Teacher’s Edusoft Guide: Administering Benchmark Exams
CREATING ANSWER SHEETS
2
PRINTING ANSWER SHEETS
2
GENERIC ANSWER SHEETS – NEW STUDENTS
2
ADMINISTERING A BENCHMARK EXAM
3
BENCHMARK EXAM INSTRUCTIONS
3
DIRECTIONS FOR ADMINISTRATION
3
ANSWER DOCUMENT CARE
3
SCANNING ANSWER SHEETS
4
SCANNING ANSWER SHEETS WITH EDUSOFT GRADER
4
EDUSOFT GRADER TROUBLESHOOTING
4
CHECKING SCAN RESULTS
5
VIEWING SCAN RESULTS AND RESOLVING FAILED SCANS
5
EXAMPLES OF FAILED SCANS
5
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Teacher’s Edusoft Guide: Administering Benchmark Exams
Creating Answer Sheets
Printing Answer Sheets
1. Log in to www.edusoft.com with your Edusoft user name and password.
2. Under the Benchmark Exams tab click on the Assessments icon or link below.
3. On the Assessments page, select a folder (on left-hand side of screen) with the name of your school and the
current school year, ex. “Strathmore Middle School 2010-2011 Benchmark Tests”.
4. Select the appropriate grade level folder and subject folder.
5. Assessments will appear on the right hand side of the screen – click on test that will be administered.
6. Click on the PRINT ANSWER SHEETS button (lower right side of screen).
7. On the next page, please be sure that your school’s name appears in the “Select School” box (if available).
8. Click to check mark “Per Period” and “Print a generic answer sheet for each period” then click “Continue”.
9. Select a class and period. Note: you can select more than one class/period to print answer sheets for more
than one class at a time.
10. Select “Continue”.
11. Answer sheets will appear in PDF format (Adobe Reader software is required to view answer sheets and
reports in Edusoft). The name of the assessment, name of teacher and period number will appear on the
upper left corner of the answer sheet. Note: If you encounter an error message when trying to view an
answer sheet, close down all Internet windows currently open on your computer and start over at step
1.
12. Use the printer icon on the Adobe Reader toolbar to print the answer sheets. If you do not see the Adobe
Reader toolbar, right-click anywhere on the answer sheet and select the “Print…” option.
13. Important: When the “Print settings” window pops up, make sure “none” is selected for ‘page scaling’.
14. Click “OK” to print the answer sheets.
Use the copier to make the number of needed answer sheets for each class plus a couple of extra generic
answer sheets for new students or errors.
Generic Answer Sheets – New Students
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If a student’s name does not appear on a regular answer sheet, he/she may be new to school or class and
can take the test on a generic answer sheet. You do not need to know the student’s Edusoft ID # as they will
not yet have one. The generic answer sheet can be scanned and graded once the student is added to
Edusoft.
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The student’s full name must be clearly written on top of the answer document.
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Submit this answer sheet with other answer sheets for scanning (optional).
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The sheet will go in as an “unresolved error”. You can assign the answer sheet, once scanned, to the correct
student after the Edusoft roster is updated to add the new student.
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Edusoft student roster updates occur 5 school days before the current benchmark testing window. Contact
office staff to request an Edusoft roster update, if needed. Once the D.O. has approved and submitted an
Edusoft student roster update, the site will be contacted to notify teachers. Edusoft requires up to 2-3
business days to process a student roster update.
Page 2 of 5
Teacher’s Edusoft Guide: Administering Benchmark Exams
Administering a Benchmark Exam
Benchmark Exam Instructions
1. Read over the “Directions for Administration” steps prior to administering Benchmark exams (see below.)
2. Count the assessments and answer sheets to ensure that you have printed the proper amount. Class list
roster(s) should be placed in your box prior to benchmarks (within 5 days prior.)
3. Remember, all students must be tested just like the CSTs. Exceptions:
ƒ Sick during entire 5 day testing window.
ƒ New to school or class after the first test date.
4. Make sure students have a #2 pencil, an eraser, and a book to read before administering the exam. Do not
use pens or mechanical pencils. All students must write their legal first and last name legibly in the space
provided at the top of each answer document.
5. The bubbles should be filled in completely and dark enough for the scanner to read.
6. After the tests have been given, paper clip the answer sheets together by period. Count the number of answer
sheets you have per period.
7. Highlight student(s) name on roster to verify student has taken benchmark. When completed, send
highlighted roster to school office.
8. Keep all tests and answer sheets for record keeping.
Directions for Administration
Follow the directions below when administering Benchmark exams.
1. Make sure students have a sharpened #2 pencil, an eraser, and a book to read.
2. Before handing out the tests or answer sheets, read the passage below out loud to the class.
3. “Today, you are going to take a benchmark exam. It is important that you follow these directions. Use
a #2 pencil only. Make your marks heavy and dark, filling in the circle for the answer you have chosen.
If you need to erase, completely erase the previous answer, then fill in the circle for the new answer
you have chosen. Do not mark on the test. You will have the rest of this class period to complete the
test. I will tell you when you have 5 minutes remaining. When you have finished, please put your test
on top of your answer sheet, and place them both on the top right corner of your desk. You may read
silently until everyone has finished the test. Are there any questions?”
4. Hand out the answer sheets first. Read aloud to the class the passage below.
“Write your name on the line at the top right of the paper. Make sure you use your legal first and last
name.”
