted schools must redevelop tests each school year.