5. When students have completed writing their names, read the next passage aloud.
“Now, find your name on the left side of the paper and completely fill in the bubble next to your name.
If you do not see your name, raise your hand.” (If a student does not see his/her name, instruct them that
they will not have a name at left to bubble—they will receive a generic answer sheet specific to the
assessment.)
6. When students have finished bubbling in next to their names, pass out the tests, and scratch paper if needed.
Instruct the students to begin.
7. Proctor the test, making sure that the students’ written names match their bubbled names at left. Collect the
tests, answer sheets, and scratch paper as students finish. Separate the answer sheets and scratch paper
from the tests, making 3 stacks. Send highlighted roster to school office.
Answer Document Care
ƒ Check to make sure each student bubbled in their correct name on the left-hand side of the answer sheet.
ƒ Do not write a student name to the bottom of an answer sheet list – use a generic answer sheet specific to the
assessment (see page 4 “Examples of Failed Scans” for directions to resolve generic answer sheets.
ƒ Please erase all stray marks that interfere with the block codes (at bottom of answer sheet).
ƒ Ripped or torn answer documents may be photocopied to allow for proper scanning. Be sure that if you copy
an answer sheet that it is copied at 100% and the copy quality is good. When making copies of an answer
sheet, never run answer sheets through the feeder of the copy machine as it can disorient the sheet.
ƒ Do not staple any answer documents.
ƒ Be sure to only scan 50 pages in each batch!
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Teacher’s Edusoft Guide: Administering Benchmark Exams
Scanning Answer Sheets
Scanning Answer Sheets with Edusoft Grader
Start the Edusoft Grader program: double-click the Edusoft Grader icon that appears on the desktop of the
computer designated to scan Edusoft answer sheets. The Edusoft Grader window will open to a login prompt.
Please follow steps 1-4 below.
2.
1.
Type your Edusoft user name and password and click login.
If you don’t have an Edusoft user name or have forgotten your
password, please contact:
David Flores
email: dflores@suesd.k12.ca.us
phone: (559) 804-5444
3.
Place the answer sheets in the feeder tray face-up and click
scan to begin scanning.
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Don’t push any buttons on the scanner!
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Count your answer sheets
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Don’t bend or fold answer sheets.
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Make sure students have bubbled their names or ID
numbers correctly
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Do not scan more than 50 answer sheets at a time!
4.
Review the number of scanned answer sheets. If the number is
not correct click back to rescan them. If the number is correct
click upload and wait until all the answer sheets are uploaded.
After the upload is complete, you can click scan more to scan
another batch of answer sheets or view results to view the
results of your scan session in Edusoft.
Edusoft Grader Troubleshooting
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If the Edusoft Grader upload progress screen “hangs” for a long period of time, please contact David Flores (559-8045444) or Edusoft Customer Service (866-433-8763 option 2) for immediate assistance.
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If you encounter a “network communication” error message during the upload stage, please click the “Retry” button and
the Grader will attempt to resend the current batch of answer sheets. If the “Retry” button still fails after three times,
please contact David Flores or Edusoft Customer Service (866-433-8763 option 2) for immediate assistance.
Page 4 of 5
Teacher’s Edusoft Guide: Administering Benchmark Exams
Checking Scan Results
Viewing Scan Results and Resolving Failed Scans
After scanning answer sheets and clicking on the “view results” button from Edusoft Grader, a web browser
window will open to show the “Grading Status” page which contains details about your current scanning session.
1. Note the following items that will display in the “Scanning Summary” table on the “Grading Status” page.
a. Pages: Number of pages scanned during your session
b. Successes: Number of answer sheets that were successfully scanned and graded by the program.
c. Resolved: The number of scans you have resolved during the scanning session.
d. Unresolved: Number of “Unresolved” scans remaining during the scanning session.
e. Still Grading: Number of scans the program may still be processing.
2. Try to resolve all your “Unresolved” scans. The goal is to correct all “Unresolved” scans until the number of
“Unresolved” scans equals zero, or the “Successes” column equals the number in the “Pages” column; this
means all answer sheets have been scanned and graded successfully.
3. Failed scans (unresolved scans) will be listed in the “Failed Scans” table below the Scanning Summary table.
4. Click on the “View Image” link to resolve each failed scan.
5. The View Image page contains instructions on how to resolve the failed scan. Follow the instructions to
resolve the failure and then click “Mark as resolved”. Rescan any answer sheet if needed, for example, if the
test could not be identified due to stray marks on the answer sheet.
Examples of Failed Scans
ƒ Problem: More than one Student ID bubbled on answer sheet.
Solution: View the answer sheet online and follow instructions to select the correct student and assign it to the
answer sheet.
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Problem: Scans for which the “test could not be identified.”
Solution: View the answer sheet image online. There may be stray marks obstructing the block code at the
bottom of the answer sheet, or the answer sheet image may be distorted in some way. Remove any stray
marks if present, or reprint and re-bubble on a “clean” answer sheet and rescan it.
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Problem: After scanning a generic answer sheet, the student’s name is not available in Edusoft to assign to
the answer sheet.
Solution: Edusoft student rosters may need to be updated. Request an Edusoft roster update from office staff
or wait 2-3 business days after notification that an Edusoft roster update has been submitted. Then resolve
the generic answer sheet in Edusoft by selecting the new student and assigning him/her to the generic
answer sheet after it is scanned.
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